Day 54 - Walking Lots and Eating Well (223.5)

Not a lot new to report today, except that it's Day 54 and I'm now down a total of 16.5 pounds--yippee!!!  I'm trying not to focus on the weight loss, but it sure is exciting when it happens.

Did I mention that I went a little insane a few days ago and spent all day eating pumpkin cupcakes?

Yup.  I made a batch of a really simple 2-ingredient recipe for pumpkin muffins I found on Facebook, "for my husband", because he likes baked goods for breakfast.  (Have I also mentioned he weighs about 85 lbs less than me?  Fathead.)  Anyway, this time he didn't want any for some reason.  So he left the whole batch sitting there for ME to face when I got up the next morning.  

Despite my best intentions, I ate those stupid things ALL DAY LONG, one after the other--until I'd consumed TEN OF 'EM!  I was finally able to force myself to squish the very last one into smithereens and bury it in the wastebasket.

By the end of the day, I felt horrible and shaky because I'd eaten nothing but sugar and carbs all day.  That'll teach me.  AND the next morning, I had gained 2.5 lbs, back up to 228.

Since then, I've been more determined than ever to CUT THE CRAP and get back to what worked for me when I first started down this path.

And it worked--ta daaaa!!  Today, the scale said 223.5.  :-)

So here's an example of how I've eaten since The Great Pumpkin Cupcake Debacle:

This baby contains:

• Spinach
• Cherry tomatoes
• Baby carrots
• Half a green pepper
• Fresh pineapple
• Frozen blueberries
• Apple juice for blending

Can't you feel yourself getting healthier just READING those ingredients?  ;-)

Oh--and to top it off, I have 6,752 steps on my FitBit right now.  And today's not quite over!

Day 50 - 15 Pounds Down (225)!

I haven't blogged in awhile because honestly, things are becoming more routine.  My NutriBlasts tend to have combos of  the same basic set of ingredients in them most days.  When you find what works, don't mess with it, right?

Here's today's:

Not a great photo, but it contained:

• Spinach
• Fresh pineapple chunks
• Honeydew melon
• Red grapes
• Orange
• Hemp seeds
• Enough apple juice to blend (NutriBullet requires liquid to generate its "cyclonic action")

I've been trying to put more veggies than fruits in my 'Blasts lately.  Today most of the veggies I had turned out to be less than fresh, so ... more fruit.

Yesterday's had spinach, a whole cucumber, broccoli, bell pepper, orange, and pineapple.  Mmmmmm.

I am now down a total of 15 lbs from my starting weight of 240.  That 15 lbs in 50 days.  I'll take it!

I did realize something last night, though.  I've gotten a little  complacent again.  I've started eating with my husband at dinnertime--including dessert, usually.  I have way less for a meal than I used to, yes.  But I realized that I can't afford to eat like I'm on maintenance until I *am* on maintenance.  In other words, bread and butter, or apple pie, or ice cream, etc, every evening is NOT going to get me where I want to be.

So today I told my husband this (not that he understands--he weighs 140 lbs soaking wet and never gains unless he drinks too much beer) and refocused on eating veggies and fruits and a little protein.

This morning I had that marvelous NutriBlast.  Lunch was a bag of Green Giant Veggies in Cheese Sauce--only 135 calories in the whole huge bag.  Dinner was a big bowl of squash and some red grapes.  Now I'm snacking on walnuts with Ghirardelli 70% Dark Chocolate Chips mixed in.  And I'm getting ready to put the bag away--now!  :-)

There's been a piece of fabulous apple/craisin pie sitting in the microwave allllllll day.  When Mom stopped in to visit, I gave her half of it and saved the other half for DH's dessert.  He had ice cream instead, so it's still in there.  And it's gonna STAY in there!

Because I'm determined.

And why bust my butt taking a good long walk or two every day if I'm gonna come home and stuff my piehole with pie?  (I've reached 5K steps on my FitBit on at least 7 out of the last 10 days--whoo hoo!)

Onward ...

Day 40 - A Walk and a Weigh-In (226)

Today I started the day feeling really lazy because I slept in until 11:30 AM and missed out on a chance to walk with my friends Andie and CK again.  Sheesh.  My sisters have probably all been up about 6 hours by the time I got up--they all have half their day in already!

But oh well.  That's what I did.  Got to sleep til I'm "done"--that's how I do it.  I know if I get up while I'm still feeling sleepy, I won't have a very active day.

But once I got up, I got busy.  First, I weighed myself. 

 Here's what I saw:

(I cut my feet out of the photo this time cuz I need a pedi, ha ha--can't post feet photos without "happy toes"!)

So yeah, that's 14 lbs in 40 days!!  Whoo hoo!  I'm pretty thrilled.  It's SO nice to see that if I just keep doing what I'm doing, all this flab IS going to come off.  And I AM going to keep doing what I'm doing. 

After that exciting weigh-in, I was extra-motivated.  So I had a hard boiled egg and a banana, and then I went for a walk. 

I walked for just 30 minutes and did just under 2 miles--probably 1.9.  Whoo hoo again!!  That's a huge increase in pace from what I did in the 5K on July 28th.  That day, we walked 3.2 miles in just over 90 minutes--so just under 30-minute miles.  Today's pace was nearly TWICE as fast!  (I had some good fast music pumping on my iPod and walked to the beat as much as I could--songs like "Boom Boom Pow" and "Baby Got Back"--I'm sure that helped a lot.)  On the way back, I wound down with some good ol' days stuff, like--ready for this?--Bobby Sherman and the Partridge Family!  Ah, memories ...

I didn't have a single NutriBlast today.  I had a small bowl of DH's homemade shepard's pie for dinner and some hummus and red peppers for "dessert". 

Tonight I bought a bag of apples to make my hubby an apple pie, with Craisins, the way he likes it.   And I realized as I was cutting up the apples that I don't have a single qualm about having this pie around this time.  I know I can handle it (well, as long as we keep it in the microwave or the oven--somewhere besides sitting out on the counter where I can cut off a sliver every time I walk by--I haven't changed THAT much yet. ;-)) 

So that's today's report.  Forty days--I haven't stuck with something this long in ages.  It feels good.



 

Day 39 - Still 'Blasting, Waiting for More Weight Loss

This is Day 39 of my adventure in becoming healthier with my NutriBullet.

I haven't lost any weight for what feels like a long time.  But that's ok, because I'm 100% positive that I'm getting a whole lot healthier INside.  Bet my cholesterol isn't 261 anymore!

Today I made a breakfast 'Blast that had FOUR veggies and just ONE fruit in it--wow. I'm getting this!  (That doesn't count the apple juice that I use as my primary liquid, of course.)

Here's what this morning's contained:

• 2 big handfuls of spinach
• 10 sweet petites carrots
• Sliced zucchini (about 1.5")
• 1/4 large red bell pepper
• Frozen black grapes
• 1 T hemp seeds (for protein)
• 1/2C apple juice

They all pretty much look the same now, so I'm not taking photos of every single one anymore.  Here's what they usually look like when they're ready to drink--not appetizing to the eyes, but so good!

 

I had my husband drill a hole in the top of one of the 2 caps that came with the NutriBullet so I could put a straw in it but still keep it covered, for "drinking &" driving.  (One day I took a nasty "monster vomit"-looking drink like this out to my BMW to drink on the way to work.  Since the bottom of the cup is pretty big, it didn't fit tightly into the cupholder.  So of course, I knocked it over before I even got out of our driveway!!)  That was NOT pretty.  So the straw hole makes a huge difference.  I contacted NutriBullet and told them I had an excellent suggestion for an improvement to their product.  Haven't heard anything back from them yet [surprise].

Yesterday and the day before I *did* get photos of my smoothies.  One was all Greek yogurt and fruit; that one came out really pretty pink when it was done.  It had 1C yogurt (half vanilla and half plain, to cut down the sugar content); 4 chunks of fresh pineapple; 1C of fresh strawberries; and about 6 frozen black grapes.

Wednesday (Day 37)'s was similar to today's but had more fruit:  spinach, carrots, orange, pineapple, frozen black grapes, hemp seeds, and apple juice.

My sister Gail bought me a huge tub of black grapes from Costco.  Last night I pulled most of them off the stems, washed 'em, and put them on a cookie sheet in the freezer overnight, to freeze individually.

Now I have a nice big bag full of frozen grapes that I can just pour a bunch out of each morning to cool my NutriBlast and add some nice sweetness to it. 

Day 36 - Freggie Blast for Brunch (228.5)

I got up REALLY late today, so I had "brunch" rather than breakfast.  :-)  Here's what I made:

Recipe:
Big handful of baby spinach
10-12 "sweet petites" carrots
8-10 slices of zucchini
1/4 navel orange
~20 frozen green grapes
1T hemp seeds
~1/2C apple juice

As usual, it looked pretty bad but tasted really good.  Putting in the frozen grapes, and so many, made a HUGE difference in how easy it was to drink--making them colder is a LOT better.  I have to go put some more grapes in the freezer now!

Also, usually I leave my 'Blasts on the base, blending, for maybe a minute.  It occurred to me that doing that whips a lot of air into em, making them sort of frothy.  So today I only blended it for about 15 seconds--long enough to see everything liquefied--and it went down a little easier.  It was thinner--not foamy or frothy like a McDonalds milkshake.

Still learning new things about how to make NutriBlasting better!

Day 35 - Back from Another Little Break

This past Thursday-Saturday I took my mom to her 62nd high school reunion.  It was a little over 4 hours from home, so we got a hotel for the 2 nights.

I decided not to bring my NutriBullet and just to see if I could "eat normally" on my own.

On the way down, we stopped for dinner at Wendy's.  I had a chicken patty on flatbread with a spicy sauce; I thought that would be a healthier choice for me than a burger, because fast food burgers set off all kinds of cravings for me.  Turns out it had just 30 calories less than the 1/4-lb burgers Mom and Gail had, but it seemed healthier.  (And I had no fries and no Frosty). 

The 2nd day, I had a Kind bar for breakfast and some grapes and peanuts to snack on while Mom and Gail were at the reunion.

That night we went out to dinner at a nice restaurant.  I ordered baked haddock and rice pilaf with a salad to start.  I had 2 small slices of homemade bread with butter before the food came and ordered tea to drink.  I put real sugar in the tea because I'm avoiding all fake sweeteners now.  We had no dessert.  I considered this meal a victory--much better choices than I'd have made in the past.

The last morning, we went driving around in Maine shopping a bit.  We stopped at a candy store called Yummies that advertised "10,000 pounds of candy on display".  I got out of there with just a small bag of chocolate-covered sunflower seeds.  Mom bought a bunch of saltwater taffy.  I had her throw in some extra chocolate ones, which I ate on the way back to the hotel.

Then on our way home, we stopped for pizza.  I hadn't had any pizza in a few weeks and really felt like some.  But Mom, Gail and I split a 12-inch (small) pizza--and it was GOOD!  We felt good about limiting ourselves that way.  And none of us bought any of the AMAZING looking pastries in that place ourselves.  (We did bring my brother home a whoopie pie that was about 8" across, though!)

Finally, when we were just 1.5 hours away from home on Saturday evening, we stopped at Friendly's.  I planned to have a Jim Dandy, which is one of their biggest sundaes.  It normally has 5 scoops of ice cream, but they're smaller than the normal "scoop".  I asked for "just 4" scoops.  And then I enjoyed the HECK out of that thing!

I see a bit of a pattern here, similar to when we went to Maine for vacation a few weeks ago.  I do very well at the beginning and then get more relaxed toward the end.  I think that may be because I *am* on vacation, and I figure if I make good choices 80% of the time, it's okay if I have a few treats toward the end.

Oh--almost forgot.  Gail and I made a real effort to get steps in even while we were away.  We went out one evening after dinner and walked loops around the hotel parking lot to crank up our step counts.  And I walked the parking lots at both Wendy's and the pizza stop, too.  That's all new behavior.

I've finally gotten to the point where sitting still for too long makes me a little crazy--I feel the NEED to get up and walk.  That's exciting!!

I gained 1 lb over the trip.  I expected the gain to be a bit higher, so I was pleased with that.  Need to work toward gaining NOTHING on vacation.

Today I had a NutriBlast with 4 veggies and 2 fruits plus apple juice for breakfast.  I had another one with Greek yogurt, almond milk, fresh strawberries, orange, and grapes in the afternoon.  In between I went grocery shopping.  I was hungry while shopping so I had a banana.  My husband ordered a pizza for his dinner.  It had just green peppers and mushrooms on it.  I didn't plan to have any, but I ended up having a tiny slice--just one!  And tonight for a snack I had a few more of those pita crackers--probably 2 servings, which is 12 crackers.  All in all, it was a successful day.

Tomorrow I plan to work at my office so I can go to the gym (gym and office share a parking lot).

Have a good week, everybody!

Days 29 and 30 - Superfood Smoothie and Breakfast Blast (227)

Today is September 3, 2013.  I guess I forgot to post yesterday, what with all the excitement over weighing in at 227!!  That made my total loss 13 lbs in 30 days.  Wow.  Can't really believe it.  :-)

I did not get a photo of myself (well, my FEET) on the scale at 227, but I'll do another weigh-in in a few days and show ya.

Yesterday I went with all "superfoods" and very simple -- 1/2 C vanilla Greek yogurt, 2 handfuls of baby spinach, and most of a pint of blueberries (they'd been in the fridge for about a week, so once I picked out the yucky ones, there was probably about 1C left, ha ha):

The rest of yesterday was a Kind bar (dark chocolate cherry cashew); about 1.5 C of spaghetti with my husband's homemade sauce, made with tomatoes he grew himself; lots of grapes; and 4 pita crackers.  Those are something new from Keebler that I spotted while grocery shopping.

Speaking of shopping, I should take a picture of my cart nowadays when I'm done.  It's full of produce and greek yogurt and almond milk and lovely healthy things!  Once again, makes me feel virtuous.  :-)  Actually, though, I DO feel really good seeing it, when I used to bring home bags of Dove chocolate pieces and big loaves of bread to snarf down with lots of butter and stuff like that.


Today for breakfast I had another nice fresh-tasting NutriBlast with 3 veggies and 3 fruits--no yogurt this time.  It looked like baby diaper contents afterward, but it was still delicious.  My friend Lois inspired me to put in stuff like carrots and oranges.  The orange makes it very "summery".

Recipe:

• 4 chunks fresh pineapple
• 1/2 navel orange
• Lots of "Sweet Petites" carrots
• 1/2 Granny Smith apple
• 2 handfuls baby spinach
• 1/2 red bell pepper
• 1T hemp seeds
• ~1/2C apple juice

Day 28 - A Hike, and a Surprise! (230)

Last night I went for a hike--my first in probably 25 years.  It was a small, local mountain called Eagle Mountain, here in Milton, Vermont.  It's only .6 mile to the top, but still--it was a HIKE, and I DID IT!  It was either that or spend a nice afternoon on the last weekend of summer sitting on the couch.  It was #1 of my list of things I wanted to accomplish this weekend--and we did it.  (My DH and "his" dog Bruce came along.)

I couldn't believe my eyes this morning when I got on the scale.  You ready? 

Drum roll, please ...

I HAVE LOST 10 POUNDS IN 28 DAYS!!!  

It's SO encouraging to see the scale going down, and it hasn't even been too painful. 

Two-twenties, here we come!