Monday, April 23, 2012

yummy pork and exercise

I'm still stuck at 172.2--but at least I haven't gone up.  Things are happening pretty slow compared to times I've done this before. Or maybe I'm getting old. I don't know, but obviously I'm not going to be able to make my birthday goal so I am changing it to "Be under 170 by my birthday May 1st" :)

My dear husband made this yummy meal last week on our grill pan (I don't recommend it... they always use it on cooking shows like "Oh perfect! Now you don't need a grill" Uh, no. It makes your house all smoky and stinky for days. But it makes yummy food!)


The recipe is here: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/pork-chops-with-carolina-rub-10000001185407/   I would go easy on the chili powder, that was the one flavor that was a little off for me

I've been exercising a bunch! We took this photo before we left and it turns out my front tire was completely flat. Haha. So I ended up riding Luke's bike and he rode his mountain bike. His frame was huge for me and I was a big baby the whole time because I felt so helpless on that big bike... so this picture is a little misleading. ;)


Then last night after a wonderful Haab family barbeque, Michelle, Chase, Luke and I went hiking on a little canyon trail behind our house. It was wonderful! Next time we need to bring water though, we got pretty parched.


I feel really proud of myself because I haven't sabotaged myself once since I've started this. Usually if I mess up and eat something high in calories or bad for me I'll go "Well, I screwed up. I might as well eat whatever I want the rest of today" but this time around I've had so much more self-control so hurray! I was even in line at Joann's Fabrics the other day FOREVER (How can people have so many fabric related problems at the register!?!?) and I was next to a wall of candybars for the duration of that long wait. I didn't buy one or look longingly at them at all! Hurray!

Love you guys! More tomorrow.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

one pound down and cauliflower rice!

I lost a pound!! Party! Using Loseit is really really helping me (and no, I'm not a paid spokeswoman ;) ) It has been so tough! Luke uses Loseit too and he has to try to fill up his allotted amount of calories and I struggle to eat within mine, so I get kinda jealous sometimes. But I am doing well and it is so awesome to see results! Hurrah!

Luke and I have been riding bikes a little too (he got a new roadbike and I'm borrowing David's) It is such a fun way to exercise except that I am a real scaredy cat of all of the cars around me.

Yesterday I decided to make a lovely crockpot curry from none other than Martha Stewart. I put in all the ingredients, it stewed nicely all day and our house smelled of wonderful curry. We excitedly poured it into our bowls for dinner... it was gross. I HATE when I make dinners and they don't turn out! And Martha! She's usually got my back but she failed me this time. The curry had no flavor (you'd think something with like 8 cloves of garlic, 6 tsp of ginger and 2 cans of coconut milk would have flavor). Waaaaaaa. Luke took this photo of it with my iphone, and I'm glad we did because you get to see the cauliflower rice that we make with asian-y foods!



Cauliflower is some sort of magic low-carb-y vegetable that looks like it's packed full of starch but somehow isn't. Because we try to eat low-carb in this family, we use cauliflower rice as a substitute for the real stuff and it is so so easy!

Cauliflower Rice

1 head of cauliflower washed and cut into small florets - you can obviously use as much or as little cauliflower as you want, I'd say a whole head makes like 4 big servings of rice.

Put a bunch of the cauliflower florets into a blender or food processor. (I put in about a big handful at a time... if you put the entire cauliflower in at once, the bottom florets will get beaten to a pulp and you'll still have large ones up top, so it's good to do this in stages.)

Use the pulse feature on the lowest setting (ours is "stir") to chop up the cauliflower until it has the texture of rice. Pour it out into a tupperware and repeat with the rest of the florets.

Once all of your rice is processed, put a lid on the tupperware (I leave it cracked just a tiny) and microwave for about 6 minutes or until the cauliflower is soft/done.

That's it! It is a great great substitute for rice if you're trying to eat less calories or low-carb. Yum!

Here's our mealplan for this week:



Monday, April 16, 2012

progress and zucchini lasagna

Hello friends!

So I've started using Lose it again. I love it! You can use it online or as an app, it lets you search up/add foods to your day so you can watch your calories and also add exercises. It was one of my big tools in helping me lose weight last year, so I'm not sure why I haven't started it earlier. You can stalk me on there to see every calorie I eat (my email address on there is rachelhaab@gmail.com), but today I shall give it to you in pictoral form.

Breakfast - Oatmeal with a few chopped almonds and a little brown sugar



Lunch - Refried beans with mozzarella cheese, salsa, and homemade (you can tell... they're a little toasty ;) low-carb tortilla chips, and a salad



Dinner - Zucchini Lasagna



What is this deliciousness you may ask? This is a lasagna made with zucchini strips instead of noodles! Believe me, I was super skeptical the first time I made it but it is AMAZING and you can't tell a difference between this and real lasagna. (I gave Michelle a little piece and she loved it. When I told her what it was she said "You tricked me!!")

I originally got the recipe from the lovely blog, Your Lighter Side I've tweaked it a teeny tiny bit for what works for me. And ps. don't make fun of my food photog skills, I'm learning! (Also I do it with my iphone... haha)

Zucchini Lasagna

2 large (or four small) zucchini squash
Olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 mushrooms, chopped
¼ cup sweet yellow onion, chopped
1 lb ground beef
1 10-ounce jar pizza sauce (I use sugar-free pasta sauce in place of this--you do have to let it reduce though)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1.5 cups cottage cheese OR: 1.5 cups ricotta cheese and 2 tbsp cream or milk
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp dried chopped chives OR green onion

1. Peel zucchini and use a mandolin (if you are so lucky to have one) to slice zucchini lengthwise to about 1/4" thickness. If you don't have a mandolin, you can cut them with a sharp knife (which takes lots more time :( ) When you're done, it'll look like this:



2. Heat a griddle or skillet on medium heat and spray with olive oil. Lay all of your zucchini strips on the griddle and cook until they are soft, flipping when needed. You might have to do this in stages.



3. When you're done, set them aside on a plate



4. In skillet, saute minced garlic and onion until onion is transparent, 3-5 minutes. Then add ground beef. Cook until browned.



5. Add sauce to the pan and let it simmer until it thickens a bit.



6. While that's going on, mix together the cottage cheese (or ricotta + cream in my case), parmesan and chives (or green onions... my chives were icky)



7. In a 13 x 9 pan, layer the meat sauce, zucchini, ricotta mixture, and mozzarella (as you would any lasagna... I'm not even going to give you an order to do it in because I mess it up everytime... just end with some mozzarella on top!)



Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes, or until cheese begins to bubble and turn slightly golden. Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes to allow to set prior to serving.

Serves 9 (or 2 people for a few days :) )

Adapted from Your Lighter Side Zucchini Lasagna

I'll be trying to update a bunch this week to stay on track. Thanks everyone for your comments and nice words. :)

Friday, April 13, 2012

blarg

Nothing great to report, same ol' same ol'! I think next weeks weigh-in will be more eventful. :)

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Oh, Easter Candy.

Hmmm, so I'm not off to the most wonderful start. What a mystery!



Yeah, we made out pretty good this Easter. ;) And the reason you don't see much chocolate is because I've been eating it bit by bit since Sunday! We might need to lock this stuff up or something.

I'm being patient with myself, though, and I feel happy because I've been trying to exercise a lot more (a lot more than zero, I mean) and it feels good.

I also got a mini-whiteboard and started writing out our entire week of dinners so we have no excuses for eating out or feeling like we don't have any food. It's really helpful for me--planning things out is like 90% of this for me!



I'm going to weigh in on Friday, so stay tuned!!

ps. They are pouring foundation for our new house, hurray!!!

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Well Hello Everyone!

I am chubby. :( It's a fact that I'd like to change. I'm always yo-yoing around in weight, and I've almost never been happy with my weight, even since I was in like middle school (I wish I could go back in time and strangle the 120-lb-me that thought she was oh so fat!) Anyway, it's gotten bad. I lost 15 lbs last year but I still have a long way to go to reaching a healthy weight! I created this blog to give me some motivation and accountability and I'd love for everyone to stick with me while I work to my goal of losing 50 pounds (well that's including some of the weight I already lost so let's say 40 pounds from now. :) )

The pounds I lost last year (star stickers make you feel so accomplished. seriously.)



I got the idea to make a weight-loss blog from my brother in law and lovely sister (I'm not sure if they are ready to stupidly set themselves up for embarrassment like me so I won't post links ;) ). My dear husband Lucas is an inspiration, he's already lost 50 lbs and gave me the advice that I have to make this my "job" if I want it to work this time. I'm going to make this my "job" and hopefully take it very seriously!

So right now I weigh 173 (am I crazy posting this online? Yes, and it's embarrassing but true. Still love me!)

I'd like to weigh 130-135.


How am I going to do this? Here are my rules, which may change as I find out what works for me:

1. Exercise 5 times per week. This means 30 minutes of some sort of cardio.

2. Eat only good carbs (aka no white or super starchy things) - oatmeal, whole wheat, fruit, etc.

3. Only eat natural sugars and in small amounts - fruit, honey, agave, etc.

4. Pack a lunch every day.

5. Be patient with myself. :)


So I've got my long-term goal set -- losing about 40 lbs. I think making little goals along the way will help me feel accomplished.

My first mini goal is: Weigh 165 by my birthday May 1st


Here's probably the most recent full-body-ish photo of me so we can hopefully have a little "before" for the after:



Anyhow, I am very excited about this and I think it will help me out a lot a lot. Here we go!



So lend me your advice and words of wisdom, my dears! This is really really rough for me so your help and encouragement is fantastic. xoxox