week 3 wrap-up

i've been dreading this week's report.  it's been kind of an "off" week.  the busyness of working full time, plus eye doctor and dentist appointments, plus planning and packing for a weekend away, plus all the normal everyday stuff... all of this added up to eating on the run and probably not eating mindfully and intentionally.  i was successful in exercising daily and keeping to my calorie goals, but somehow, this week did not give me the thrilling sense of victory that the previous two weeks had.  i just feel fatigued and sluggish.  my legs have felt like bricks each morning when i've hopped on the treadmill.  i've been sleeping well (much better than normal, actually!), but my body is screaming at me to sleep loooonger.  not sure what's going on.  perhaps i didn't choose my meals wisely.  not enough veggies?  too many carbs?  whatever the case may be, i hope i can figure it out soon!

without further ado, here's my menu for the week!

• sunday: buffalo turkey burgers with coleslaw and green beans
• monday: baked pasta with sausage and spinach
• tuesday: leftover pasta (quick meal because i had a dentist appointment... and that pasta bake is delicious and makes a TON) :-)
• wednesday: slow cooker pepperoni and chicken with roasted broccoli
• thursday: blueberry, avocado, and toasted pecan quinoa salad
• friday: probably leftovers or whatever we can scrounge up in the house before leaving for labor day weekend at the cabin!

i was pretty excited about sunday's buffalo turkey burgers with coleslaw.  i am wildly obsessed with anything containing buffalo sauce.  (this is a new development... not sure what rock i've been hiding under, but this is a brand new ingredient for me!  can't get enough!)  anyway, the meal was met with mixed reviews.  steve LOVED them.  he ate two and happily took the leftovers to work the next day.  i, on the other hand, thought they were a little bland.  could have used a LOT more hot sauce to account for the fact the ground turkey is so bleh.  so, if i make this recipe again, i'll do just that.  also, for what it's worth, i did not prepare the blue cheese slaw that was suggested in the recipe.  i'm not a fan of blue cheese, so i used an alternate slaw recipe with low fat mayo.

steve ate his burger on a roll, while i opted to save a few calories and skip the bun.

regarding monday's baked pasta with sausage and spinach, i know what you're thinking.  how can such a dish be even remotely healthy?  well, the genius mind over at SkinnyTaste (quickly becoming a favorite website) found a way!  using part-skim mozzarella, fat free ricotta, and chicken sausage, this meal comes in at just under 400 calories per serving.  also, it's DELICIOUS!  i never imagined that i would use the adjective delicious for something containing fat free ricotta, but wow.  this was really good.

ok, so it's not exactly beautiful.  most casserole type things aren't...

but yummm.  very filling.  especially with whole wheat pasta, which i just LOVE.

wednesday's slow cooker pepperoni and chicken was.... weird.  i picked this recipe from Skinny Mom because it appealed to my family's love for pepperoni pizza.  and i figured that if we're not going to eat much pizza these days, perhaps this turkey pepperoni would fill the void.  sadly, it did not.  but it was probably my fault.  the chicken was super dried out (likely my fault for leaving it in the crock pot for too long), much too salty (possibly my fault.  i was in a hurry while preparing it, so i wasn't paying attention to how thoroughly i had salted the chicken), and it just felt like it was missing something (again, my fault.  turns out i was supposed to sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the dish -- but i completely forgot about it!)  so the failure of this meal is totally on me.  eh, it happens.

the chicken would have been MUCH better if i'd remembered to sprinkle on the cheese.
(cheese make everything better)  :-)
my favorite part of the meal was the mountain of roasted broccoli.

thursday's blueberry, avocado, and toasted pecan quinoa salad was the hero of the week.  after a few lackluster meals, this one took my palate to a whole new place.  toasted pecans and blueberries?? -- yes please.  a maple, lime, and basil dressing?? -- to die for.  and you guys, after years of claiming that i don't like avocados, i bravely tried one for this salad, and it was amazing!  (while i'm not completely ready to commit to a love for avocados, i will at least keep my mind open to them in the future.)

i kept the avocados on the side at first... 

eventually, i threw caution to the wind and mixed them in.  best decision of the week!

and now, the WEEKLY WEIGH-IN.  i lost 0 pounds this week.  ugh, how disappointing!  i kind of expected this, given how i was feeling all week.  but all of that cake in the office lunch room that i passed up??  man, that's gotta count for something, right?  boo.

possible changes to make for next week:

• perhaps that pasta was a poor choice, delicious as it was.  also, i think it's really easy to overeat pasta. so maybe lay off the pasta for a while.  or at least, don't eat the leftovers for lunch and dinner two days in a row.  :-)
• breakfast.  i eat cereal almost every morning.  it does a great job at keeping me full until lunch! however, i recently took a closer look at the nutrition label on my box of Cheerios Protein Oats & Honey, and it's super-packed with sugar.  ugh, how sad!  so starting next week, i'm shifting to some bland Kashi stuff.  ;-)
• this week, i think i was a little too concerned about calorie count vs. content.  i don't think i ate enough vegetables and "whole" foods and lean proteins.  i'll work on getting back to that next week!

so that's a wrap!  have a great weekend, everyone!  and wish me luck on our weekend away -- i'm aiming to keep my eating in check while still having a good time with my friends.  i'm nervous, but up for the challenge!

week 2 -- nailed it!

you guys.  week 2 has come and gone, and i'm still smiling!  i can hardly even believe it.  i'm feeling super motivated, mostly because i hate to fail... and failing publicly is even worse.  so every time i was tempted to shove a yummy treat into my face, i was able to talk myself out of it by thinking about my end-of-week report on this blog.  thank you, great big blogosphere, for holding me accountable.

so i tried a number of new recipes this week, and i'm excited to share them with you!  here's the brief listing with pictures and descriptions to follow:

• sunday: three cheese zucchini stuffed lasagna rolls
• monday: lightened up chicken buffalo quesadillas with roasted broccoli
• tuesday: naked salmon burger with srirachi mayo and roasted peas and corn
• wednesday: grilled chicken with creamy pesto pasta and steamed broccoli
• thursday: crunchy cashew thai quinoa salad with ginger peanut dressing
• friday: i have no idea!  ha... (poor planning on my part!)

first up were these three cheese zucchini stuffed lasagna rolls that i found on the Skinny Taste blog.  at just 240 calories per roll, i had to give them a try.

three cheese zucchini stuffed lasagna rolls.  aren't they just the cutest?

these were pretty great... and super cute!  i think i'd like her spinach version even better, but with the plethora of zucchini available this time of year, this is a very tasty seasonal dish.  pair it with a side salad, and you've got yourself a super satisfying meal!  (just make sure to really really squeeze all of the moisture out of your zucchini.  otherwise, you'll get soggy lasagna.)

steve gave this meal a thumbs-up.  isla wondered what that "green stuff" was in her pasta 

and offered the most dramatic gag EVER when she tasted it.  sigh...

monday night's lightened up chicken buffalo quesadillas were a BIG hit.  definitely steve's favorite meal of the week.  to be honest, though, the recipe wasn't all that "light," so i took some liberties and lightened it up a bit more by using 100-calorie chi-chi's tortilla wraps, reduced fat cheese, and low fat sour cream.  also, instead of pan-frying them in butter, i cooked them on our electric griddle with a light dusting of cooking spray.

this picture does the meal no justice.  these were aaaaamazingly flavorful!
steve and i even had a "fight" about who could take the leftovers to work.  :-)

tuesday's naked salmon burger with srirachi mayo packed a punch with flavor.  if you like spicy, these are for you.  they were a little too intense for steve and isla, but i really, really liked them!  the leftovers heat up nicely too, but big warning if you microwave these at work -- you WILL make the entire office smell like a fishing dock.  so, proceed with caution.

naked salmon burger with srirachi mayo and roasted peas and corn

wednesday's grilled chicken with creamy pesto pasta was a repeat meal for us.  i've made this before, and it was well-received!  and by using skim milk, one serving is much lower in calories than you might think!  463 calories for a pasta dish?  sign me up!

grilled chicken with creamy pesto pasta and steamed broccoli

thursday's crunchy cashew thai quinoa salad was a big surprise for me.  i made this for dinner with a vegetarian friend, expecting to have to choke it down.  but boy was i wrong!  this was hands-down my favorite meal of the week!!  the flavors... the crunch... oh, that peanutty dressing!!  it's aaaamazing.  even if this isn't your style, give it a try with an open mind!  and it's only 260 calories per serving -- so go ahead and have seconds!

now i finally understand all the hype about quinoa.  this was SO GOOD!

look at those textures and colors and yumminess!
(this is where a real camera would come in handy, but whatevs...)

beth's win for the week:  there was apple pie, chocolate chip cookies, and salt 'n vinegar chips in the office this week.  and i resisted all of them!!  bwahahaha, you silly treats!  you don't have power over me when my tummy is filled with quinoa!

isla's progress:  my dear 2-year-old really struggles with vegetables.  (well, truth be told, she struggles with all eating in general....  if it were up to her, she'd choose to eat crackers and maybe a yogurt for every meal.)  but this week, she scarfed up some broccoli!  especially the roasted broccoli.  awesome!

and now, my WEEKLY WEIGH-IN.  i lost 1.4 pounds this week, bringing me to a total of 3.2 pounds lost in 2 weeks!  i'm so proud of myself!  thanks for your support, everyone!  let's press on!

I Survived Week 1!

well, it's day 5.  i survived a whole work week without any major setbacks.  let's toast to that!

cheers! a morning toast is infinitely more awesome with green tea in a Star Trek mug...

so, something i forgot to mention in my last post is that in addition to striving for more healthier foods, i'm also tracking my calories with MyFitnessPal.  (i use the app on my iPad.)  i aim for a daily net caloric intake of 1200, which is fairly reasonable, especially when i exercise.  (because then i get to eat more.  woohoo!  and that's really the point of exercising, right??)  ;-)  kidding, kidding.

my first week's effort at meals was valiant, i believe.  not perfect, but a good start.  dinners for the week included:

• Monday: chicken quinoa lettuce wraps with peanut dipping sauce
• Tuesday: pan-seared tilapia with broccoli and quinoa
• Wednesday: crunchy turkey tacos, piled high with veggies
• Thursday: fresh bruschetta (maybe not the best choice for dinner, but it was girls night with a dear friend) :-)
• Friday: black bean burgers with fresh salsa

my favorite meal of the week was the chicken quinoa lettuce wraps.  you gotta try this immediately!  even my husband enjoyed this meal, and folks, that's huge.  you can find the recipe here at Natasha's Kitchen. (for the record, i'm not a photographer by any stretch of the imagination.  my food photos will not be beautiful.  but we can still be friends, right?)

still on the hunt for some delicious, healthy recipes.  please send some my way if you come across anything amazing!

Beth's Win for the Week: we had a pizza party at work to say good-bye to an employee who was serving as an interim pastor.  i ate a piece.  BUT ONLY ONE!  with a heaping side of raw veggies.  some might consider it a fail that i indulged in a piece of pizza, but for me, this is a major win.

and now, the moment of truth.... the WEEKLY WEIGH-IN.  i have lost 1.8 pounds!  now, i realize that if this were The Biggest Loser, i likely would have been kicked off the ranch for pulling such a low number.  BUT, this is real life.  and for a regular person trying to lose weight while living a normal life, i feel pretty great about this.  woohoo!  bring on week 2!

let's do this!

"hi."  (she said sheepishly after not posting on her blog for over 2 years...)  :-)

when i started this blog over 3 years ago, it was intended to follow the journey of my infertility and our struggle to get pregnant.  little did i know that, after waiting and trying for a year and a half (which seemed impossibly long at the time), our daughter would be conceived the very week that i went public with my story.  maybe a coincidence?  or, more likely, God's unique plan and timing.  pretty amazing, honestly.

and now, here i am, starting a new (far less harrowing) journey and feeling the need to "go public" in order to hold myself accountable, perhaps find some support, and maybe even encourage a few people along the way.

folks, i'm going on a diet.  after living in denial for much too long, it's time to make some changes.  my post-30, post-baby metabolism has slowed waaaay down.  my energy level has never been lower.  i can't remember the last time i wasn't at least a little bit tired.  i exercise 5 days a week, but i'm not seeing any results.  my family history contains diabetes, heart disease, cancer, obesity, and just about everything else.  so all things considered, it's high time to take a serious look at what i'm eating.  for instance, i hear vegetables are important.  ;-)

here is what i'm NOT doing:

• no extreme fads.  i'm not cutting out all gluten or sugar or dairy.  no paleo.  i'm not drinking my lunch or buying expensive supplements.  i'm not going vegetarian or all whole foods obsessed.  i know i won't stick with that.
• no unrealistic goals.  i'm not saying i'll never eat pizza or pasta again, because come on.  have you met me?  i love food, and i'm not ashamed of it!  but i need to learn how to control it and how to eat intentionally and wisely.

so what's the plan?  

• lean proteins.  
• LOTS more veggies. (which i don't enjoy AT ALL, but i gotta try.)  
• fruit.  
• snack smartly.
• fewer carbs and sweets during the week.  
• give myself some splurges on the weekends.
• continue working out 5 days per week, as i have been.
• be active with the family on weekends, when possible.
• make it possible!
• blog about it to hold yourself accountable.

so here we go.  it's day 1.  let's roll...

thumbs up for taking the first step!