Stuck in a Rut

Daily Activity : 50 minutes on Elliptical (5 APs)

Well, its the end of another month. I'm setting new goals for myself for the upcoming month. I have decided to make my goal for August to earn 130 activity points. I didn't just pull this number out of a hat though. There are 31 days in August, I estimated that I will most likely exercise about 26 of those days, if I earn 5 APs for each exercise session that will equal 130 APs.

I really need to start focusing on strength training. I keep telling myself that, but I never do it. I think the bottom line is that I'm a cardio junkie. I don't get the high from strength training that I do from a cardio session. I know that more muscle will help me burn more calories at rest.

I've been wanting to try the Body Pump classes at the Y, but for some reason I have been too shy so far to go. I don't adapt to change well. I get in a groove and then I get stuck in a rut. I've done this all my life, with school, with work, with relationships. Its my MO. So now I'm stuck in a rut of cardio: running, elliptical, and spinning classes.

So ... with that being said, I'm going to make it another one of my August goals to go to 1 Body Pump class. There, I put it in writing!

Spinning, Roast Beef and Zumba?

Daily Activity: 2 Spinning Classes (8.5 APs)

I love Tuesdays and Thursdays. Those are the days that my favorite spin instructor teaches back to back classes at the Y. So every Tuesday and Thursday (except the nights I have to work) I find a delicious crockpot recipe and get everything going so that I can spin my heart out at the Y for 2 hours and burn around 800-900 calories. Then I come home to a great smelling house and an exciting recipe waiting for me.

Today I decided to pull out a London Broil that has been in my deep freezer for atleast a good 6 months. I originally bought it because it was super cheap, but then I never knew what to do with it. So it sat ... until today. I looked up a Slow Cooker London Broil recipe on my favorite site All Recipes, and threw everything in the ol' crockpot.

When I got home from spinning, I shredded the beef up and made roast beef sandwhiches with lettuce, tomato and just a smear of Hellman's Low Fat Mayo on a Sunbeam Light Hamburger Bun. Much more points friendly than traditional French bread. I made some Oreida Zesty Twirl fries to go alongside (3 pts/serving) and had another delicious crockpot dinner. The entire meal works out to be 10 points including the fries.

In other news, Tim (my hubby) told me tonight that he found out that Zumba is coming to one of our local YMCAs. I've watched a few youtube videos of Zumba and it looks super fun, but it also looks like something I would be embarassed as hell to do in public. So we'll see. Maybe I'll work up the nerve to actually give it a try. I'll keep you posted.

Food Finds and Yummy Tacos.

Daily Activity: Spinning 45 minutes (4 APs)

Some of you may know that I went to a church boarding school when I was in high school. The school that I went to was vegetarian; so I went two years of my life without eating meat. During that time I found some really good meat substitutes that I actually enjoyed. I think most people automatically close their mind down to trying "meat-like" products without giving them a fair chance. Although I'm not a vegetarian now, I still resort to some of my meat substitutes on occasion because of their lower fat and calorie content.

One of the things I have always enjoyed are Boca Burgers. They are frozen hamburger like patties that can be microwaved or cooked on an indoor grill. They make several different flavors and some vegan options. They don't taste like a real hamburger, and I think thats where alot of people get caught up. But personally I like the way they taste.


A few months ago I discovered that Boca makes a product called Boca Crumbles. It is the vegetarian equivalent of ground beef. It can be found in the frozen food section of the grocery store with the other Boca products and Morningstar Farms products.


The nutrition information:

For those of you on Weight Watchers, one serving equals 1 point. Not bad at all! Compare that to ground beef and I think you'll see a big difference.

I love to use Boca Crumbles for tacos and in chili. With all of the spices and toppings you really cannot tell a difference in the taste of the Boca Crumbles vs. ground beef. There is a slightly different texture, but its hardly noticable.

Boca Crumbles are really easy to cook with as well. You can take the bag straight out of the freezer to a skillet without defrosting which is great for dinner on the fly.

This is what it looks like cooked and mixed with a taco seasoning packet, just like you would do with regular ground beef.

Proceed to make your tacos like you normally would. For my toppings I used: Kraft Free Shredded Cheddar Cheese, chopped onion, chopped scallions, salsa, Daisy Light Sour Cream, and cilantro. I served Old El Paso Fat Free Refried Beans on the side with some of my taco toppings.

Two soft tacos with all the toppings and 1/2 cup of FF refried beans equals 8.5 points, and one very filling and delicious meal!

Middle of the night ramblings.

I just got sent home from work early for possibly having Conjuntivitis (pink eye), so I thought I'd take this opportunity to write a little bit.

I saw some pictures of myself from a party I went to in March tonight. I can't believe how much I have changed in just over 4 months. Its ridiculous! I truly do look like a whole new person. I don't think I ever realized what I looked like. I may have said that before, but I just never thought I was as big as I truly was. When I would see pictures of myself at that weight I would literally be shocked that I looked like that. I'd make excuses that it was the lighting, the angle or the camera. No dumbass! Thats just you! If I would have seen myself the way the camera saw me perhaps I wouldn't have let myself get so out of control.

I saw a friend tonight that I haven't seen in several weeks and she raved and raved about how great I look and how drastic of a change she notices in the way I look. That made me feel good. Sometimes I get embarassed when I get these kind of compliments because it is in my nature to be modest and minimize the compliment. But what I really want to say is .. "Thanks for noticing, it took a hell of alot of hard work and dedication, alot of self control, and a riduculous number of miles on the elliptical/treadmill/bike and I'm pretty freakin pleased myself!" So I'm saying it here because all I can muster is usually a simple thanks.

My pork tenderloin from yesterday turned out DIVINE! I cooked it all day in the crockpot and it was so moist it was literally falling apart. I love taking my culinary creations to work for my co-workers to try since the large majority of them don't know how to boil water. I always offer bites of my food to everyone, but please don't ask me if you can put ketchup on my expensive meats! (Love you Bailey)

On another note, I've really been pushing myself with my running lately. I finished the Couch to 5K program a couple of months ago. I've been running 3 miles consistantly since then (3-4 times a week). I would eventually love to do something as serious as a half marathon (oh my god, did I really just say that?!). I can't seem to get to my next goal of running 5 miles though. I've done 4 miles twice and even made it to 4.5 miles once, but I just can't seem to get past that. Part of me also feels like I'm cheating because I'm running on a treadmill instead of outdoors. The treadmill is so convienent for me though. Firstly because I own one and its in my bedroom, and secondly because I usually don't have time to worry about driving to a track or somewhere to run, and my neighborhood is definitely not suitable. I'm really having a hard time getting over the "it doesn't really count because my feet aren't pounding the pavement" way of thinking.

I need to make a list of all the reasons I want to lose weight so that I can refer to it in my weaker moments and when I begin to lose my motivation. Maybe that will be my next blog.

Weigh- In Day

Its Monday again, and that means its weigh-in day. Today I was at 179.6, down 1.4 for this week and bringing my total weightloss to 80.4 lbs. Not bad if I say so myself!

Today I'm cooking Amazing Pork Tenderloin in the Slow Cooker. I hope it tastes as good as it smells!

Just a little background.

I started this blog to share my weightloss story with anyone who wants to read it. I've been overweight my entire life. There isn't a time when I remember being happy with my weight or the way I looked. Now that I look back I wish I would have been happier with where I was because I never realized how bad things could and would get.

When I graduated high school I weighed around 175 lbs. I wasn't happy with the way I looked, but I was fairly healthy. I was exercising on a semi-regular basis at the time.

Once I started college and met Tim, my future husband, I got fat and happy so to speak. I gained a little bit at a time until I was 200 ... 225 ... 250 and eventually 260. I tried Weight Watchers just after Tim and I got married in January 2002. I lost about 15 pounds, but getting up early on Saturday mornings to go to meetings didn't last long. I should have known I was setting myself up to fail when the thing I looked forward to the most was going to IHOP right after weigh-in. I gave up, and gained back the weight I had lost plus alot more.

I don't think I ever really realized how big I had gotten. I knew my clothes were getting bigger and bigger, but when I looked in the mirror I still saw a fairly ok looking girl most of the time. I would see people out in public that I knew were way bigger than I was, so I felt ok about myself. But not great. I can remember asking my husband, "am I bigger than her?". Of course he'd always say no, she was way bigger than I was. So I was ok.

In 2007 I started seriously thinking about having a baby. At this time I was hovering right around 260 lbs. I wanted to lose some weight before I got pregnant. I started Weight Watchers again and lost 15 lbs before I found out I was pregnant. Throughout my pregnancy I did gain weight, but not a shameful amount. I think the total ended up somewhere around 20 lbs. After my son was born I lost around 30 lbs in just a couple of weeks. I got down to about 235 or so without even trying. I was super excited. I weighed less than I did when I got pregnant! That is what sparked my desire to continue. I thought, "if I can lose 30 lbs without even trying, what could I do if I put some effort into it?"

So I logged back on to weightwatchers.com and renewed my account that I had cancelled, and so the story began.

Tim and I at my baby shower. (March 2008)