Thursday, January 5, 2012

Day 4

No vascillating on the scale today -- 147.5 lbs.

Quick recipe of the morning (except we had it for dinner last night): Egg white omelet with salsa and reduced fat feta cheese. Really, really good.

Happy Thursday morning!

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Day 3

??? lbs.

It may be time for a new scale. This morning I tried to weigh in and it said 148.5 lbs. Since I was on a different floor surface, I went back to my original floor surface and weighed in and it said 148. Desiring accuracy, I waited a few minutes, got back on the scale... and it said 149.

So I weigh one hundred forty something pounds.

It's 10:00 so I have to go watch Revenge. Just trying to get my daily post in. Success!

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Day 2

148.5 lbs.

I am STILL sore. One of my New Year’s resolutions was to go to free Yoga class at work on Tuesdays with my co-worker Sarah. So I am going to try going today even though the chance of my arms supporting the downward dog into facing the sun move is highly unlikely.

A few things…

Steve came up with a delicious little snack. Blueberries combined with a mix of semi-sweet and white chocolate chips. Very yummy. About 70 calories in one TBSP of chips though, so keep the portion small. Just a heavenly little palette cleanser  People (me) forget how good white chocolate chips are.

Also, we tried a pasta recipe from Hungry Girl last night… the “Hungry Girl-fredo.” I get cravings for creamy cheesy things almost as much as chocolate, so this was a must-try for me. Turns out, it was PRET-TY good. The pasta was the only thing that took away from the overall awesomeness. Hungry Girl uses “House Foods Tofu Shirataki” noodles, which are tofu-based noodles. They’re in the fridge section, in single serving packages in water. They’re a little slimy, which is the only indication that it’s not real pasta. But the recipe was only 81 calories! We went ahead and added some grilled chicken and it was really good and really filling. A recommendation we didn’t try was throwing the noodles in a pan after you drain them and such to further eliminate any sliminess. To be fair, slimy is too strong a word, this meal was really good and one I’ll be eating again. But we ARE going to try the pan thing to see if we can make it even better.

I’ll post photos/links later. Ciao!

Monday, January 2, 2012

Day 1

I bet this is my fifth blog post that's titled, "Day 1." I find that amusing.

I weighed in at 149.5 again this morning. Don't feel strongly about it either way. It is what it is.

Yesterday Steve and I did the "Red Zone Challenge." Basically, while you're on the couch enjoying all of the 1:00 NFL games, you watch the Red Zone Channel. They show you every touchdown from every game. So, whenever someone scores, you do 10 pushups or 15 situps. There were 73 touchdowns yesterday. When it got to the point where my wrists were going to fall off, I started incorporating other basic exercises in place of the pushups. Squats, lunges, weights, etc. Let me tell you, I am SORE... and it feels GREAT.

Maybe I should exercise more often.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

My First Secret

From all of my dieting experience, I have determined that there are a few crucial things you need to do if you are attempting to lose weight, no matter what "diet" you decide to try. Here they are...

1- Drink water. A lot of it. All the time. Have something you can refill and do it constantly. Find out what temperature water you like, and if you prefer it with lemon, whatever, and then get to it.

2- Eat. A lot. All the time. You've probably heard that eating many small meals throughout the day is the way to go. It keeps your metabolism working. NOT eating may help you lose weight in the short term, but ultimately will end up ruining your metabolism and your life. Eating 3 big meals and then nothing in between makes your metabolism spike, you want it to be steady.

3- Be prepared. You need to have food (healthy food) on standby and ready to go. Loads of food. That way, when you get hungry, you have something on hand. One of the worst things you can do is let yourself get hungry and then start looking around. Bad, bad things will start to look SO good to you, and you'll just grab at whatever you can get your hands on. Don't let that happen. If you're going to eat constantly, as you should, you need to have the food ready to eat. You don't want to get home from work, starving, and just make a pop-tart because it's easy and you can't wait. Which leads me to my next point...

4- Remove temptation. There will inevitably be days when the thought of anything involving lettuce makes you want to cry and you just want to EAT SOMETHING BAD. There are ways around this. But if you're, say, hungover or desperate, you're going to start scavenging through your cabinets for something naughty. The key to beating these, as I mentioned, inevitable cravings is to not have anything bad in your kitchen. You can't grab a pop-tart if you don't have one. You will need to have something to appease yourself, so make it something reasonable. Leading me to...

5- Treat Yo'self. Look, if you're trying to eat well for an extended period of time, you're going to need cheat days/treats/comfort food etc. You can't live life without something delicious every once in awhile. (At least I can't.) My old fall back was semi-sweet chocolate chips. When I was craving chocolate, I would grab a handful. I still like this fall back... could be a lot worse. BUT I will now share with you a recent discvoery... my first secret. Skinny Cow Ice Cream! GOSH I love this stuff. I had tried Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches, and they're delicious, so Steve and I decided to try the ice cream. Yum. I am partial to the Chocolate Fudge Brownie, Steve likes the Strawberry Cheesecake (it seriously tastes like a piece of cheesecake smothered in strawberries, not kidding). Best part is, there are only 150 calories in a cup, and I usually don't even need a whole serving! Most of the time I just want something sweet after dinner, and a few bites will sustain me. (Not just now though, about 5 minutes ago I ate an entire cup, prompting this post.) Usually low-fat or healthy desserts taste like cardboard, but I promise this stuff is legit. Give it a try if you want to treat yourself :)

That is all for now. Can you tell it's January 1st and I'm trying to keep a resolution? Happy New Year.

The Most Important Diet of My LIfe

I have some good news, some bad news, and some more good news.

The good news is: I'm engaged! This little beauty has been sitting on my left ring finger since September 1st, after the most perfect proposal of all time. I couldn't be happier. I will be Mrs. Ashley Braband in 8 months.

The bad news is: I will be Mrs. Ashley Braband in 8 months. 8 MONTHS! It doesn't matter if you go to prom or a red carpet movie premiere, there is no single day in your life when you're supposed to look more beautiful than you do on your wedding day. And now I have 8 months.

The other good news: I have a head start. The last time I posted was in June, right before we went to the Outer Banks, and at the end of my big diet effort. I weighed in at 148.5 lbs. Somehow, through all those months, INCLUDING the football season and holidays based solely around food, I kept the weight off. Obviously there were some peaks and valleys (we'll get into the valleys later), but this morning I weighed in at 149.5 lbs. And that was after a New Year's Eve feast.

In my head, my goal has always been to get back to 142. But when I was 142 before, I was just really skinny. For my wedding, I want to be low 140s and toned. It's my arms and back that will be on display the most anyway, so toning is crucial.

Anyone who has read along the past few years knows I've tried many different strategies. Here's my flavor of the week: Hungry Girl. I stumbled upon one of her books and it turns out, this chick is just like me. She's not a nutritionist, she just loves food and has done a lot of research into ways to continue eating good food without getting fat. I flipped through her recipe book after Thanksgiving and decided to give it a try; I lost 7 pounds in 2 weeks. Christmas has always been my weakness due to my massive sweet tooth and everyone's inclination to share Christmas goodies for weeks surrounding the holiday, so I gained quite a bit back. BUT... my goal for the months between Halloween and my birthday was to "maintain not gain" and in that I have been successful.

So here I am, ready to embark on another journey. I have 8 months to go on the most important diet of my life. Let's see if I can pull this off.