Week 27 Weigh-in

Current Weight - 260.6
This week's loss - 1.6 lbs.
Total loss - 57.0 lbs.
Average calories per day - 2054
Treadmill - 4.79 miles in 1 1/2 hrs. over 3 days
Total calories burned this week according to Calories Per Hour - 624
Additional exercise - 30 minutes of "Hippity Hopping" with the kids

Ever had a week when you were just starving? That was my week. Every single day and night I was soooo hungry that I had to force myself to stop eating and go to bed early. Yeah, it was bad. Thank goodness that today was a lot better.

Now that I'm a bit lighter, using my adult-sized Hippity Hop is getting a lot easier. It's so much fun and the kids think it's cool that Mommy has one just like theirs. :-) I only use it inside the house, as I would make quite a spectacle of myself outside! :-O

This is my final week with both kids home all day and soon I'll be revving up the exercise. Last spring we bought one of those Bowflex-type machines and I think I might give it a try. I don't want to be super muscular, but a little weight training would be good and will help boost the metabolism. Maybe I'll start to incorporate one of the dozen or so workout DVD's I have too.

6 days until school starts!

Club Salad, Yummy Yummy

Yummy yummy yummy yummy, Club Salaaad!

Okay, unless you are a parent of a child under 6, you probably won't get that reference. (Hint: The Wiggles) :-) So I thought I'd share with you all one of our favorite dinner recipes. A while back I saw an episode of Calorie Commando where Juan-Carlos Cruz remade a typical club sandwich into a healthier club salad. Since I can never leave well enough alone, I made a few minor changes to his recipe. Here is my version:

Dressing-
1/2 cup fat-free Buttermilk
1/4 cup light Mayonaise
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
1/2 teaspoon Dry Mustard
1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
dash of Pepper

Salad-
2 Romaine Hearts, chopped
1 lb. roasted Turkey Breast, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
6 slices Bacon, crisply cooked and crumbled
1-2 ribs of Celery, thinly sliced (depending on size)
1/4 red onion, diced
a handful or two of Cherry Tomatoes, halved

Whisk together dressing ingredients. Mix together salad ingredients. Combine both and you're done! The whole bowl ends up being around 1100 calories--give or take--and will easily serve 3-4 normal people or 2 who are really hungry! It's so big I have to use my Kitchen Aid mixer bowl!

By the way, my favorite Wiggle is Greg. Hmmm....Yellow Wiggle, Yummy Yummy! :-D

Week 26 Weigh-In

Current Weight - 262.2
This week's loss - 1.8 lbs.
Total loss - 55.4 lbs.
Average calories per day - 1949
Treadmill - 4.62 miles in 1 1/2 hrs. over 3 days
Total calories burned this week according to Calories Per Hour - 608.

I can't believe it's been 6 months already! I did really well this week with my food choices, and I was hoping for a slightly better weigh-in, but I will gladly take the 1.8 lb. loss.

Nearly everything I ate this week was from whole foods...very, very little processed stuff. I made a new discovery in the produce department this week: Champagne Grapes! They are teeny tiny reddish-purple grapes in little viney clusters that are just bursting with flavor. My kids thought they were awesome too, so if you see some at your store you should give 'em a try! Later today I will try Kiwi fruit for the first time ever. After that I want to try Kumquats...that is if I can find them. No such luck yet.

This week I also increased the intensity on the treadmill. I now have the heartrate-based program set to 135 bpm and it's totally kicking my butt! My peak speed is up to 4.4 mph which has me running like there's no tomorrow. :-D

13 days until school starts...almost there!!!

Progress Photos

I'm kind of sad that my before pics don't really reflect the "before". I had already been dieting for 6 1/2 weeks and lost 16.4 lbs. before these pics were taken. Oh well, since I can't turn back the clock these will have to work! LOL If you look closely you'll notice that I'm wearing the same shirt in both sets of pics. Look at the arm on the side view and you'll see that the shirt is fitting much better.

I'll take pics again in December and hopefully by then I'll learn to post them side-by-side. :-D

Dinnertime!

Last night I made Cheesy Stuffed Shells and they were good! I really liked them, but my husband thought there was way too much spinach in them. Each stuffed shell plus a portion of sauce was only 100 calories. I had 5 shells and they were very filling.

Tonight we'll be having roast turkey breast and baked sweet potatoes. I have really been on a sweet potato kick lately. Growing up we'd have sweet potatoes around the holidays and they were the nasty canned type. Blech!!! Recently, however, I picked up a microwavable sweet potato (the kind shrink-wrapped in plastic) just to try and absolutely fell in love.

I think I'll try more of the food I hated as a kid: fish, seafood, green/red peppers, squash, etc. Maybe I'll like them too!

Week 25 Weigh-in

Current Weight - 264.0
This week's loss - 1.8 lbs.
Total loss - 53.6 lbs.
Average calories per day - 2005
Treadmill - 4.32 miles in 1 1/2 hrs. over 3 days
Total calories burned this week according to Calories Per Hour - 583.

I'm happy to report that the gain from last week is gone and it took another pound with it! Woohoo!

I've set a new goal for myself... I have 18 more weigh-ins until Christmas, so I'd like to lose 24 lbs. in that time. Why 24 lbs.? Because it would make me no longer "morbidly obese", just "obese". It would bring my BMI down to 39.9 and from what I've read, 40-49.9 is "morbidly obese" and 30 - 39.9 is "obese". This would be an average of 1.3 lbs. per week and I think I can manage that.

20 days until school starts!

Weekly Weigh-in

Current Weight - 265.8
This week's loss - +0.8 lbs. (gain)
Total loss - 51.8 lbs.
Average calories per day - 1886
Treadmill - 5.97 miles in 2 hrs. over 4 days
Total calories burned this week according to Calories Per Hour - 793.

What happened? I can't believe I had a gain this week! I did everything right and did not slip up at all. The only thing that was different this week was that I probably consumed way too much Diet Lipton Green Tea with Citrus. The label says it has no calories, but it does contain Aspartame which in the past has slowed my weight loss. Needless to say, I stopped drinking so much of it after hopping on the scales.

Hopefully I'll have a loss next week. I'm not letting this little bump in the road ruin everything. As long as I stick to the plan, my body has no choice but to fall in line.

Weekly Weigh-in

Current Weight - 265.0
This week's loss - 2.8 lbs.
Total loss - 52.6 lbs.
Average calories per day - 1981
Treadmill - 7.36 miles in 2 1/2 hrs. over 5 days
Total calories burned this week according to Calories Per Hour - 992.

Woohoo!!! I finally made it to 50 lbs.! I feel really good since I'm now below my starting weight of my last big diet. I've been down this road before so I know I can do it! :-)

My husband was home sick today so I didn't do the treadmill. I don't know why I didn't other than the fact that him being home messed up my normal daily routine. Plus, I guess I'm a little self-concious when someone over the age of 5 sees me working out. LOL Tomorrow is a new day and I promise I will workout even if he is home again.

34 days until school starts!