Weigh In Wednesday (9.29)

Happy Weigh In Wednesday!

I know you have all been working really (extra) hard this week for a great cause and I am so thankful! I am proud of you all for dedicating a week of your lives to thinking about someone else's need rather than your own. It's a great feeling to know that we, as a body, can make a difference--and to know that the money isn't even the most important thing we can give. Our prayers are making a difference in a little boy's life and in his family's life as well. I know they are grateful!

I have to be honest. I was dreading this morning's weigh in. I had a rough week. Work-outs didn't come as often as I would have liked and I willingly gave $3 a day to McDonald's for my new obsession:

I'm PMSing so it's dignified. Also, I made brownies. Like alot. 3 times to be exact. And then I mixed peanut butter into the batter and it wasn't pretty. They are delicious and I enjoyed every bite.

Daniel and I went out to dinner on Friday night to celebrate the new job offer, the Apple N' Pork was this weekend along with the cookout and I just didn't make the best choices when it came to food. So many of you have asked to see a sample grocery list but I'm hoping you can see from the above mentioned that it's not necessarily about WHAT I'm eating as much as it is about HOW MUCH. I eat anything I want. Always have and always will. I just don't eat much of it. Or as much as I would if I were at my goal weight and could maintain that weight.

But don't worry--I'm still gonna give you some recipes for the coming week that my family loves and I swear by!

You're welcome.


My staple crunch for this week? And last?

Orange Tic Tacs. And yes, I eat the whole box in like one sitting. It's a horrible, embarrassing addiction but I adore them and I'm not ashamed. And so it may be alot of orange, alot of mint an alot of unnecessary but it does beat eating a bag of chips or peanuts when I need something harder to chew on. Find a mint you enjoy and try it this week...

In the words of gabba gabba, Try it. You might like it! Without further delay:

Weight leaving the hospital (11 weeks ago): 164 pounds

Weight last week: 122 pounds

Weight as of today: 121 pounds
Total weight loss to date: 43 pounds with 6-7 to go!

A few of you have written me and have seemed discouraged when you have only lost one pound during a week. Let me remind you that ONE pound is ONE pound. Factually it means that you would have had to burn 3500 calories more than you ate at some point during the week. Do not discredit yourself! It's a huge accomplishment even when you lose ounces. Our body is ours to control and you should feel empowered to know that you are making healthy choices that are leading to something that will ultimately make you feel stronger and hopefully help you feel your very best! So way to go on that pound! Good for you!

And by the way, losing a pound per week shows that you truly are doing it the healthy [& right] way!

Here are a few recipes that give less calories to your meal but are GOOD!

------------------------------------------------

Chicken Fingers

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. Honey Mustard

2 Tbsp. Buttermilk

1/2 cup dried bread crumbs

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into strips

6 Tbsp BBQ sauce

Directions:

* Preheat oven to 450. Place baking sheet in oven to preheat.

* In a shallow dish, whisk together mustard and buttermilk. Place breadcrumbs in a separate dish. Add chicken to mustard mixture; turn to coat. Transfer chicken to bread crumbs and coat.

* Remove hot baking sheet and coat with cooking spray. Place chicken on sheet and bake 6 minutes; flip and bake 7 minutes more!

* Dip in BBQ sauce if you'd like.

---Helpful Tip: Honey Mustard and Buttermilk are great ingredients to use instead of butter, milk or eggs as a sticking agent. I use this combo in alot of meals!

--------------------------------------------------

Ramee's Oven Fried Chicken:

Ingredients:

1/3 cup flour

1/4 Tbsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

3 oz. buttermilk

1/2 cup cornflakes

4 chicken breasts

Directions:

* Preheat oven to 365. Combine flour, salt, pepper in a shallow bowl. Pour buttermilk in another bowl and cornflakes in a 3rd separate bowl. Dip breasts in buttermilk, then flour mixture, back in buttermilk and finally cornflakes.

* Place on greased baking sheet & bake for 25 minutes.

---Helpful Tip: Anytime you can bake or grill chicken rather than frying it you should. This is one of my favorite recipes!

--------------------------------------------

Maple Glazed Porkchops

Ingredients:

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. paprika

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/4 ground cinnamon

2 bone-in pork chops

1 Tbsp maple syrup

1 1/2 tsp butter, melted

1 1/2 tsp dijon mustard

Directions:

* Combine first 5 ingredients; rub over pork chops. Place in greased 11 x 7 inch baking dish.

* Bake, uncovered at 425 for 20 minutes.

* Combine remaining ingredients; pour over chops. Bake 5 minutes longer

-----------------------------------------

Cheesy Chili Soup

Ingredients:

1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 can (15 oz) kidney beans, rinsed

1 can (14 1/2 oz) chicken broth

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

1 onion, chopped

2 tsp. chili powder

1 cup mexcian style shredded cheese, divided

Directions:

* Bring all ingredients except cheese to a boil in medium saucepan.

* Simmer on low heat 25 minutes of until veggies are tender. Stir in 1/3 cup cheese.

* Ladle into bowls, top with remaining cheese.

--------------------------------------------------

So there's a few ideas to get you through the week. Try to really pay attention to the amount that you're eating, rather than the food itself. Instead of a whole chicken breast, try 3/4 and have a small snack later. Mac N Cheese is a little high in calories, so do a palm full rather than the whole bowl. Just become conscious and know what it is you're putting into your body and how much of it. But do not...I repeat DO NOT stop eating the foods you love.

This weight loss journey needs to be something that you can maintain forever. You should eat now what you will eat when you get to your goal weight. I am completely against diets and you should be too. They don't work. Everything that I'm eating and doing right now is exactly what I will eat and do when I weight 114 pounds. Keep that in mind!

Oh and one other thing: Spend time living your life, not tracking it.

Have a good week!

Those of you who have emailed me about weight loss questions, I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Until then, I hope you can find some ideas in the few recipes I posted here. Everyone else, feel free to email me and give me feedback (on recipes, life, whatever.) I love love love hearing from you!

And...don't forget to email me by TONIGHT with your work-out hours from the past week. I'll announce the number of hours we all worked tomorrow morning!