Foodtastic Friday

A few weeks back I bought a steam in bag package of Brussels sprouts at Trader Joe's. Yes you read that correctly. Brussels sprouts. I must have lost my mind for a moment. Or ten. But the husband said he likes them and I only don't like them because they're gross. Oh and I've never tried them before. Why? Well, because they're gross.

Anyhow, they sat in the fridge for a while and I finally thought, 'I better cook those before I have to throw them out.' Totally forgetting that I was going to cook them only to throw them out. You know, because they're gross.

So I scoured the Internet for three minutes--exactly. I timed it. And came up with a non-oven roasted, non-boiled method. It was waaay to hot for the oven and I was pretty sure boiling them would only turn them into mushy grossness. I very loosely followed this recipe. I forgot the cheese and I'm certain I used WAY more olive oil.

The result

They were so dang good!!!! Totally not gross. Totally delicious. And full of healthy goodness. I ate them with my bare fingers. And I may or may not have eaten them straight out of the hot pan. With my bare fingers.

I have now officially changed my stance on Brussels sprouts. They are no longer gross. Unless, maybe they're boiled. Mushy veggies = gross.

Try them!

Truthful Thursday

All day today I've thought it was Friday.

Its not.

Don't you hate that?

Turns out that not only is it not Friday its also weigh in day. Double whammy; its measurements day. *sigh*

My helpful husband woke me up before he left for work so he could help me take my measurements. That's right, he woke me up before leaving for work. Meaning he's up and dressed and I'm still snoozing away in our wonderful bed. Heck, half the time he's up and ready to go AND has set our boy up with breakfast and Disney while I slumber away. Yes, I live a charmed life. No I'm not looking forward to re-entering the 'real' world. Love you Husband!

Anywho, since he did my measurements the first time I'd like for him to keep doing them. I'm hoping that will create some consistency.
          June 30                 Aug 4
Arms     13.8                   13.5
Chest     40                     37.5
Waist     36.5                  34
Hips       43                    42.5
Thighs    41.5                 41.5

I ALWAYS lose in my boobs first. Anyone else?!?! Its so weird. And while I don't need them to be as ginormous as they are I'd love to lose in my hips and thighs! I guess thats coming. I noticed the last time I did WW that I lost top down also. Minus my arms. Im going to have to lipo the heck out of them some day! I'm hoping that walking quasi-nightly with Patrice will help the bottom half lose a little faster.

I missed my official weigh in today. Partly because I thought it was Friday--darn you Thursday--and partly because I thought WW was open all morning for weigh ins but they're not. They are open all morning tomorrow. The REAL Friday. Ugh! I took a pic this morning but if I lost lbs at all its ounces and my 'pretty fly for a white guy' scale isn't digital.

I have not been terribly pleased with my weight loss thus far. (Yes I just used 'thus') I've paid for two months of WW and I expected better results. But I haven't been putting in the work. The program can't force me to track or measure my food. The program can't force me to not eat the bread basket at the yummy bakery in Eastern Market. So I'm mad at myself for spending the money and not using the tools. This morning I started measuring and tracking. I need to get this down before I start class in a few weeks or its never going to become habit.

For me the hardest part is still working on my vegetarian journey AND figuring out weight loss. I need to enter all of my new recipes into the WW recipe builder to figure out their PointsPlus values. The sooner I get my frequented recipes in there the easier it will be to track. I guess now is as good a time as any.

Also, that bitch Hershey has sashayed her way into my life again. Things aren't tense they're just getting ready to change so I'm all sorts of nuts. Enter comfort food. I'm throwing her out. Right now. Well, as soon as I'm done updating this here blog. The funny thing is once I banished Ms Hershey the first time I didn't really miss her. I won't say I didn't eat chocolate if we were out and about but I didn't crave it like I thought I would. At least not after the first few ugly days of withdrawls passed. For the protection of the meek innocent, there are no pictures of those days.

Truthful Thursday

Its been 2 weeks since Ive weighed in, officially or otherwise. We left for vacation on Sunday, July 17 and came home the following Sunday. So technically we've been home, and off vacation, since Monday morning. But really we're still on vacation because I haven't been grocery shopping so we have what I fondly call 'vacay fridge.' We're living in a house full of snack foods and meals that need cooked, nothing quick and easy. Needless to say I wasn't expecting much on this weigh in. I haven't been tracking my points, walking or eating all that well. Lots of restaurants when you're living a mountain resort life!

Anyhow I saw this when I weighed myself at home:

Do my eyes deceive me?

 Heres what I got when I checked in at WW today:

1.8lbs lost!

Not a huge loss but not a gain and, really, no effort involved. Looking forward to next weeks weigh in after some serious food tracking and some evening power walks with Patrice.

Guess where?

We've been here

And here

We were hanging out here

And catching a game here

Matthew was just being a boy here

I was really sad to say goodbye to here

But we got to take our picture here!

 We had an awesome time at our family reunion in Keystone, Colorado. We got to catch up with people we don't see often enough and even meet some family members we didn't know existed! Matthew loved miniature golf, the paddle boats, the sandbox and running around with all of his cousins. Robbie and I had a great time zip lining and rafting. We had dinner in Leadville, North Americas highest incorporated city at 10,430 feet. We ate at a saloon that was established in 1883 and hasn't had much done to it since. The bar was original and we're pretty sure the booth we sat in was also. Its the first place, since deciding to go veggie, that I've had a hard time finding anything to eat on the menu. There wasn't even a side salad! I guess being a vegetarian wasn't all that common in 1883! We also hit up a ball game. The Rockies played the BRAVES, Robbie favorite team, so we made the trek into Denver. I'll admit that I haven't been to many baseball fields but this was a first for me.

A veggie friendly food stand!

They were also advertising a Gluten Free stand. How great is that?!?

I personally LOVED the afternoon at the spa with my not-so-baby sister. We had a great time and already can't wait for our next family vacation!

Catching up

We have been B U S Y this past week and I missed my Truthful Thursday post. In all honesty I was super busy that day but I also had time to sit down and bare my soul weight but I wasn't very pleased with the results so I tossed it on the back burner and never got to it.

Here it is : I had a .6 lb weight loss. That's it. That's not even 1 full pound. And it pisses me off. I did much better with my food during the week and I started walking 3 miles a day with Patrice. Which I opted not to track in my Weight Watchers site because I don't want the temptation of converting the 'activity points' into food. As my friend, and fellow WW member, Tara pointed out .5 pounds a week turns into 26lbs a year.  And any loss is better than a gain. She has me there.

I'm hoping that my body is adjusting to the new food take and the new exercise. I'm hoping that this week I held on to a few more calories due to the walking freaking out my body. I'm hoping that I can continue to lose weight, even in half pound increments, until I get to a place where I feel good about me again. I'm hoping that the next time I weigh in I'll see a significant loss. Heres to hope!

Tuesdays Thoughts

Recently someone asked me if I made my decision to go veggie because of the 'animal factor.' I believe that a lot of vegetarians choose this lifestyle because they have a great love for all animals. For me thats not it. I'm not an animal lover--its more that I tolerate them. I like them. I don't mind other peoples pets but we have none and I have no desire for any. That being said, I do believe we were put on this Earth, in part, to be good stewards of our resources and to take care of and look after all that grows and blooms. Having animals bred, born and slaughtered in filthy and inhumane conditions doesn't fit into the good stewards box.

Tonight, per a couple of requests, I made Tater Tot Casserole for dinner. This is not veggie friendly. Since my husband, and on rare occasions my son, still eats meat I've been sporadically cooking with the meat that was left in the house prior to my go veggie decision. I figure these animals have already had a miserable life and death, why make their sacrifice worse by throwing it all away.

Tonight was different. My sister is in town (yea!!!!) and our friend Patrice was maybe coming for dinner. We only had one container of ground death turkey left and that wasn't enough for this group. Robbie has put away an entire pan by himself and my sister is a big fan of this dish as well. It was the first time since February that I stepped foot into the "death meat department". As I asked the butcher for one pound of ground beef I was internally conflicted. I know that I wont be eating this meal but I cant help but acknowledge that by making this purchase I was condoning and supporting an industry I have come to detest. I was sick to my stomach as we checked out.


It was also the first time that I've cooked meat and felt an immense amount of guilt. I made this same meal for my husband a few weeks back, with meat that was in the house, and I didn't feel good about it but I didn't feel terrible about it either. I was semi-neutral. I can't help but wonder if the guilt I had today is from the purchase of 'new' death meat. Or is it that I'm further along in my resolve to not eat meat causing the entire process to feel wrong?

Foodie Friday

I started making dinner this morning, I had some free time, and then realized that Robbie and I are celebrating our anniversary tonight with dinner at a posh restaurant and a room at the Doubletree in the Old Market. So dinner became lunch. When I ate meat one of our favorite meals was stuffed peppers, so I decided to veggie it up!

Veggie Stuffed Peppers
adapted from my friend Warren

Ingredients:
8oz tempeh
1/2c. diced onion
1 garlic clove minced--I use WAY more. But we're garlicy people
1-2T olive oil
2 1/2c diced zucchini
1 tsp chili pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 can tomato soup
1/4lb grated sharp cheese-- I used what was in the fridge and came up with about 1c shredded
1c. quinoa cooked according to package
4 medium peppers

Heat crumbled tempeh in a pan with olive oil, onions and garlic. Add zucchini and let it cook for a couple of minutes so the zucchini gets a chance to start cooking. --I like some firmness to my zucchini, if you like them softer toss them in with the tempeh or cook the mixture a little longer to give them a head start.

Add seasonings and soup.

Simmer for a few more minutes--the original recipe says 10min but I found since there is no meat the soup reduced down pretty quickly.

Add cheese and cooked quinoa. (I ended up using closer to 2C--Stir to combine and cook for a few minutes longer.

Cut and clean out peppers.

Boil in salted water for 4 minutes.

Drain and cool.

Place peppers in a baking dish, fill with stuffing and bake at 350 for 30min.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I pretty much never do that last part. I do clean out the peppers but I boil them long enough to soften them, fill them and eat them. The baking part warms the stuffing mixture and softens the peppers a little more--but the longer boiling works just as well. Im pretty sure baking would also soften the zucchini more but like I said I like mine with some bite to them!

This is my second attempt at using at tempeh and while I like the dish I feel that the tempeh always hits my taste buds a little oddly. Could be the fermentation? Or maybe I need to try a different brand? Anyone else use tempeh?

Truthful Thursday

This morning I woke up and saw this

Which looked an awful lot like this

So I felt like this

But I went to weight in at Weight Watchers anyhow. After all isn't the point of this to work on being a less chubby veggie? Maybe those ladies would have some ideas. While I was there I got this

Its only 1 pound but I felt like this

Over the last week I used all of my daily points--which is what you're suppose to do-- and all except 5 of my weekly 'bonus' points. Those are built into the program so that you can eat cake, ice cream, 5 Tootsie Rolls, have a 4th of July bbq and still succeed. Its not a diet because you don't have to deny yourself. You just have to make smart choices about your indulgences. Although I won't be using all of my bonus points every week, heck I hope not to even use half of them on a regular basis, it feels good to know that if I do happen to use them I can still lose. Even if it is only 1 pound. Hey a loss is a loss, right!

Thoughtful Tuesday

Well I'm obviously not over the alliterations. I considered titling it Introspective Tuesday but what fun what that be?

Did you all have a great 4th of July celebration??? We did! We got to spend the day at home with a group of friends we don't see often enough. And I got to watch my husband play in the street with Warren, one of our really good friends, until the dark hours of the night. 10:30p. Whoo, we're getting old!

It was fireworks on parade at our house and, as the night grew older, on our street. I'm pretty sure all the neighbors got into fireworks battles once the big guns came out.

Does anyone else think these 'snakes' are gross?

Kayla does!

Caught a parachute!

We finished the night off almost totally incident free. Warren and Patrice invited friends of theirs to stop by and of course the 8 month pregnant woman whom none of us really knew got hit by a firework. Thankfully she only had a couple of really small scratches but why couldn't it have happened to one of us? Or to the two crazies who were lighting them off! As we were cleaning her off she said, 'At least I had my hair pulled back'. Holy mother! I hadn't even thought of that, instead of a pregnant woman with little scratches we could have had a pregnant woman on FIRE!!! Needless to say that incident put a damper on things and most of us headed inside to watch Robbie and Warren light fireworks off from the safety of the picture window!

Once everyone left I started putting away the food and I couldn't help but wonder why our celebrations and emotions are so intertwined with food. As soon as Patrice and I decided to 'do' the 4th together the first thing we planned was what to eat. And when we included the others that was also their first question, 'What can we bring?'.

Food is so tied up in our memories and emotions that yesterday when I told my husband what we were going to have to eat I felt like we were still missing something. Do you know what he said? 'It feels like something is missing because its all fancy food. Theres no traditional 4th of July food. No potato salad or baked beans.' I'm not totally sure whats fancy about chicken on the grill, pasta salad and coleslaw but he had a point. Thinking back on all other 4th of July, heck all warm weather celebrations, there is always macaroni salad or potato salad. Baked beans are a given, as is fresh corn. At least since we've moved here. (In my defense there was no corn at the Farmers Market, I looked. I wanted some! Most of our local produce is showing up late this year. And I had a can of baked beans in the cabinet so I saved the day with that. Go me.)

Now I'm not saying I didn't enjoy every morsel I put in my mouth. And in case you're wondering what I ate...grilled portobello mushroom cap (Side not- spell check wants to change portobello to potbelly. Really?), quinoa caprese salad from here, pasta salad full of yummy fresh veggies, 'Asian' coleslaw, cream cheese pound cake with berries, fruit salsa with cinnamon chips and at the end of the night one s'more.

I wonder why it is that at Summer celebrations we expect potato salad and baked beans, at Thanksgiving we expect turkey, stuffing, potatoes and pumpkin pie. At Christmas, at least in my family, there is ham. Same with Easter. For New Years Day my grandma makes black eyed peas and ham. Some of my favorite childhood memories are spending the night at Grandmas house to have her make us bacon, eggs fried in the left over grease and Jiffy blueberry muffins. Later in the day, if we were good, she'd take us to Thriftys to get ice cream.

Think about it. Births, deaths, holidays, parties, time with family and friends it always includes food. Heck I was in LABOR and Patrice brought me Lumpia (pre-veggie days) and let me tell you, it was awesome! When my Uncle John passed away we went to his funeral and then back to my Aunts house to a big buffet. Every birthday party anyone has ever thrown, even those not at 'designated' meal times, has included food. All the holidays and celebrations seem to revolve around food.. Why do we eat? Besides the obvious need. Is it emotionally driven? Is it the societal norm? Is it an excuse to spend time together? An excuse to overindulge? Is it habit? Does anyone have thoughts on this?

Weekend wrap up!

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY AMERICA! You're looking pretty dang good for 235 years old!

My husband told me the other day, which was a Wednesday by the way, that 1 in 4 AMERICANS don't know whom we obtained our independence from or when! How disgusting is that!?!? In case you're the one in four, which I'm certain you're not--but just in case. We obtained our independence from England in 1776.

Any how, are you over my alliterations yet? I can't decide if I am or not. Guess we'll see tomorrow.

On Thursday we had no plans for the weekend. None. We were planning on enjoying a long quiet weekend. Well, ok, we knew that Friday evening we were watching our friends kids and that we were having them back over, plus the parents, on the 4th to grill. But that was it. We were having a low key weekend.

Enter Saturday. We ended up going to a last minute birthday party. I know this sounds crazy to all you non-military families but this couple are both active duty and have nutso schedules. While the unplanned party isn't common its not terribly unusual, its just part of military life. Anyhow, we were able to make it. And let me tell you...yumm! Cake and ice cream and a pinata. My son still doesn't know that candy is an uber coveted treat so he still shares with his Sweet Mommy. By the way, thats what he sometimes (ok rarely, but still) calls me now. Yes my kid is better than yours. Fine, maybe not. But hes definitely sweeter!

And better.

The boy and I 'shared' a piece of cake and one scoop of ice cream. Which I happily saw was a lower fat version. But lets just be real. Sharing cake and ice cream with your kid means you eat more than half and they get a couple of bites here and there. And inside the pinata were Tootsie Rolls. The long skinny ones and the flavored ones. (Yes I do realize how inappropriate that sounds if it were to be taken out of context. Shame on you for taking all of our minds there!) I ate five. Yummmmmmmy! But soon after having cake, ice cream and Tootsie Rolls I could feel it. And not in the 'Oh no my WW points are totally screwed' way--even though they were-- but in the 'Despite my love for Hersheys I really don't eat like this anymore and I'm pretty sure that cake was made with either real or synthetic (mass produced) eggs and butter.'

If you don't eat veggie--or maybe if you're just not me?-- let me tell you what that means. Farts. Smelly, tuba sounding farts. It also means its time to g-o! (If you happen to eat veggie and this doesn't happen to you I don't want to hear about it. I like to believe that my insides are so clean and efficient that any deviation from my no meat, no egg, no milk diet equals gastric unrest. Don't squash my dreams!) But the boy had fun!

--sorry my voice is so loud in the video--

I wrapped up the night with a giant 0 WW points salad. Delish! I love 'free' food. Especially when I've already blown my numbers!

Sunday came and its was fantastic. The boy and I started the morning off with church and a trip to the Farmers Market. We love the Farmers Market. When I asked my little man if he wanted to get some veggies he said, 'Veggies are duh-wishis.' (See I told you he was better! ;) ) He melts my heart. We shopped for our veggies and then played at the park and ate kettle corn. Yum! Unfortunately for us the husband was missing this morning, working on being awake for 28 hours after being called in to work the night before. Can we say boo employer?

The afternoon came to me with wine, food--edamame, veggie flat bread pizza and creme brulee-- and time with a couple of my favorite ladies. Speaking of favorite ladies, if you're a lady in my life you can rest assured you fall into the category of 'favorite'. I'm not big on lukewarm relationships. I like you or I don't and if I do its because I can tell you're going to become a favorite. Or at very least I really like you ;)

Hug your families and enjoy Americas birthday! She sure is beautiful.

Fresh start Friday

I've got to tell you, its only been really one day back on WW and already its easier than I remembered. Although I still have a little fear of eating. I'm afraid to use or go over my Points which is nonsense and a mind set I need to change. The hardest part for me is remembering that it isn't so much what Ive been eating its the quantity of it so I should just eat consciously. I'm also not totally sure what to snack on since an entire 12 square Hershey bar isn't really a good option. <-- that makes my heart sad. Veggie friendly suggestions??? Other than veggies.

The dudes and I made a trip out to my favorite grocery store today, Trader Joe's. We left with a few bags full of healthy deliciousness. And these

Delicious? Yes. Healthy? Not so much.

But I avoided this. My great weakness.

I stole this image from the internet

I will admit to eating some of those deliciously addictive almonds but I stopped at 4. Mostly because I haven't added them into my PointsPlus tracker and I'm guessing that 1/3 of a serving is plenty. Veggie pizza and some raw veggies for dinner tonight. Yummmm! Happy 4th of July weekend!

***breakfast-good, lunch-good, snack-ok, dinner-ok; I ended up with two pieces of pizza and no salad.

Truthful Thursday

This morning my son woke me up around 230am. His pj's were wet, totally a justifiable reason to wake mommy. I took care of things and got him back to sleep only to have him start crying a little while later. Needless to say it was a sleepless morning for me! My husband was great and got up with the boy this morning, at 7:00a, fed him, dressed him and let me sleep. Normally this would have been awesome, and it was, but it threw the entire morning off. I needed to get myself dressed, the boy to school and to my first official weigh in at WW before heading to Bible Study and a meeting for my Masters program. Thankfully I made it all...just a little later than expected.

So here it is. I weighed myself at home before eating and then headed out and was weighed dressed and fed. Its time to get real and to be accountable. Here are the pictures.

Is it just me or did my clothes and light --I swear!-- breakfast add close to 5lbs! Grrr! Next time I will demand they weigh me naked! And away from the windows. Because being naked AND in front of the windows, well, that would just be awkward.

WW suggests, as did my personal trainer turned good friend Laura, that you take measurements. Mine are shameful! But in the interest of Truthful Thursday and with the knowledge that they will improve and the hope that they might inspire someone else to start their own weight loss journey here they are.

Arms-13 3/4"  Hips- 43"  Bust- 40"  Waist-36 1/2"  Thighs-41.5"

I plan to do these monthly. And, I had my husband help me do them! Hows that for transparency! --side note Im not entirely certain we measured in the exactly correct area but we will continue to measure in the same spot so even if we're off somehow at least we'll be consistent! Oh, and its also totally sobering, frustrating and somewhat depressing to learn that your arms, waist and pretty much all of you measures larger than your husband. At least I can go to sleep tonight knowing that I weigh less than he does. Even if its not by much. That's me, keepin' it real people.

***Food ratings: Breakfast-good, mid-morning snack-bad, lunch-good, dinner- good Its currently 9:49p and Im hungry. Im blaming it on my weak breakfast, while healthy it was meager, and my poor snack choices.

T minus 1

Tomorrow I officially get real and weigh in. I will also start officially keeping track of what I eat and, more importantly, the amount. I'm a little lot apprehensive about this. While I know from previous experience that Weight Watchers doesn't deny you any foods I'm already feeling the loss of my good friend Hershey and her cousin Ms. Smarshmallow--affectionately named by my son. Although the truth is those bitches aren't real friends at all! They make me feel good for a minute, or ten, and then the guilt settles in. So I start thinking what difference does it make if I only ate three squares of the chocolate bar or if I eat six? Another three wont hurt and two minutes later Ive downed all twelve. Then my husband walks in the room hoping for some chocolate and I shamefully admit I'm fat and have already devoured the entire bar. If only I could channel this lack of self control into something better. Like, I don't know, cleaning the house? Man my house would look AWESOME!

So tonight I shared a large Mc D's chocolate shake with my boys. I know this might not sound like a wonderful treat but man, those people at Mc D's have stepped up their game! Gone are the days of soft serve in a cup with a little chocolate syrup hand stirred in. No. Now they are for real shakes. Whipped cream and a cherry on top to boot! This occurrence wont necessarily come to an end it will just become less frequent.  I find comfort in that thought. Is it weird that my emotions are so tied up in food?

***Speaking of food...I haven't quite figured out how to post to the What I Ate page without removing previous content. So I'll just rate my meals. Id say breakfast was acceptable, lunch was great, dinner was great, snacks and dessert...we'll lets just say I had a lot of ice cream today. What can I say? I had to get it all in before I begin holding myself accountable to my choices.

The Fat Vegetarian Enters the Room

So here it goes, the Readers Digest version. Soon after the first of the year, 2011, I decided to give up mammals; no cows, no pigs. Giving up the meat was pretty easy. So at the end of February I decided to try going all out and become a vegetarian. I gave up all animals, milk and eggs. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Even my husband was mostly on board. Turns out it was 'easy' because in reality I became a cheese-etarian and I was self soothing with chocolate. I was struggling with these new weird ingredients and with finding a way for my son and husband to eat them with me without to much complaining. Hello cheese covered everything. And the chocolate? Well it soothes my soul.

I have always struggled with my weight but, thanks to a Weight Watchers stint last year, I was at a weight that I was comfortable at. Was it my ideal weight? No. Was it a healthy weight for my size? BMI votes no. I still, in my mind at least, wanted to lose 20 more pounds but I was pretty happy with just holding steady where I was.

Once the onslaught of cheese and chocolate took hold the weight started coming back. And not one or two pounds at a time, but five pounds and then ten. So I admitted to a good friend that the ten pounds I had put on really ticked me off but not enough to put down the Hershey bar. What was I to do? I was mad at the ten pounds, I was mad at myself but I just couldn't get mad at the dang Hershey bar, I mean, its chocolate! My life long friend. I decided that my only option was to put down the chocolate and do something. I started finding some really great vegetarian and vegan blogs that helped set me on a more healthy vegetarian track. I decided I'm definitely not a huge tofu fan (read: hate it) but quinoa and tempeh are pretty dang good. But now here I sit with ten pounds more than my 'comfortable yet unhealthy' weight with another 20+ pounds to go.

In the interest of 'doing something'  I rejoined Weight Watchers today, although, Thursdays will be my official weigh in day. Last time I used the program I lost the weight with portion control and staying within my points. I didn't exercise, despite the fact that they encourage you to, I just don't like to. Sorry Laura! Maybe I'll try to this time. We'll see.

Anyhow, I plan to use this blog to hold myself accountable. I plan to share my journey and my struggle. I expect that no one but my mom and good friend(s?) will read this. And thats alright.

Oh, in the interest of accountability I'm planning on sharing what Ive had to eat each day. Check it out if you're up for it. I'll link back to the recipes I've found online.

Get fired up!