A Quick Supper

Buffalo chicken sandwich

Last night after I got off work I went straight to fixing supper; these buffalo chicken sandwiches are 387 calories and they are from the Cook This, Not That! book.  Now the recipe calls for butter mixed into Frank's red hot but we are both Frank's fans so we cut out the butter and just sprinkled the franks right over the chicken after it was cooked.  It also calls for lettuce but we're more tomato people so we swapped them.  This was probably one of the fastest, easiest meals we've made from the book so far and flavor wise it wasn't half bad.  Actually, I'll give it more credit than that; I thought it was pretty darn good.

I wanted to "test" the pedometer because it was a cheapie so I counted my steps last night while walking with it on and then compared numbers following sets of 1,000.  I found it to occasionally be under by one or two steps but that's ok with me; much better than over because if I have to take a few extra steps to get the count up, that's better than not taking enough.  So I put on some NatGeo and just started walking.  The first program I watched was about the Jamestown settlement (the real story of Captain John Smith and Pocahontas) and the second program was about Arlington Cemetery.  I took short breaks here and there to chug glasses of water and when the second program had ended I looked at the pedometer to gleefully discover that I was only about 1,400 steps from having walked 6 miles ... a new record!  So I knocked them out and then went to soak in a hot bath.  I'm feeling pretty damn good this morning!  I'm not sore or tired and when I glanced in the mirror after getting dressed I actually stopped and did a double take.  My stomach has been bothering me a lot this entire time but when I saw myself standing sideways in the mirror I could finally see that I have made a difference in it.  It's not flat, by any means, but it's definitely improved!

P.s. My caloric intake was still pretty low after supper and I was lacking energy for exercising so I mixed up a fruit shake for dessert.  Snack Monkey insisted on adding sugar to it so I put in a little to make him happy.  I said earlier that I didn't feel any pain or fatigue from last night's 6 miles but after the first mile tonight a dull ache started in my feet (that's about 2-3 miles earlier than usual).  By the end of the second mile the dull ache had morphed into pain but I forced myself to keep going anyway because I'm sick of hovering around the 250 lb region.  However, by the end of the third mile the toes on my right foot were numb and I realized that couldn't be a good sign at all so I stopped.  I'm angry about it though ... I really wanted to do at least five miles tonight.



Food:
9 glasses of water
1 cup of coffee w/creamer
1 Fiber One bar
1 leftover buffalo chicken sandwich
1 Chicken breast w/tomatoes, capers, olives
8 asparagus spears, grilled
1 serving home-made fruit smoothie (recipe below)
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Daily Caloric Intake: 1,283



Activity:
Walking (Indoor): 3.32 miles (6,653 steps)



Another Smoothie Recipe
1 kiwi
1 banana
1 avocado
1/2 small cantaloupe
1 cup water
1/2 cup skim milk
1/4 cup sugar (Snack Monkey Insisted!)
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Makes 4 Servings: 191 Calories per serving

The Price of a Pepper

So Snack Monkey and I got together and made a grocery list/menu last night after supper and then we hit the store to get what we needed.  One of the recipe's called for a red bell pepper and a yellow bell pepper.  The sign said $2.48 per lb, which I thought was rather high but peppers are fairly light so I figured just one of each wouldn't be too expensive.  Lo and behold when we got to the register it turns out they were $2.48 EACH!  Why would anyone in their right mind pay $2.50 for a pepper?!  We told the girl to forget it, we can sub in onions and mushrooms to replace the peppers because that's just silly!

I also picked up a pedometer finally; $5.00 for that.  It's just a simple, inexpensive one that doesn't do anything fancy but I've decided it will be a lot better for Wii walking than having to count my steps in my head.  You see, I don't really trust the distance counter on the Wii because the speed of the little runner cartoon is often erratic and uneven, even if my own speed is spot on.  This is partly because I can't put the Wii controller in my pocket like I'm supposed to; when I'm wearing pants that actually have a pocket it weighs them down to the point where I feel like they're going to fall off and my pants that fit better don't have pockets.  I had the leg strap from the Wii Active but it didn't fit around my giant thigh (I was really surprised they didn't think about that one when they created the game) and Snack Monkey ended up taking it and the rest of my accessories to GameStop for a trade in.  To be honest, I wasn't all that impressed by the Active anyway; the resistance straps were useless and some of the exercises were way beyond the abilities of someone who is obese and has no balance.

Anyhow, so back to walking.  I've been using the free-jog on Wii Fit but walking instead of jogging so it will try to tell me I've walked 7 miles when I know I've walked closer to 3 by counting my steps; hence the pedometer.  I've heard good things about Walk It Out for the Wii but only from one, maybe two sources.  The majority of the reviews on Amazon for it are pretty bad and I think that when it comes to walking in place in my living room I can pretty much do that while watching Netflix and I don't really need to spend money on a game for it.  I did take a few to check out some treadmills while we were in the sporting goods section though ... I don't even have the room for one now but the idea of having my own treaddy in my living room is becoming really enticing to me.  Alas, perhaps when we move into a house I'll treat myself to one.  I should just cancel the gym membership; I'm not under a contract and I haven't actually been to the gym now in weeks.



Food:
9 glasses of water
1 cup of coffee w/creamer
1 Fiber One bar
1 Lean Cuisine (chicken marsala)
1 buffalo chicken sandwich (from the food bible)
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Daily Caloric Intake: 814



Activity:
Wii Walking (with pedometer confirmation): 6 miles (12,000 steps) while watching National Geographic.

Five Miles

Last night was pretty sweet!  I walked five miles, something I've only done once before since starting this journey.  Last time I did five miles in a single day I almost didn't think I was going to make it.  Some of you may recall that I had to start a texting conversation with my mom in order to find the motivation and distraction from pain/exhaustion to keep going.  Last night, I admit, I was pretty pooped after five miles but I wasn't feeling like I was going to keel over like I did the first time.  This is a great indication that in addition to losing weight I am building strength in my legs and increasing my stamina.

I'm going to start this paragraph by admitting that I desperately need to do laundry (and clean the kitchen for that matter).  When you're sick you don't feel like doing much of anything, you know.  So last night I put on a pair of work-out pants and grabbed a random shirt from my drawer that I haven't worn in over a year because it used to be too tight and too short.  Originally I had bought it to go golfing in because it has a collar (a requirement at our favorite golf course) but then we washed it and it shrunk and I didn't like wearing it anymore.  Well guess what!  It fits great!  I'm sure it had to have shrunk because it was like, one day it fit me and the next day it didn't so the fact that it fits now just makes me feel that much better about knowing that I've shrunk too!

Snack Monkey thinks I'm skinnier than I was when we met but I'm not so sure.  When we met I had a relatively flat stomach (while standing at least).  I was over weight, make no mistake about that, but I was carrying it all in my butt and hips.  But now, even with my weight down almost 40 lbs I still have this stomach that sticks out a little and jiggles when I walk (you can see it in all of my progress pictures).  We can see in the pictures that I'm losing a lot of the weight off my hips, shoulders, and arms.  I am really looking forward to some more significant loss off my stomach ... that's going to be an exciting experience for me to have a flat tummy again.



Food:
6 glasses of water
1 cup of coffee w/creamer
1 Fiber One bar
1/2 cup Taboule salad
12 mini-wheat biscuits
8 oz grilled steak
1 cup garlic noodles
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Daily Caloric Intake: 1,104



Activity:
Walking (Outside): 1 mile (dropped off the rent check and checked the mail)
Shopping (Grocery): 2 hours
Stairs: 2 flights

Falling Pants

So yesterday while I was working I was sitting in my chair and, I admit that I move around a lot in my chair because it's not the most comfortable office chair in the world.  I must have slid forward and then when I went to stand up to go to lunch I slid back into a normal sitting position, pushed the chair back from my desk and stood up.  I went to take a step and just about fell on my face because my pants had fallen down around my ankles!  Thank goodness I work from home or that would have been embarrassing!  Instead it was exciting and I immediately texted my mom to tell her about it!

I'm still feeling pretty good this morning; my nose was a little bit runny last night but not congested so I thought I'd be doing laps around the softball field tonight as usual...that was until Snack Monkey sent me a text asking me to let his coach know he was too sick to play.  I had a dream last night that Snack Monkey and I were hanging out with friends and I had worn comfy clothes because we were just planning on chilling at their place and watching sports.  Then we all decided to go out to dinner and I wanted to come home and change my clothes into something nicer, but our house is a good 20-30 minute drive from their house so my friend offered to loan me some of her clothes to go out in.  She's a skinny little former cheerleader but, in my dream, her clothes fit me!  It was a wonderful dream. :)



Food:
9 glasses of water
1 cup of coffee w/creamer
1 Fiber One bar
4 stalks celery
4 Tbsps hummus
1 cup taboule
1 turkey reuben (untoasted, no dressing)
1 order criss-cut fries
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Daily Caloric Intake: 1332



Activity:
Wii Walking: 5 miles (10,000 steps)

Weigh-In 16

Well the goal was to get under 250 lbs this week, no excuses and I was doing really good until I got sick ... so much for no excuses.  BUT, I am glad I stayed down and took care of myself because I am feeling a lot better already and I know other people who've gotten what I've had and been down for a week or more with it.  So I figure if I can kick it in just five days I'm going really good!  My weight?  Precisely 250 on the nose; no more, no less.  It's not quite the "under" 250 that I was shooting for but it feels good to know that I made progress in spite of being sick!

The food bible recommends kiwi as a food you should eat when you're sick so we picked some up last night along with some other fruits and I made smoothies for dessert.  I snuck some celery into them and Snack Monkey drank his whole cup without complaint!  YAY!  It's always good when you can sneak some veg in on someone who's not expecting it.  I slept great last night and didn't even have to take a decongestant before bed.  I also woke up feeling pretty normal which is a great sign because, when I'm sick, first thing in the morning is usually the worst time of day for me.

I lost 2 lbs ... that's not too shabby at all for not feeling well.  Just another half-pound would have been nice so I could say I'm under 250 but I'm not going to snub my nose at progress after the way February treated me.  Interestingly enough, although I didn't make "the goal", if 150 does end up being the right weight for me as it is for my goal-model then I am on the cusp of only having 100 lbs left to lose.  How sweet is that?!



Food:
7 glasses of water
2,000 mg vitamin C
1 cup of coffee w/creamer
1 Fiber One bar
2 string cheese
4 celery stalks dipped in pico (like chips)
4 oz cantaloupe
6 oz corned beef roast
8 oz boiled cabbage
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Daily Caloric Intake: 850


Activity:
One more night of rest, if I wake up feeling good again tomorrow I'll be back on the walking wagon at softball tomorrow.