10's

This week I am down 1.4, yeeha! It is right where one should be. Losing 1-2 lbs a week.

The great thing about weigh-in this week is that I hit the next lowest multiple of 10. So instead of 950 lbs I weigh 949.8. There is a big difference between those numbers psychologically. It makes me feel like I have accomplished so much more.

Anyway, yesterday no exercizey, but I did go to the Desert Botanical Garden with my not so little Fam. I walked and walked and walked, pushing a stroller and carrying Angel Baby in the Bjorn. It didn't feel like a work out, but it should count for something right?

Here are some pics from my day.

Like a Cow

I am trying to be a grazer. Rather than eat the traditional 3 meals a day I am eating small snackish size meals every few hours. The key is to have good healthy snacks to eat on hand, prepared, and ready to pop in your mouth.

This is my latest fav snicker snack.

Please don't pay attention to the little messy piece in the back.
It just wouldn't cooperate during the photo shoot.

Celery, Cottage Cheese, and Cajun Spice Mix

I cut up the celery when I have the time. Being a mom of 3 makes time scarce. I put it in a Tupperware with some water. The water keeps the celery nice and crisp because who wants to eat wilty celery, sick! Then when I need to grab something, it is there, all cut up and ready to go!

Grab the pliers!

I have been wearing maternity pants because my large post pregnancy hinder wouldn't fit back in my jeans. Today I squeezed myself into a pair. I almost had to use pliers to get the zipper up, but they fit!

I have started running on the treadmill again. I am finally to the point where I have enough energy to run during my Monkey Boy's nap. Up to a couple of days ago, I had to take a nap myself in order to survive. Angel Baby still has rough nights, but is doing quite a bit better.

Wednesday I did H.I.I.T. 30 seconds of run your guts out and 1 min recovery jog. for 30 minutes. Yesterday I did a nice medium jog for 20 minutes followed by an attempt at some yoga and strength training with my 4 year old.

I hadn't weighed myself in a couple of weeks. Yesterday I was +.2 from where I was last time I weighed. Today, I am -.6.

Not a Walker

I am going to weigh-in and report each week. I have mixed feelings about weigh-in because I have a tendency to obsess about it, but I think I need some accountability. So here goes. This week I am down 1 lb. I am pleased. Especially considering I haven't been tracking my food (honestly, with 3 kids I don't have time to look up calories on everything).

I did manage to find time yesterday to hop on my treadmill. It was the first time since my desperate attempts to get the baby out.

Because I just had a baby and I am not sure everything is all the way healed and stuff, I thought I would start out just walking. After about 3 minutes I was antsy. I hate walking. I am not so much a gentle exercise kind of person. I like the in pain, red faced and lungs exploding kind of workout. It makes sense that I became a Rugby player in college.

I managed to walk for the first 5 minutes. I kept kicking up the incline hoping that would satisfy my inner Rugger, but alas, it was to no avail. I turned up the speed and ran the rest of my work-out. Good gravy, it felt good and so far none of my girl parts have fallen out.

Super Size Me

I am back! Baby is here. He is 2.5 week old and I am ready to get back in the "get rid of my giant ass" mood. I actually gained less than I thought I would with the pregnancy. As of today I am about 12 lbs heavier than I was when I got pregnant. Granted that means I have like 912 lbs to loose instead of 900, but I am glad it isn't the 30 lbs I gained with my first. (Which I lost and put back on)

Today I have been thinking about portion size. I remember when 32 oz sodas started being sold at convenience stores. I remember thinking, "Holy Hannah, that is an entire quart of soda. That is ridiculous." Now when I hit the QT (my favoritest convenience store ever) the 32 oz is the medium size cup and I usually grab the 42, or if it has been a particularly poopy day I grab the 52.

It isn't just soda that has been Super Sized. Check out the nutrition label on small packages of things like chips, cookies, fruit snacks, etc. Most of the time they contain 2 or more servings, not just one. There are 2.5 servings in my kids' fruit snack packages.

When you go to a restaurant and order pasta, your plate will have 3 or more servings piled on.

THIS is an article with pictures of "then and now" portions. I thought it was kind of interesting.

We are used to seeing and eating portions that are far larger than a serving, so we are conditioned to eat more. Have you ever read on the label, "1 serving = 10 chips," counted out the chips, put them on your plate and thought, "That's all I get?!?" Happens to me all the time.

No matter what diet program, book, personal trainer, etc. you are using to loose weight, they will all talk about portion control. When I am learning about portion control I always think, "That is so easy and makes so much sense. I can totally do that," but then when I have to actually put it into practice, I really struggle.

Here are some things I have found that help:

- small plates - portions look bigger on a tiny plate than they do on a big one.

- more veggie side dishes - filling your plate with veggies allows you to eat more quantity with less repercussions. Better to eat 2 servings of squash than 2 servings of pasta.

- measuring spoons/cups - I can't trust myself to guesstimate.

For a cool interactive visual guide to portion control check out THIS.

I Know it's Been a While

First some excuses. This whole pregnancy thing has really thrown me for a loop. Some days I am still in denial. After I found out, I developed a, "well, can't do anything about my fat ass now" kind of attitude. That in conjunction with feeling absolutely terrible for the past couple of months put me in a nice gluttonous frenzy.

The good news is I started feeling better last week. I even occasionally feel like I have enough energy to exercise. Woot! So, I am recommitting myself to paying attention to nutrition and exercise in hopes I won't resemble a hippo after I pop this kid out.

This morning I ate a slice of whole grain bread and some cottage cheese instead of the left over pizza still calling to me from the fridge. First battle of the day is declared a success!

Heathy Katrina-1; Hippo Butt-0

Two Turkey Burgers

Ground turkey was on sale and my local grocery store, buy one get one free, so here's what I made with it.

Turkey Apple Burgers

This recipe I kind of made up after my mom told me she saw the horrid Rachel Ray making them on her annoying show.

1 package ground turkey, they are usually 1.25 lbs. and check the fat content because guess what, ground turkey can contain just as much if not more fat than ground beef.

1 apple chopped
2 green onions chopped
a few grinds of pepper
a few shakes of salt
a pinch of rubbed sage (I like the underlying sage flavor, some do not)

mix all that together, form into patties and cook on the stove. Turkey burgers don't fare well on a barbecue grill.

Eat on a whole wheat bun with lettuce and tomato. Mmmmm so good!

Carribean Jerk Turkey Burger

This recipe I got on-line. I needed something to do with my second package of turkey.

1 package ground turkey
2 green onions chopped
2 tbs minced fresh parsley
2 tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 tbs Caribbean jerk seasoning (you can probably find this at the store. I made my own, the recipe below)
1/2 tsp salt (I didn't put this in. I am kind of salt conscious. There is already salt in the seasoning and the W. sauce is salty too.)

Do the same thing as before, mix it all together, cook it on the stove.

Serve on whole wheat buns with sliced mango and sliced red bell pepper.

Carribean Jerk Seasoning

2 tbs dried minced onion
2 1/2 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp ground allspice
2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt