Guess what I did?

Pre-registration ends tomorrow at noon EST, so I finally put on my big girl panties and did it.  I registered for the Indy Women's Half Marathon!

The only goal is to finish.  I have no time limit on my mind.  Be it run, walk, stagger, or crawl, I will finish this thing!

Here's the bling.  Oooh purdy.
(The one on the right is the medal for the half.)

Special post-long run bonus!

Minor chafing on my shoulder/collarbone area from my sports bra strap.  One of the places I discovered I need BodyGlide!  The others aren't places I'd post a pic of, ha!  TMI?  Yeah probably.

Also...I have a jawline!  That's fun.

And so it begins...

Today starts my Week of Accountability!  I will be posting every day with my food log/points tracker, my daily activity, and a weigh in.  I don't recommend weighing daily, but this week I really need to make sure I'm on track.

As I said in my last post, I'm putting on my noob hat.  For the first few months on Weight Watchers, I was absolutely obsessive about tracking accurately and making decent choices...I need to get back there.  So the paper tracker is coming out, and the online tools that have been neglected as of late will be put to good use.  The measuring cups and spoons will get a workout, as will my WW pocket calculator.

And so, without further delay...my weigh in from today's meeting.

Weigh in:  Saturday, 8/20/11 - 201.2 - 3.4 lbs gained 


My daily point allowance went *up*...how terrible does that feel?  Ugh.  That gain is since last Saturday's out of town weigh in, for a net gain in two weeks of 5.8.  Yeesh.  That's not to say that I'm surprised - I've been off track for a while now, and this past week especially I was NOT eating like a mentally sound individual.  It actually could have been worse, and it was when I checked Friday morning, so I did make up a little ground by getting back on track yesterday.

After a much needed trip to the grocery store, I came home and got in my activity for the day.  I follow FitnessGetzEasy on Facebook, and a challenge has been issued to be active for at least 20 minutes EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. for 30 days.  Today is my Day 1.

I also found an interesting set of training programs that are designed to increase your strength and get you doing insane amounts of body weight exercises in 6 weeks.  I decided to start on the 100 push-ups and 150 tricep dips programs...but then I realized I can't even do a decent push-up from my knees (my arms barely move, it's pretty pathetic really).  So I'm going to do wall push-ups for now and just try to increase my strength enough to move to the bench or floor versions.  Tricep dips I can do though!  Today was just my 'initial test' day, so I'll start the actually 150 dips program on Monday.

- Wall push-ups - 50
- Tricep dips - 13
- Stationary bike - 3.9 miles in 20:00 


I did some intervals on the bike - 30 seconds at max effort, 1-2 minutes recovery.  Max for me ended up being around 16-17 mph, and recovery was 10-11.  It amazes me that folks can maintain my interval pace for hours on end...I think I would die.  I went to walk up the basement steps when I was done and almost yelled - glutes made of pain.  Not sure if it was sitting on the bike seat, or the effort.  Ouchie.  But it felt good to sweat and have that wobbly-limbed sensation again!

Here are some screen caps of my tracker today!

I have 34 points per day right now, so I was right on target today!  I got in every single one of my healthy checks, which are 2 servings of dairy, 5 of fruit/veg, 2 tsp of healthy oil, and a daily multivitamin.  Weight Watchers recommends at least 6 8oz glasses of liquid a day, and it doesn't have to be water.  When I track, though, I check off a box for every 16oz I drink since my personal goal is to drink a gallon each day.

Here's a pic of dinner!  My mom was super considerate and asked how I wanted my porkchop cooked since she and Dad were having them breaded and pan fried.  (She knows I'm really stressed about gaining, I about had a breakdown yesterday morning talking to her about it.  Blargh.)  She seared mine with some olive oil and then baked it in the oven for me.  :)  I may have defeated the purpose by putting a little gravy on it.  Oh well.  And yes, I know, I know - two starchy vegetables!  Corn and mashed potatoes are my dad's preferred dinner sides...those, plus green beans, are about all the veggies I ever had growing up!

That's today done!  Tomorrow's plan is to get up super early and hit the pavement - 1 hr 35 min run scheduled, which for me should be around 7 miles.  I'm gonna stick close to home in case I need to refuel, I've never run much more than an hour!

Crash and burn

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Blogger for eating my last post.  I tried to post something on Monday but apparently it has disappeared into cyberspace.

My tiki mug is cooler than your tiki mug.

So, to catch up, I had a great time on my trip.  Saw Harry Potter (second time for me, first for the bf) and The Help.  I had excuses to wear some of my pretty clothes.  We went out to eat a few times, but outside of that I tried to stick with my safe foods like fruit, Cinnamon Cheerios, and ham sammiches.  I only ran once while I was there, but that's better than nothing I think.

My weigh in last Saturday I was up 2.4 lbs, which was to be expected - Friday night involved massive amounts of food, and alcoholic beverages that were poured with a very heavy hand.  I was also introduced to my new love:  edamame.

I came home on Sunday evening, and weighed myself on Monday morning...holy crap.  I was at 203-point-something.  Water weight from traveling, mostly, I'm sure.  Or it was at that point at least...

It's a bowl of liquor, and it's on fire.
(We had to ask for extra mixers because it was so strong.)

I'm still probably sitting around that number now because my week just went to hell.  I'm always depressed when I come home from AZ because I want to just stay there forever.  My emotions and boredom got the better of me and I've been late-night binge eating like I will never see ice cream again.  I've been good today, so that's 1 day out of 7.  Yeah...it's not going to be pretty tomorrow.

As a result of this terrible week, and - let's be honest - the past few weeks that I haven't tracked AT ALL, I will be tracking and posting my food here every day for the coming week.  I am putting my noob hat on and pretending I just joined Weight Watchers.  It's time for some renewed accountability.  Guess that means I should probably hit the grocery store...I think my appropriate food supply consists of apples and Nutrigrain waffles at this point.

Slacker weigh-in post, plus swag!

I got somewhat behind with posts this weekend, my head has been all over the place!

Weigh in:  Saturday, 8/6/11 - 195.4 - 1.8 lbs lost, 54.8 total


Still heading in the right direction, which is pretty surprising considering the week I had.  I did not track *at all* and my food choices were, for the most part, very sub-par nutritionally.

I was apparently exhausted after my long run on Friday evening, and managed to sleep through my alarm (twice! - it automatically snoozes after ringing for a couple minutes) on Saturday morning.  I put on my workout clothes before WW so I'd be prepared for Zumba afterwards, but I was still feeling groggy and weird so I decided to go home after the meeting.

I went downtown on Saturday afternoon to volunteer for Tri Indy (local triathalon) packet pickup.  A local running shop had some stuff set up for sale, and after much confusion and staring on my part I figured out one of the guys working over there was my anatomy and physiology teacher from high school (who I totally thought was a babe when I was in his class...awkward).  I didn't say anything to him though, because I wasn't 100% sure it was him and if I'd been wrong that would have been weird.  I just went and looked him up online, turns out I was right.

Aaaaanyway, I got some freebies for helping:

Race t-shirt (volunteers got orange, participants got green), tumbler w/ race logo, and a mesh cap.  I am most excited about the hat, because I was thinking that I needed to buy a tech hat or visor, and now I've got a free one!  I haven't tried it out on a run yet, so whether or not it will stay on my somewhat large head remains to be seen.    Off topic:  You probably can't see it very well, but my earrings in this picture are fighter planes!  And the propellers can spin, how cute is that?

I may not have any more posts this week because I'm going to Chandler again this Tuesday through Sunday.  Still planning on going to a Saturday morning weigh-in, and hopefully will get at least two runs in while I'm there.  I will update when I get back!

Carmel 5k for Haiti recap

I can't believe I ran the whole thing!

I met my goal of running the entire race, and my tentative hope that I would finish in under 40 minutes! 

Time was about 36:40, but I was a little overexcited when I looked at the clock and am guessing a bit on the seconds.  I'll update once they post official times.

It was warm and humid, but it did rain last night (finally!) so it wasn't as hot as it's been.  Plus it was still completely overcast, which was nice.

Notable moments include:

• Using the 'mobile restroom'...technically a porta-potty with multiple stalls, but it legitimately looked like a fancy bathroom.  There was music piped in and automatic sinks and everything.  Color me impressed.
• Running my first mile under 11:30
• Passing a number of people who appeared to be more fit than me, but they fizzled out and had to walk.
• Discovering how hard it is to drink from a cup and keep running...gave up and just poured it over my face.  That's about what I would have accomplished anyway had I continued trying to drink it.
• Following a gentleman in a neon yellow tank the entire race, but sprinting at the end and passing him just before the finish line.
• Almost shoving people out of my way after the finish.  Folks just stopped right there to chat, but I had to keep walking and cool down or I was going to throw up on somebody.

They were taking pictures in a few places along the way, so hopefully I will have some to post soon.  You'll get to see how red and sweaty I am when running, hooray!

For now, here's my new tech shirt and my race bib.  :)

I have arrived!!!!!!

Ok, so the Healthy Choice Café Steamers teriyaki steak I had for lunch wasn't quite as exciting as tea with the Mad Hatter.  But nonetheless, I am in ONEderland!!!

Weigh in:  Saturday, 7/23/11 - 199.2 - 1.6 lbs lost, 51 total

Weight Watchers awards.
Clockwise from top:  Keyring for 10% of
starting weight lost; -25 lb washer;
'Stay & Succeed' charm for attending 16
meetings; 5k completion charm; -50 lb washer

I didn't cry on the scale when I saw the number the receptionist wrote down, but I did tear up a little this morning when I jumped on the scale at home before the meeting.  (I do this every week, don't ask me why...I know it doesn't really do me any good!)

I got a new charm for my keyring for losing 50 pounds!

It's been nearly 2 months since my last set of progress pictures.  2 months to lose 11 pounds...it's acceptable, certainly, but that sounds quite slow to me.  I was spoiled with my quick loss at the beginning.

I still have an issue recognizing the weight loss in myself.  Logically, I know I'm a lot thinner because I can wear smaller sizes, and my measurements are getting smaller, but I have some sort of mental block when it comes to actually *seeing* it.

I have now lost 20% of my starting weight of 250.2.  My BMI has dropped from 38 (nearly morbidly obese) to 30.3.  I am still "o-beast" (I always say it like that when I'm talking to my mom, I feel it is an appropriate descriptor, but amusing at the same time...sometimes you gotta laugh at yourself!).  But I am inching ever-closer to the 'overweight' range of the scale.

Weight Watchers' BMI calculator on their website doesn't use decimal places, so they say I'll be overweight (BMI of 29) at 193 lbs.  More precise online calculators that count the overweight range up to a BMI of 29.9, tell me I'll be there at 196.8 lbs.  I've settled on 193.4 as my next mini-goal, and I'd like to hit that by September 3.

My full weight record.  I'm averaging 1.9 lbs lost per week.

Personal goal for the rest of my life:  Never see a number on the scale or on my pants that starts with a 2, ever again!

Workouts for the week of 7/16-7/22

Saturday, 7/16/11 - Zumba class, 1 hr


I already mentioned this class in last Saturday's weigh in post.  First time going to a class by this particular instructor, it was packed and very high energy.  Definitely the most fun Zumba class I've been to so far.  My friend Elisa who joined WW around the same time as me attended class with me and we both had a blasty blast!

Monday, 7/18/11 - PALA beginner 1/2 marathon plan, Day 1 - cross training - Zumba class, 1 hr


Zumba twice in a week!  Elisa told me she was going, so I said 'why not?!'  Same instructor, same packed class, still fun, but it was the sweatiest Zumba EVER.  I was absolutely shiny by the end, and it's the first time I've ever felt even remotely like I was going to be sick during a class (it was really hot in there and I'd just eaten beforehand - bad idea).

And yes, I've moved on from the 10k plan...it's half marathon time baby!  I'm using the plan from the active.com partnership with the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award.  It's free, you can find it here.  So most of my runs will be a little shorter than usual at the beginning here.  I'm still deciding if I want to sign up for the Indianapolis Women's Half Marathon, which I would walk most of because it's only a little over a month away.  The one I'm more seriously considering, as it would coincide more with the end of my training plan, is the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon/Half Marathon.  I would be tacking on a few weeks to the program due to the fact that I'm a slowbie and need more time to cover the appropriate distances, and then still have 2-3 weeks for taper.  Ooh, look at me mentioning tapers like I know what I'm talking about.  Special!

Tuesday, 7/19/11 - PALA 1/2 plan, Day 2 - 3.22 miles in 43:00 (13:21 pace)


I recapped this run already in this post.  I really picked a helluva time to start running outside.  It is so damned hot!  When I got back home and stood in the driveway to stretch, I had my own little puddle of sweat that dripped off my face onto the pavement.  Lovely!

If I'm running outside I probably won't break down when I ran and when I walked, because frankly, it's a lot harder for me to keep running for the designated amount of time outside, and I have no way to keep track of the time of my walk breaks.  I've mentioned before that I have pacing problems - to give you an idea, while on the treadmill I was doing easy run days at 4.5mph, which was right on target for my pace this day.  BUT (big but), I walked about 15 minutes of this!  How fast was I running?  No idea, but it's safe to say it was too fast for me to maintain, especially in the heat.

I think I'm going to try the Galloway method (walk breaks at intervals) for long run days and see how I like it - first one will be this coming Sunday.

Thursday, 7/20/11 - PALA 1/2 plan, Day 3 - 2.53 miles in 32:00 (12:38 pace)


Nasty hot again, and the city told everyone to stop watering their lawns for the rest of the week because we haven't had rain in forever and there's a water shortage...I didn't encounter any refreshing sprinklers.  That's not to say that everyone paid attention to the request, because I heard some sprinklers running, they just weren't on my path.  Sadface.

And hello?  Under 13 min/miles?  This felt harder than Tuesday even thought it was shorter, and once I got home, mapped it out, and discovered my pace, that made sense.  I did manage to run 25 minutes straight, which was exactly what my plan called for!  Go me!


This post got really long...sorry to all dozen of you who read this!  I'll leave you with a poor quality cell phone photo of my makeshift sexy Hogwarts uniform that I wore to see Harry Potter.  Elisa and I went together...bless her for not calling me crazy for dressing up for a movie that had already been in the theater for nearly a week at that point.  I just pieced it together from my wardrobe and yoinked a necktie from my dad.  Please take note of the giant locket, which would of course represent the Slytherin locket horcrux...duh.  I'm a huge nerd, clearly.  (PS - I did NOT wear Spanx under my pencil skirt!  Though I'm unsure if that's a result of improved body confidence, or just the fact that it's too darned hot.)


I have always preferred the books, and this was no exception - there were some things that I loved that were completely left out or downplayed, and then the standard adding of random stuff by screenwriters.  I won't go into it, in case you haven't seen it.  All that said, though, I still REALLY enjoyed it.  I had tears streaming down my face for the whole pensieve sequence.  I can't believe the story I grew up with is over!

The touch, the feel of cotton...

...is NOT a good thing when running.  I should know.  That's pretty much all I own.

I sweat when I work out.  A lot.  Cotton gets sopping wet and sticks to your skin.  It's not exactly pleasant.

I was bumming around the mall yesterday and talked to a lady from Dick's Sporting Goods about how I've started running, but their gigantic selection of clothing was really intimidating me and I had no idea what to look at first.  She pointed out some things and we talked about sports bras.  I tried on a few things, but left empty handed.  Over $50 for a good sports bra?  Seriously?  That purchase will have to wait until I'm no longer in a transitional phase as far as my weight is concerned.  Also aggravating is the fact that apparently, as a woman, you get either shorty-shorts, or capris.  Can I get some mid-length please?  Like just above the knee would be great.  I have thighs, folks!  They rub together!  It's called chafing?  It's not good!  Chubby ladies wanna work out too!

So, I am in search of cheap tech workout clothes.  Screw cotton.  And where does one go when she's in search of anything cheap?  Walmart, of course!

Okay, so now I sort of look like a cat burglar.  It's not my fault all the had in the proper size in the very limited Danskin 'performance' material selection was black!

I just did today's run in this and I definitely did feel less distracted by my copious amounts of sweat.  I always take a towel with me on the treadmill to mop myself off periodically, and I did again today, but I wasn't concerned about doing it quite so often.  Also eliminated was the distraction of the bottom of my shirt flapping around since this is very stretchy, fitted (obviously...say hello to my rolls) nylon/spandex.

And for the record...I bought a size LARGE in both pants and top.  No X's people!

Why is everything breaking?!

The cable was out from Monday morning to Thursday afternoon.  My tv (old school tv, not flatscreen) has gone wonky in one corner, and the color is all off.  And, the worst...the treadmill is broken again!  The belt seems to run smoothly, but once someone gets on it, it's all you can do to stay on and not be thrown when it jerks randomly.  Repair guy is coming tomorrow.  We already did this back in March for the exact same problem!  Replaced parts and everything.  I need my treadmill!

Okay, done whining.  Workouts for this past week:

Saturday, 6/18/11 - 10k plan, Day 11 - 3.14 miles in 45:00 (14:19 pace) - 5 min warmup/cooldown walk @ 3.5, tempo jog - 10 min @ 4.3, 15 min @ 4.5, 10 min @ 4.3

15 minutes at 4.5!  Still slow, but I'm getting faster!!  And another 5k distance in under 45 minutes.

Sunday, 6/19/11 - Zumba+Abs class, 1 hr


There were only 5 people in class.  Only reason I can come up with:  it was raining and no one wanted to leave their house and get their butts to the gym.  Ah well, it was fun anyway!  The ab workout was killer though...I really cannot do planks to save my life.

Tuesday, 6/21/11 - 10k plan, Day 12 - 4.78 miles in 1:10:00 (14:38 pace) - 10 min walk @ 3.5, 45 min run @ 4.3, 10 min walk @ 3.5, 4x100m strides @ 5.1


45 minutes!  My longest one yet.  And I jogged in between my strides rather than walking.  Progress!

Rather than drinking water, I tried some G2 since this was a "long" run.  I didn't have any nausea issues, so maybe that helped.

It was Tuesday that I noticed the treadmill was really starting to jerk.  I noticed it before, but tightened the belt and it got a bit better so I wasn't terribly concerned.  But I told my dad about it, and went to show him the issue and practically got thrown off the thing.  So no more treadmill this week...

Wednesday, 6/22/11 - 3.2 miles in ~44:40 (13:57 pace) - lots of alternating walking and jogging


Went to the local park which has a running/biking path of 1.6 miles.  I did 2 loops.  This should have been 30 minutes straight of jogging on my 10k plan, but I really failed to pace myself and just couldn't keep it up.  I ended up alternating walking and jogging each time a new song started on my mp3 player after the first 10 minutes of jogging.  Whenever I decide to regularly run outdoors, I'm definitely going to have to get a Garmin or something of that nature that can tell me my pace.  On this run, my pace was faster than ever, even though I walked half the time, so I was definitely jogging way too fast.  Not maintainable at all for me.

Funny story...I used G2 during my park run.  Seemingly unrelated:  I'm a mouth-breather when I work out.  Yucky dry mouth + bright blue sports drink = blue teeth.  I didn't realize this until I was in the car to head home.  I smiled at almost everyone I passed on the running path.  Whoops.

No workout yesterday or today because the repair guy was supposed to come today for the treadmill and I figured I'd be able to use it by now, but then he rescheduled.

Lastly for today, here's my dinner from last night:

• Nature's Own Whole Grain sandwich thin - 2pp
• Boca Spicy Chik'n Patty - 4pp
• blue cheese dressing, 1 tsp - 1pp
• extra hot sauce, red onion, pickle - 0pp
• Ore Ida Sweet Potato Fries, 1 serving - 4pp
• grapes, 1/2 cup - 0pp
• Fanta Zero - 0pp

Weight Watchers PointsPlus total for dinner:  11

Yes I eat on a tv tray.  Don't judge me.  

The big pink thing is my Bubba Keg.  34 oz, filled with water.  I also frequently use a purple Nalgene bottle.  I drink a gallon or more a day usually.

I'm going to try to keep posting meals and recipes from time to time, hopefully the ideas will be helpful to someone!  :)

Yay spaghetti!

I have never liked meat sauce on my pasta...or bolognese like the fancy Italian folks call it.  Call me weird, but it's one of the very few things that I don't like.  Another thing on that list is canteloupe, but I digress.

I make a lot of spaghetti, and this is generally what I put on top of it.  I threw it together again for lunch today, so I thought I'd post it here.  Very simple, super fast, and much more point-friendly than meat sauce.

• Small amount of olive oil in a skillet.  
• Artichoke hearts.  I use canned in water.  Going for convenience here.  Drain off the liquid before putting them in the pan.  I also break up the pieces a little bit before or during cooking.
• Mushrooms.  Again, canned, liquid drained.
• Capers, and a generous splash of the brine because I like the flavor.
• Season to taste.

I don't really "cook" this concoction, just warm on medium-low while I'm boiling my pasta.  I also sometimes add canned oysters or clams if I want to add some protein.  It would look a lot prettier with more colorful veg, but I promise it's good!

After the pasta is done (I use Barilla Whole Grain Thin Spaghetti), I put a little olive oil on that, and season it - usually with lemon pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.  Fresh herbs would be nice too.

Then my veggies go on top and get mixed in.  That's it.  I used about half of the vegetables I prepared...I'll make some more pasta in a couple days to use it up, or maybe mix it with some Eggbeaters for breakfast.

You can of course use fresh ingredients if you wish, and whatever veg you like.  It would even be a decent way to use leftover veggies that have already been cooked.  Bulking up pasta with veg is a good idea in general if you're trying to watch your caloric intake.

Some people think it's not pasta without the sauce, but I beg to differ.

Here's what it looks like when it's done.  On the right is some leftover salmon from dinner earlier this week that I had for my protein.

Weight Watchers PointsPlus (for pasta dish only): 7

2 oz uncooked pasta (about 1 cup cooked) - 5
2 tsp olive oil - 2
artichoke hearts, mushrooms, capers - 0

Can we talk?

Excuse the terrible picture, I was trying to show size.

Seriously.  Fiber One brownies.  Go buy some.

These things might the best packaged good-for-me food I've encountered.  I was at Costco on Sunday and on a whim got a giant box of 36 of these babies.  I was not disappointed!

Mine are the Chocolate Fudge brownies.  They also come in Chocolate Peanut Butter.  *drool*

5g of fiber (that's 20% of your daily recommended value), 90 calories, and a measly 2 WW Points+.  Delicious.

Also on my trip to Costco, I carried a 40 lb bag of cat litter through the store.  Carried, without the aid of a cart.  I figured, I used to carry that much extra weight around every day of my life, what's 2 minutes?  A good illustration of what I've accomplished.  I was sweating a little by the time I got to the front.  If you haven't done this experiment with a bag of potatoes at the grocery store, or dog food, or whatever heavy item equates to your personal weight loss, I highly recommend it!


Another small milestone:  I've graduated to wearing medium unisex/men's t-shirts again!  I've been wearing L or XL for a few years, but this week I've been pulling shirts from the back of my closet that I used to wear in high school!  My wearable t-shirt collection has grown. :)

Insane smile...can you
tell I was really excited?

I also discovered I can squeeze into the sparkly dress I wore in my junior and senior years as a member of my high school women's showchoir.  It's tight across the bust right now, where as back in the day the whole thing was always a little big on me because they cut it a size or two too large and had to tailor it down.  I have 2 other sparklies that are smaller, so I'll keep using showchoir dresses as an indication of my progress.  Ultimately I'd love to be able to get into the one that I wore during my sophomore year!


Last thing for today:  I finally got new running shoes!  I've been wearing a pair of Brooks' Ghost 2 for well over a year.  The treads are worn down and I've noticed my arches cramping during Zumba.  I have a big problem with underpronation, which is when most of your weight falls on the outside of your foot when you walk/run.  I had the painful beginnings of plantar fasciitis before I bought my first pair of Brooks', and once I started wearing them it cleared up almost immediately.  So rather than trying on endless styles I stuck with what I know works for me and ordered a pair of Ghost 3 from Zappos.com.  Helpful tip:  If you have tried on shoes/been fitted for running shoes and know what you need, Zappo's often has last year's models on sale, unlike your local sporting goods store.  I got them $20 cheaper because Zappo's already has the Ghost 4 in stock.

I'll leave you this evening with a picture of my new pretties!

Santa Fe Chicken from skinnytaste.com

I made this for dinner on Tuesday.  It was delicious and very filling!  Added a small salad on the side and it was a well-rounded meal.  Everyone in the house loved it despite the 'healthy' factor.

Weight Watchers PointsPlus:  11

1 cup brown rice - 5
1 cup Santa Fe chicken - 4
1/4 cup 2% shredded cheddar - 2

I doctored my bowl up a little bit by adding salsa and hot sauce to my brown rice, and then spooning the chicken mixture on top.  Finished with a bit of cheese and chopped scallions.

---
Here's the recipe. (found here) 

Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken

Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes

 

Servings: 8 servings • Size: 1 cup • Old Points: 3 pts • Points+: 4 pts

Calories: 190 • Fat: 1.5 g • Fiber: 5.6 g • Carbs: 23.1 g • Protein: 21 g

 

• 24 oz (1 1/2) lbs chicken breast
• 14.4 oz can diced tomatoes with mild green chilies
• 15 oz can black beans
• 8 oz frozen corn
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 14.4 oz can fat free chicken broth
• 3 scallions, chopped
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper (to taste)
• salt to taste

Combine chicken broth, beans, corn, tomatoes, cilantro, scallions, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, cayenne pepper and salt in the crock pot. Season chicken breast with salt and lay on top. Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours. Half hour before serving, remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in. Adjust salt and seasoning. Serve over rice (extra pts).

---
A few personal notes on preparation:

I used canned tomatoes w/ jalapenos instead of the kind w/ mild green chiles.  And I used the whole teaspoon of cayenne.  I like my food spicy, but you could definitely use less if you don't like the heat.

I drained the beans and tomatoes, since it wasn't mentioned either way in the recipe.  I also rinsed the beans to get rid of the some of the extra sodium.

I found that the 10 hour cooking time was a bit long.  I had it on low for 6 hours, and turned it up to high for the last hour to make sure the chicken was cooked through.  After that I tried to get the chicken out of the pot with a fork and it fell apart, so it was definitely ready for shredding.  I put the shredded chicken back in just long enough for my 5 minute rice to cook and called it done.

There will still be a lot of liquid in the crock pot at the end of cooking.  You could use a slotted spoon to serve it if this bothers you, of course.  I did not, and found the rice soaked up the majority of the excess broth quite nicely.

I definitely recommend this if you're a fan of Mexican flavors!  Very yummy!

God bless stretchy belts and Right Fit jeans!!!

I went to the mall today in to find a belt to go with my pinupgirlclothing.com Troublemaker dress.  Their clothes are made with an hourglass shape in mind for the most part, but even so, my waist is a size or three smaller than my bust and hips.  So the belt that came with the dress was way too big.  I did find a wide stretchy belt at Vanity, here's a picture of it with my dress:

Guess what size the belt is?!  M/L - yes, that's right.  There are no X's in front of the L.  I know it's stretchy, but I was excited because I didn't think it would fit properly.  This one has faux patent croc leather in the front, and I got another similar one with faux ostrich regular leather.  Love it!

I walked the whole mall, and I did treat myself to a garlic pretzel (10 PointsPlus) because I hadn't eaten anything yet today.

Another stop I made was Lane Bryant.  I didn't really plan on buying anything except perhaps some new Spanx because mine are getting worn out.  But I went to the jeans shelves and figured I'd try the Right Fit jeans just for fun, to see what size I take.  They have straight (for ladies with a bigger waist and thinner legs), moderately curvy, and curvy styles.  I looked high and low for a size 16-curvy and couldn't find one on the shelf at first, so I grabbed a 14.  I figured I wouldn't be able to get into them, but I could use them as a measure of how close I was to the size.  I kept rooting around and finally found a pair of 16s.  I took both pairs into the fitting room with me.

The 16s were really baggy in the waist, so I'm thinking "Here we go again, what a crock...Right Fit my ass..."  So, on with the 14s.  What's this?  I can pull them on?  And button and zip them?  And I can still breathe?!  Woohoo!  I had to go outside the dressing room and do a few turns in the big mirror, where the salesperson told me they looked good, and I told her she needed to celebrate with me because they were size 14!  Then I went back into the dressing room and got all teary-eyed. 

Crying while trying on clothes has generally been something I'd associate with being unable to find anything that fits well because of my size.  Not today!  Those were definitely happy tears.  I'm not deluding myself...I'm aware that if I were to grab a regular pair of jeans that were not cut to fit a small waist and huge rear, I'd still most likely have to get a size 18.  But one day in the not-so-distant future, I'll be shopping at a store that isn't known for catering to the plus-size crowd.

And yes, I did buy the jeans.  How could I not?!

Stay and succeed

WW 10% keychain with
25 lb and 16 meeting charms!

Weigh in:  Saturday, 4/30/11 - 217.6 - 1.6 lbs lost, 32.6 lbs total

Good loss this week!  I'm still on schedule for -35 lbs by June.  And I received my 'Stay and Succeed' keychain charm for attending 16 meetings!

Big test of my Weight Watcher ability looming, though.  I'm going to Chandler, AZ to visit my boyfriend, leaving on Wednesday, and will be gone for nearly 2 weeks!  I notoriously gain weight while traveling.  My aim is to maintain my current weight, and if I lose I'll be ecstatic.

Challenges include:

- Lots of yummy restaurants we don't have in Indy
- Exercise equipment in his parents room, so I don't really have access
- Desert heat at nearly 100 by this time of year, making outside workouts brutal during most hours

I'm gonna have to get workouts in early in the morning or a while after the sun goes down.  And I'll probably spend a fair bit on groceries so I can have a stock of healthy snacks at his house.

I still plan on attending WW meetings while out of town, since I have the monthly pass and there are multiple meetings really closeby.  Must remain accountable!

Still playing catch-up

I left off at my last weigh-in, which was Saturday morning.

That afternoon was more 10k training.

Saturday, 4/23/11 - PALA 10k plan, Day 4 - 3.94 miles in 60:00 (15:14 pace) - 10 min walk @ 3.4mph, 35 min jog @ 4.2, 10 min walk again, followed by 4x100m strides @ 5.0

35 minutes!  My longest jog ever!  I'll be saying that a lot in the coming weeks if I stick to this training plan.  That's almost 2 1/2 miles.  Getting closer to 5k distance.
As for the strides, those are defined as running strong and relaxed for a short distance.  Not sprinting, but faster than you'd run on long distances.  The plan says to jog for 30 seconds in between each 100m, but I chose to walk at my normal pace instead, since jogging isn't exactly easy for me and I was tired!
I also spent some time on Saturday afternoon potting tomato plants, peppers, and various herbs.  The combination of bending over repeatedly to do this and running 2 days in a row had my hamstrings pretty upset with me!


Sunday, 4/24/11 - Zumba+Abs class, 1 hr

My first time at Zumba!  It was fun, but definitely no joke when you're as out of shape as I am.  I was absolutely drenched by the end of it.  A fair portion of the dance moves involve squatting in some capacity, and I was definitely feeling it since my hammies were already hurting from the day before.  Once we cooled down from the dancing we did a short ab workout on the floor...thinking I may need to get a yoga mat now because I don't really like the idea of using the gym mats - yuck.  I plan on going back next Sunday;  class is $5 at the Gold's Gym by my house, and I don't have to be a member to attend!  Yippee!


Monday, 4/25/11 - PALA 10k plan, Day 5 - 2 miles in 30:00 (15:00 pace) - 5 min warmup/cooldown walks @ 3.4, 20 min jog @ 4.3

It took some willpower to get this one done.  First of all, I had the brilliant idea of not eating anything before working out that day.  I don't know how some folks can work out first thing in the morning without putting anything in their bellies.   I feel like I can't put forth as much effort because I have no energy!  My ideal food+workout combination is to eat something kind of light and then wait an hour or two to do cardio.
Second, Zumba seriously kicked my ass the day before, without me even knowing it.  My entire lower back and my shoulders were screaming when I got out of bed!  I understand the back - lots of hip wiggling while dancing causes all those muscles around the waist to work.  But why the heck did my shoulders hurt?  Soooo out of shape.  Add to that my still-sore hamstrings and it was definitely a treadmill session where the whole time I stared at the clock, wishing to be done.


And so ends the catching up! 

No cardio today - I've done 4 days in a row!  I may pick up my dumbbells and do some arm work later, not sure yet.

My daily scale-jumping is starting to wear on my nerves.  After doing so poorly last week, but staying at essentially the same weight, I've cracked down and have been tracking everything now.  But I'm halfway through my week and I'm heavier than at weigh-in!  Grrrrr...

I'll leave you with a pic of today's lunch:  1/2 teriyaki-marinated grilled chicken breast, grilled veggies (grape tomatoes, red onion, red & green bell pepper, mushroom) & pineapple, and 1/2 cup of chicken-flavored Rice-a-Roni.  This was leftover from dinner this weekend.  So yummy, and only 8 PointsPlus for this giant plate!

Party time!

I'm still sick, but it's party time anyway, because...*drumroll*...I've lost 10% of my starting weight!!!

Weigh in:  Saturday, 4/9/11 - 225.2 - 1.2 lbs lost, 25.2 lbs total

I got a mani-pedi today in celebration, in a lovely pinup-esque cherry red. I also ordered myself a new dress and accessories. Rewards are important!  And let us not forget the all-important snazzy WW keychain!

My leader likes to point out how the keychain looks like
the number 10 whenever someone gets one.

10% lighter, and my BMI has gone down 4 points from 38 to 34!  38 - That's not just obese, that's very nearly morbidly obese.  The scariest part about it is I just never felt that large. 

I'm following the 5% WW idea and setting my next goal for 15% of my starting weight lost, which will put me at 212.7.  I have another reason for setting my goal there:  The last time I seriously committed to weight loss was before a trip to Cancun in July 2009.  That time around, my lowest weight was 212.8 before I started the alarmingly fast rise back to the 250's.  Once I get past that previous low, I will be the lightest I've been in at least 4 years.

My progress, and my next goal!

I set another mini-goal a few posts back to lose a total of 35 pounds by June 1 (which would put me at 215.2)!  I'm beginning to look at that as a bit of craziness on my part, as I set it with the assumption that I'd stay on my current pattern and keep losing 5 lbs every 3 weeks.  Make it work, Dana!

They say it's your birthday...

See the arrow. 
ARGHHH!!

Yes, today is my birthday!  Not really a big deal in my family now that I'm grown, and they spent way too much spoiling me when I was little.  I did get a new sundress and 'Firefly' on DVD from my boyfriend, both of which I am beyond excited about!  (If you weren't already aware - "My food is problematic" is a direct quote from the Firefly episode 'The Message.') 

The dress fits, but the material is clingy, so I'm going to have to find some device to rid my belly of visible flab before I wear it!  See terrible quality photo at left (sorry, my camera is really bad.)  The high-waisted shaper shorts I have aren't heavy duty enough to combat the chub around my belly button.  Not attractive!  I *will* be wearing it sometime in the near future, though!

Guess I need to catch up a bit on my workout log.  I got lazy on Friday and Saturday...used my knee as an excuse.  It actually seems to be okay - movement is painless, but it's tender when I touch it.  Still sort of taking it easy until it doesn't feel bruised upon poking.

Sunday, 4/3/11 - walk/jog (treadmill C25K, Week 6 Day 1) - 2.1 miles in 32 mins (15:14 pace)

Monday, 4/4/11 - exercise video - 30 min

Did Last Chance Workout again last night, using all the low-impact modifications just in case.  I'm already feeling a bit sore in my abs and arms, so by tonight or tomorrow morning I'm going to be pretty stiff.  I take it as an indication of a job well done!

Work in progress

I figured I would treat myself to a couple new clothing and jewelry items since my birthday is coming up.  Birthdays and holidays aren't really big gift-giving occassions anymore in my family (since I grew up and pretty much the whole world is broke), so I just buy my own presents!

My current favorite place for shopping is pinupgirlclothing.com - I was barely able to fit into their largest size (2x) in the stretchy items last year, but the order that I placed contained items in XL!  Very stretchy items, granted, but I was still pretty excited.

Anyway, my mom and I went to the casino yesterday for a bit and she wanted me to wear my snazzy new cherry necklace (cherries are a common sight on slot machines and I guess she thought it would be lucky), so I paired it with my new bright red wrap top.  I took a picture of myself so I could show off my fun new clothes.

This morning I got the notion to put that picture beside one from the end of last year, just a couple weeks before I started Weight Watchers.  Side note:  My digital camera is taking bright reds and making them look orange-y, dunno what's up with that.  Side note, part deux:  The pirate shirt in the 'before' is from the same website - super cute clothes, I'm telling you!

I was pretty amazed.  In the grand scheme of my obesity, 20 pounds is not a whole lot.  I still have at least 65 pounds to lose to get in my healthy weight range.  But look at my face and neck!   Look at my waistline!  When I look in the mirror I don't see many changes, but comparing pictures like this is very encouraging!