Wii fit fun

Bought the Wii Fit last week - today is day 8 with it. I love it! It's got four main components: aerobics, strength training, balance and yoga. The aerobics has things like step, hula hooping and boxing. Strength training includes push ups and other things. Balance has some wacky games where you tilt all over the place. Yoga is straight-forward and difficult.

It seems to be a bit off from my scale, but within a pound. I wish it didn't have such an emphasis on BMI & weight, but otherwise it's a blast. More to come...

stats update

Haven't posted in ages due to all kinds of familial crisis, but gotta get back into the swing of things.

As of this morning, I'm down 91 pounds total, and I've also caught up on my steps for the year! Might just be able to hit my goal weight by the end of the year.



Hopefully the good weather will continue and I can keep up with all the walking (and also the Wii'ing!)

Checking in

Checking in - these days, my weight is very stubborn and does not wish to leave me. Fooey. I've been increasing my steps to help catch up from the big deficit I built the past two months. Oops. Hopefully my weight will fall in line soon too. I'm still over 85 pounds down, but that's been the story for quite some time.

Yay for good weather and more walkin'.

Triple Chocolate Chunk VitaTops

Ahhh, Vitatops. These folks aren't fooling around - one of these treats has 50% of your Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Iron, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, Folic Acid, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B, Biotin & Zinc! And 5 grams of fiber for 100 calories - color me intrigued.

I'm a big fan of Hungry Girl and she raves about 'em so I ordered this special pack with the flavor she developed with them, Triple Chocolate Chunk. You buy 'em by the case and throw 'em in the freezer (and the box is taking up most of my small freezer!). Anyway, you microwave one and enjoy the warm chocolatey goodness. However, they don't look like the picture at all and I was let down by that. Most of mine have maybe 4 or 5 chips on top - I've had several that had no white chocolate at all, and they're certainly not overflowing with chips like the picture would lead you to believe. But they are a tasty treat. I find them to be dry, so I usually top one with a tablespoon of Marshmallow Fluff or my favorite sorbet. Today I topped one with strawberries tossed in balsamic and that rocked. ;)


Nutrition Facts
Calories 100
Total Fat 1.5g
Saturated Fat 1g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 150mg
Potassium 130mg
Total Carbohydrates 23g
Dietary Fiber 5g
Sugars 10g
Protein 3g

weight roller coaster

Ah, my weight is not my friend these days - I have been stuck in a five pound range for the past three months (and probably an eight pound range for two months before that!). Feh. I need to get more strict about my eating and hopefully that will kick things into gear. I've been walking more, and think I did something smart today - instead of going for one really long walk, I did two shorter walks (around the mall (4000 steps) and later to Costco (4000 again)) and then went for my typical walk (8000 steps). No foot or ankle or knee pain yet, so maybe I should keep that plan going for the time being. Hopefully I can get some walks in during the workday going forward as well, and do that typical 8000 step loop several nights after work.

Tonight's delicious dessert: I topped a chocolate Vitatop with strawberries that I sliced and tossed with balsamic vinegar. SO YUM!

Reality used to be a friend of mine.

So, reality has not be a friend of mine lately, and my weight loss has stalled big time. I'm basically where I was two months ago, and my walking ground to a halt. I had a weird foot injury, combined with being out of town for family issues and then being swamped at work - yesterday I was 98k behind pace for that 10k-a-day, but today I walked 17k so I'll start chipping away at that big deficit. With the good weather and later sunsets now, I should be able to walk after work and catch up on the steps... and along with that, hopefully the weight will also get back into the swing of things.

Good luck to everyone on their journeys! :)

On hiatus

My mother-in-law has been diagnosed with stage 4 gastric cancer, so our world has been turned upside down and we're helping her start treatment. I'm trying to keep up with my steps and my healthy eating, but it's difficult - she's having such a hard time eating anything, so we're all about getting more protein and calories into her, so there are all kinds of diet-killing-items around here.

Good thoughts appreciated...

Keeping pace

I assume my weigh-in tomorrow will be quite unpleasant - family visit + my birthday dinner + 2 birthday lunches + 3 different birthday cakes = gain!

At least I'm keeping pace with my steps - 10,000 a day for a goal of 3.66 million steps for the year. As of tonight, I've done 503400 steps - needed 500,000 to keep pace, and that's where I am.

I have light healthy breakfasts & lunches planned for the next two days, and then I have to go out of town again. Doh. Hopefully I can keep getting those steps in at least - it will pay off eventually, right?

I am down 50 pounds from what I weighed last birthday. It would phenomenal to be down 50 pounds more next birthday.

Catching up

Sorry for not posting for a little while there - I was out of town with family after my grandpa's passing. I did get a couple of workouts in while I was out there, but I won't be surprised if my weight bounces up a bit - especially with my birthday tomorrow! Woo!

I want to finish up more posts about kitchen essentials - and then little tips about ways to cut calories. Hopefully I'll get to these this week.

Hope all is going well for everyone out in blogland! ;)

Kitchen essentials: in the fridge

I'll be out of town next week and I've been thinking about food a lot - what do I consider my essential items? Let's start with the fridge:

• eggs! I am a huge fan of eggs - egg whites in particular. I'm usually starting my mornings with three eggs - either hard-boiled (tossing out the yolks) or scrambled (one complete egg and two extra whites).
• skim milk - I've been drinking skim for well over a decade so I don't taste any difference.
  
• salad - baby spinach always, plus usually some romaine hearts or mixed greens
• Kraft 2% Milk Sharp Cheddar Singles - yes yes, it's processed, but it's 50 calories and melts like a dream. I don't use it often, but when I do, it's oh-so-good
• light sour cream - LOVE it!
  
• non-fat Greek yogurt - Trader Joe's house brand is great, as is Fage. Love the thick texture and I toss in some Fiber One cereal or fruit and it's a great treat.
• English cucumbers - thin skin, but I still get rid of the seeds before using. I make my own tzatziki with the Greek yogurt, garlic, and dill with the diced cucumber. Yum!
• Laughing Cow light wedges - hooray, tasty cheesey substance and low in calories and a decent amount of protein.
  

Next, freezer and then pantry...

Another week, another 2.2 pounds gone!

Despite the stress and sadness this week, I was able to lose another 2.2 pounds (though I did gain 0.6 from Sunday's big low). I also walked 71700 steps, so I'm only behind 3900 on the year to hit 3.66 million steps. Would love to break even by next week - at least by the end of the month!



Big weight loss challenges ahead - heading back home for five days to be with family after my grandpa's passing, so I'm imagining some less-than-healthy foods and below-freezing temps so no outside walks. And less than two weeks until my birthday - CAAAAAAAAKE!

Nice temperatures here for the rest of the week, so more walks in my future!

Inspiration for healthy living

My grandfather was an avid golfer and loved to take those long walks in the morning. He was very active throughout his life, until a shoulder injury he sustained while on a walk started to rob him of his health. After a long battle, he passed away this afternoon. He would've turned ninety this spring.

This morning, I hit my lowest weight in at least a decade. I was so elated about that - and I know that my weight loss is happening in good part due to my decision to walk more. I wasn't able to share my weight loss success with my grandfather, but I know he'd be proud of me for this. Until he got injured, he had a long and healthy life - and I know that his walks (with a little white ball) and good diet had a lot to do with that. I want to have good health and be involved in my future children's and grandchildren's lives, and I'm working towards that now.

Thank you, Grandpa, for setting a great example.

No dining out for the obese

Saw this headline today: Mississippi To Ban Fat People From Eating In Public!?
"The Mississippi State House is proposing a law that would ban restaurants from serving people with a BMI higher than 30."

Found a good post about it over at Junkfood Science where she contacted the legislator who submitted the bill.

I'm sure the blogosphere is going to go wild over this. My BMI right now is 30.6 - but if I lose 5 pounds, I would be allowed to eat there. But that's only if I'm naked. I'd probably need to lose 10 pounds to be able to wear clothes. Or maybe less if I wear sandals and shorts.

Of course, I'm immensely curious to Representative W.T. Mayhall, Jr.'s BMI, and his wife, "the former Minnie Melton".

More numbers in the right direction

Yesterday's weigh-in shows another 1.6 pounds down - hooray! In addition, I walked 77000 the past week, so I'm catching up on the 10,000 steps a day pace. If the rain will go away, I hope to be totally caught up this coming week.

(I started my official weigh-ins on Wednesdays because that was when we had the Weight Watchers at Work meetings and I've continued to use Wednesdays as my day to update everything.)

My eating the past two days hasn't been great - actually eating less than I should, and what I have eaten hasn't been the greatest. Hope to get that back into place tomorrow.

Winter - enough already! ;)

I am so over this cold and rainy weather! I really like walking, but the weather lately has been ridiculous. I did make it out for a walk yesterday, and found that my shoes and the bottom of my jeans were all nice and muddy. Ah well. ;) If this weather would warm up and dry out a bit, I would be able to move more - and hopefully help the scale move in the right direction.

Brrrr!

Fiber One Honey Clusters

Everyone needs to work on getting enough fiber in their diet. I'm aiming for 35 grams of fiber a day, which is definitely a challenge. I bought two varieties of Fiber One - the original pellet-y variety and the Honey Clusters. Oooh, I like the honey clusters. Little clusters of oat-y type things and big sweet flakes of bran, I assume. Tasty stuff. A bit higher in calories than I usually go, so I've been having a half-cup of this along with something else. Tonight I had the half-cup with a container of light yogurt and a diced pear. Good stuff.


Nutrition Facts (1 cup serving)
Calories 160
Total Fat 1.5g
Saturated Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 280mg
Potassium 320mg
Total Carbohydrates 42g
Dietary Fiber 13g
Sugars 6g
Protein 5g

Wonton pizza bites!

As I posted yesterday, wontons have been calling my name. So I took inspiration from Roni's recipe and had fun tonight. I didn't pay enough attention to all the quantities, unfortunately. Here's what I did, roughly:

• Sauteed half a package of sliced mushrooms (I think the package is 1/2 pound? - about a cup) in a small non-stick skillet until all the moisture was gone, and put aside in a small bowl. I minced these up later.
• Sauteed a minced small yellow onion in the same skillet (after wiping it clean) until the onion was cooked. I put this aside in another small bowl.
• Sliced up eight slices of light salami ("Gallo Light Italian Dry Salame is made with turkey and pork and has 60% less fat and 40% fewer calories than regular dry salami") into teeny tiny pieces and then sauteed them to cook out some of the moisture.
  
• Added a chunk of tomato paste (sadly way too much, I think about 1/2 of the can) to the skillet, then added two garlic cloves, minced. Added back in the mushrooms and about half of the onion.
  
• Heated this through, and then added 1/2 cup of light mozzarella, finely shredded. Bad idea - I should NOT have put this in with the hot items, it was a horrible idea and made making the wontons very much a pain.
• On each of the wonton wrappers (I used the round variety, 30 total), I put a small scoop of the mixture, wrestling with the melty cheese. Sealed 'em up and finished them all.
• I put them on a foil-lined cookie sheet, after spraying first with non-stick spray. I also did another light coat of spray on the wontons after I put them on the sheet.
• Into a 450 degree pre-heated oven. Seven minutes was one minute too long.
• They're hot when you take them out of the oven. ;)

Good stuff! Sauteeing everything ahead of time took some effort, but the wontons weren't soggy at all. I didn't taste much of the salami, and the cheese flavor was overwhelmed - too much tomato paste for sure.

total nutrition info for the whole shebang:
30 wonton wrappers: 480 calories, 1.5g fat, 3.0g fiber, 18g protein
1 cup mushrooms: 15 calories, 0 fat, 0.7g fiber, 2.2g protein
1/4 cup onion: 12 calories, 0 fat, 0.4g fiber, 0.3g protein
8 slices light salami: 90 calories, 6g fat, 0g fiber, 10.5g protein
1/2 can tomato paste: 64 calories, 0 fat, 5.2 fiber, 2.6 protein
1/2 cup light mozzarella cheese: 160 calories, 10g fat, 0g fiber, 14g protein

totals:
821 calories
17.5g fat
9.3g fiber
47.6g protein

or for 10 of 'em, 274 calories, 5.8g fat, 3.1g fiber, 15.8g protein

Will definitely be making these again!

Wonton!

I've been in a wonton phase lately - we made oodles of wontons at a friend's house last weekend: chicken, pork, and TVP (a vegetarian protein), and ate them in homemade chicken and vegetable stocks as appropriate. So very tasty.

Wonton Pizza Bites? I haven't tried these yet, but Roni made them & they look fantastic. Check out Green Lite Bites for the recipe and instructional video.

I really want to make some crab rangoon this weekend - also baked, of course, but with tasty crab and cream cheese melty love inside.

It's so cold and rainy out here, I think wontons of many varieties must be enjoyed... :)

physicsdiet.com

I'm a total numbers geek (though I hated statistics class in college). When I heard about physicsdiet.com I was intrigued. You enter in your weight, calories consumed and calories burned each day, and then it gets with the geeky - calculating all kinds of averages and rolling figures and such. It really helps to show you the trends - and to show you to not jump off a ledge if your scale shows a 2 pound gain overnight.

I know there's a lot of discussion about how often one should jump on a scale. I do it every single day, in the morning before I shower, before I eat or drink anything. For me, I need that daily feedback - and physicsdiet.com really helps to show me the trends and to not obsess about one day's numbers.

It's free - check it out!

Yay dramatic weight loss

Though I love losing 4.4 pounds in one week, I know this is not sustainable. ;) I finally back to the weight I had at the end of November, so hopefully we'll see the numbers slide down from here. I'm trying to eat better - more salads, more fiber, etc. Still having a bit of chocolate every day (or I'd lose it!) :D

I'm trying to average 10,000 steps a day this year, so I made a little ticker for it:



Geek that I am, I see that I am short 12600 steps of where I should be - too many work days with less than 5000 steps really hurts that total.

Here's to another week of healthy eating and hopefully more walking (if this rain ever stops!)