Another Successful Week

I am proud to say I've just completed another week of 6 workouts! This week, I also tracked everything I ate using Weight Watchers (so far - I suppose there are a few more hours left in the day where it can all go downhill...). I don't know why, but tracking everything just felt so easy and natural. Maybe I was just ready to commit to something again? Whatever the reason, I'm feeling extremely motivated to continue. :)

My proudest moment this week was on Friday. I went out for an all-you-can-eat sushi lunch with a few colleagues. I was very worried that I would do what I usually do at all-you-can-eat sushi: eat all that I can, and feel gross and sick afterwards. But this time, I somehow avoided all of the deep-fried appetizers that were on the table in front of me and ate a seaweed salad instead. I ate a ton of sushi, but I counted roughly how many pieces I ate so I could track it later (which I did). I also avoided dessert. All in all, I had a great time, really enjoyed the food I ate, and I wasn't overly stuffed afterwards. Restaurants in general, let alone an all-you-can-eat situation, are always difficult for me to navigate. I was extremely worried going into this lunch, and I'm so happy I managed to eat reasonably.

I'm still seeing my personal trainer, and the workouts are getting increasingly... interesting. Last week, I had to push a 110-pound tire across the floor (on its side; I couldn't just roll it, unfortunately). Yesterday morning, I had to do TONS of stuff with battle ropes, alternated with lower body stuff. Brutal! On the bright side, it's getting much easier to get out of bed at 5:30 am.

I mentioned in my last post that I was trying a couple of recipes from Eat, Shrink & Be Merry. I ate some of the leftovers on top of some mixed greens. It was more appetizing than what I usually eat, so I snapped a picture:

Chicken thighs in barbecue sauce & mashed cauliflower

This morning, I knew I had to squeeze in a workout. Getting to the gym on Sundays is always a challenge for me. I don't know if it's because my gym is where I work, so I feel like I'm going to work on a weekend, or if I'm just very lazy on Sundays (or both), but I never want to get dressed and go out the door. Today was extremely hot, which made the walk to the gym even less appealing. 

Eventually I left my apartment. By the time I got to the gym, I was already drenched in sweat. I put in some time on the stationary bike (my left foot has been acting up, so I've been avoiding the treadmill so I don't aggravate it further), and I was EVEN SWEATIER afterwards. Despite the fact that my shirt had very interesting sweat-patches all over it, I then hopped on the bus to go to the grocery store. Thankfully, no one seemed too offended by my appearance...

I made it home in the heat successfully!

Now I'm in the middle of a new cooking adventure (and I may or may not still be wearing that sweaty t-shirt, hours later). I have some seitan simmering on the stove (I used this recipe) which I'm planning to use in this noodle salad. Let's hope it turns out! I don't think I've ever had seitan before...

Reuniting With an Old Friend

Happy Thursday, friends! I've been having a fairly busy week, so I haven't had a chance to update you all on how I'm doing.

First, the good news. I am still exercising like a mofo. Last week, for the second week in a row, I worked out 6 times! Actually 7 times if you count a Rest & Renew yoga class I went to... but that mostly consisted of lying on cushions and such. This week, I'm planning to get in 6 workouts as well (3 with my trainer, and 3 short cardio sessions on my own).

Next, the slightly-less-good-but-still-pretty-okay news. I haven't been eating as great as I would like to... last Saturday I think I ate all of my meals out (including a burger and onion rings for lunch that made me feel sick). On Sunday, I decided I would just get back on track... but I wondered what back on track should mean for me. I am no longer following the Fast Metabolism Diet, and when I just try to "eat healthy", that somehow turns into a crazy food free-for-all. It seems I'm either following a super strict diet (which leads to me binging like crazy when it ends), or following no diet at all (which leads to me binging like crazy most days). What's a girl to do?

Oh, Weight Watchers. A few months ago, I impulsively signed up for a 6-month online membership in a fit of desperation. Until this week, I hadn't even tracked a full day. But, as of this past Monday, I have been faithfully tracking everything I've eaten.

Part of me thinks this is totally the wrong way to go... I feel like I shouldn't have to track everything I eat, that I should just choose the right foods, and that if I follow Weight Watchers I'll just end up eating too much junk/processed food/etc because I'm allowed to eat whatever I want as long as it fits into my daily points... but obviously, just trying to choose the right foods has not been working for me. And it was Weight Watchers that got me to my lowest weight ever four years ago.

In just under 6 weeks, I am leaving on my trip to Nashville, Memphis, and Chicago. I can only imagine how great I will feel if, until I go, I track consistently (not to mention continue with all of my exercise!). It will be HOT in Nashville and Memphis in August, and I'd like to feel a bit more comfortable in my summer clothes. I'm also taking the trip with an extremely fit friend, and I want to be able to keep up!

So, I hereby declare, that I will continue tracking until the trip. That would make 6 weeks of tracking!

I'm not sure if I will do the weekly weigh-ins, though. Lately, I've been weighing myself frequently and feeling quite discouraged. I've been working so hard at the gym that I feel like the weight should just be falling off; but, of course, it really comes down to what I eat (which hasn't been ideal). My trainer suggested that I put my scale away for now, and I think I will. :)

Now it's time for me to finish cooking dinner (two recipes from Eat, Shrink & Be Merry!: Sticky Chicky and Mashed Fauxtatoes) in my adorable apron:

I tried taking several photos. Believe it or not, this one was the least awkward.

Pad Thai Time

Happy Wednesday!

I do hope to get back into the groove of frequent posts... fingers crossed! The past week has been filled with marking an endless pile of tests. Thankfully, I wrapped that up yesterday, and now I have about three weeks before I have to mark again! :D

Last Friday, a dear friend was visiting from Ottawa! She came over for dinner and I wanted to make her something special.

I chose the pad thai from Eat, Shrink and Be Merry!, which I've made once before. I prepped all the ingredients before my friend came over. I felt like I was ready to shoot my own cooking show!

After all the prep was done, the meal came together quite quickly.

It was delicious! We both thoroughly enjoyed it. :)

I've also been rocking the stir fries lately, and I've gone back to an old standby: steel cut oats with brown sugar! I need something to keep me warm, since I try to keep the heat as low as possible.

I'm off to watch some Sex and the City on DVD and knit!

Brocco-tastic!

Good morning, all!

So, I know you've all been dying to know if I made it out of bed yesterday morning for a 5 am workout... I did!

My alarm went off at 4:45 (for some snooze time)... I reached my hand over to my nightstand where I'd left an apple to entice me out of bed and had a bite... and then finished it when I got up around 4:55. I knew I needed to use all sorts of tricks to psych myself up at that hour.

Then I proceeded to let Jillian kick my butt! To change things up, I did the 30 Day Shred Level 2. I hope my jumping jacks didn't wake up my basement neighbour...

The reason I decided to do a morning workout was not because I didn't have the time later in the day, but because I LOVE how great I feel afterwards. I'm much more alert and awake than usual. Plus, if I'd left it until I got home from work, I probably wouldn't have wanted to do it.

On Monday, I tried my third recipe from Eat, Shrink and Be Merry! Another winner! I made the pad thai (Tongue Thai'd):

AND, last night, I actually invented my own recipe!! I never do this. And, well, to be honest, I did copy all of the delicious elements from another recipe.

I had a ton of broccoli left over in my fridge, and I was trying to figure out what to do with it. Then, I remembered one of my FAVOURITE ways to cook chicken: This Indonesian Chicken recipe from the blog A Year of Slow Cooking. The reason I love it is the hot, gooey, peanut butter sauce.

I decided to try the same recipe, using broccoli instead of chicken! (Because in my opinion, whatever you throw in there is just a vehicle for the peanut butter).

Behold: Katie's Peanut Butter Broccoli!

• 1/3 cup peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce (I'd run out of soy sauce, so I used a couple of packets I had leftover from Chinese food)
• 2 chopped cloves of garlic
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil
• a few dashes of hot sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon jarred ginger
• 4 cups broccoli
• some chicken broth that I threw in later (not sure how much)

I put everything except the chicken broth in my slow cooker on high and stirred it around as best I could. After maybe 20 minutes, it seemed to be really dry in there (I'm not really a pro... I don't think you're supposed to open your slow cooker often to stir things around/taste test/etc, but I definitely did) so I poured in some chicken broth every now and then.

I had it on high for maybe an hour and 20 minutes (my slow cooker is not very slow), and then I decided it was done. Voila:

It was so good! I ate it right away, so it had a high hotness/gooeyness factor that I really liked. It yielded 3 cups for me, and I calculated 1/4 cup to be 1 point. So, it's a bit pointy for a broccoli dish (I wanted to eat it all), but I liked it.

I really just wanted to share the original recipe with you, because I LOVE the sauce in it so much! And maybe next time I make this dish, I'll use more broccoli and chicken broth, and less peanut butter, to try and keep the points down.

What's your favourite way to eat broccoli? Do you leave apples (or other food) on your nightstand for morning?

Cookin' (and Lookin') Good!

I am a proud Weight Watcher! I wore my name tag from Saturday's meeting all the way home (under my jacket...):

Do you ever forget that you live alone and buy enough groceries throughout the week to feed a small army? I do. Often. So I've been doing some cooking & baking (which means I pick recipes that necessitate me picking up a few MORE groceries, and the cycle continues...). Here are some of my eats from the past couple of days:

Loaf Potion # 9 from Eat, Shrink and Be Merry! It has cranberries, walnuts, carrots, and zucchini in it. SO DELICIOUS!

I made it a double-loaf day with some banana bread.

(I know, I know... it doesn't really look like banana bread. It's a weird recipe, I think). The recipe is from The Duke Diet. I think the best part is the brown sugar and walnuts on top.

I brought some of each loaf to my parents & my sister and froze some more. As I mentioned above, I live alone (and as much as I'd like to, I probably shouldn't eat vast quantities of baked goods in short periods of time).

One of my impulse grocery buys was some fat-free ham. I hemmed and hawed over the high sodium content, but decided to treat myself (in small portions). And so the past couple of mornings I've been enjoying a healthified egg mcmuffin for breakie (with egg whites, light cheddar cheese, and a whole wheat english muffin! And the ham, of course).

And today's lunch creation:

My first time making cream of broccoli soup! It was pretty good. I got to use my immersion blender, which is always a good time. :)

I had it with some black beans, corn, and cheese on a tortilla (with greek yogourt)!

Tonight: pad thai! Seriously! More cooking!

I've also already gotten TWO workouts out of the way this week! Yesterday I went for an awesome treadmill run. I reached NEW SPEEDS (I think). I definitely had some (short) intervals that were around level 6.5. I covered 2.75 miles in 30 minutes. I don't think I've ever run that much before in that time period! It felt great!

This morning I started my day with the Intermediate workout from my Booty Camp dvd. Does anyone else find it easier than the Beginner workout, or am I just getting stronger? ;)

In other news, apparently I look great:

• Last week, one of my students from last semester noticed I'd lost weight.
• Today, I went to a coffee shop where I like to work sometimes, and the girl working there said I look really good and I should keep doing whatever I'm doing! I didn't even know she knew who I was!

I'm used to people who haven't seen me in a couple of years telling me I look different, but I'm not used to people who only know the "new me" noticing new changes (does that sentence make sense?).

I haven't lost much weight in the past couple of months, but I think my body composition has changed (thanks to Booty Camp!) and that must be what they're noticing. Yay! My clothes are fitting pretty well.

I have a cockeyed idea that I'm going to get up at 5 am tomorrow to squeeze a workout in before work... yeah, wish me luck with that. (Don't worry, if I can't do it, I'll work out sometime in the afternoon instead).

Have a nice night, all!

Adventures in the Kitchen

On Tuesday, I made not one, but two brand new recipes (simultaneously, no less)!

Firstly, I made the No Weigh, Jose! Mexican Lasagna from Eat, Shrink and Be Merry. It was AMAZING! It consists of layers of ground chicken and black beans, tomato-ey goodness, cheese, and tortillas. Here it is about to go into the oven:

While it was baking, I started mixing together the ingredients for Mini Shrimp Rolls from Green Lite Bites. In the bowl are shrimp, spinach, green onions, ginger, garlic, and shredded carrots.

Then, I attempted wrapping the won ton wrappers:

As you can see, they did not want to stay shut.

The recipe calls for 16 wrappers, but I used 18 and still had some filling leftover. I restuffed some of my early attempts, and this motley crew is what I ended up with:

Meanwhile, my lasagna was baking away (remember??)! Here it is, fresh out of the oven (note the won ton stuffing going on in the background):

The lasagna was TO DIE FOR!

The shrimp rolls turned out okay, too:

I discovered I liked them better cold... but the best part about them... I crunched the numbers... and one roll is ZERO points. 3 rolls = 1 point, 6 rolls = 3 points, and 9 (half the recipe the way I made it) = 4 points.

I've been a happy Katie with some yummy leftovers (the shrimp rolls did not last too long, though)!

The cooking extravaganza did claim some casualties, however:

The band-aids are because I "grated" two of my fingers while grating cheese (for the lasagna) and carrots (for the shrimp rolls)... and that poor plastic lid was sitting on the stove whilst it preheated to 375 degrees. (Actually, if you look at all the pictures of the lasagna from this post - you can see the lid sitting on the stove before the lasagna goes in the oven... then when the lasagna is out of the oven, you can see the remains on the burner. The poor lid never saw it coming!)

The things we go through for our health!

And this is what I just ate for dinner, along with some lentil curry:

That is a HUGE bowl, people. I'm not always a salad person, but I wanna be, I swear. I'm usually okay as long as I pile on enough avocado. Today, I had a stroke of genius and threw in some corn! It was amazing! I ate the whooooooole thing (yay for volume food)! Also, it took me like 30 minutes to conquer... good way to preoccupy myself from grabbing other, unhealthy treats!

What do you like in your salads? Have you ever gotten a bit overzealous with the cheese grater, like I did?