Lifestyle Change

We had an awesome, if windy, day at the beach.  A family friend from Charlotte, who I haven't seen since last summer, was down for a visit.  It was nice to hear her remark about the difference in me.  That kind of thing keeps me going when it gets tough or I feel I'm not getting anywhere.

 After relaxing on the beach, the whole group got cleaned up and went out to dinner at a local restaurant that has a little of everything, but also really good pizza.   Pizza is off my menu for sure, so I ordered a Greek salad with grilled chicken, but the rest of the crowd agreed on pizza.  I've been at this game for almost a year now, and have encountered all kinds of food challenges including holidays, office parties, birthday parties, and random Tuesdays passing my favorite Chinese place.  In the beginning, I had to avoid certain situations altogether because my resolve was in the fledgling stages.  However, there comes a point in time when you have to be able to adapt yourself to any situation and not enforce your dietary constrictions on others.  At this point in time, you have to be accountable and most importantly, in control.  You're not a newbie, you know what to do...you're a seasoned diet war vet who can't hide from challenging situations or live inside a carb-free bubble. That is how you change your lifestyle.

All that being said, it was still hard to watch everyone else eat my favorite food and consign myself to my salad.   As we walked out to the car, everyone was saying how full they were, while my stomach still felt empty.  I was still hungry.   Luckily, I remembered that I'd bought a pack of sugar-free key lime flavored gum.  It wasn't a lovely, cheesy, garlicky slice of heaven, but it took the edge off and eventually, I realized I wasn't hungry anymore.  

Must be the Endorphins

Millie and Sylvia did kickboxing with Florence and I for the first time today.  I could tell they were a little skeptical in the beginning (who isn't wondering what's going to happen when starting a new class) but once we got into it, they were fans.

As always, that class pumped me up.  The punch-cross, upper-hook, turn kick, turn kick combos were my favorite.  I was in all body muscle pain (the good kind) and my sore parts wanted to stiffen and lock up shortly into class but I love kickboxing so much that I was able to work through it.  So much of exercise and endurance is mental.   I envisioned the scene from Kill Bill 2 where Uma Thurman travels to Japan to study kung fu from a master.  How cool would that be?  I was feeling feisty when I left and so were Millie and Sylvia because when walked out of the group exercise room into the gym and saw Dana on the treadmill, we descended upon him, heckling him for not joining us in class.  All in good fun.  I find exercise has increased my "junk talking".  Must be the endorphins.

On the way home from work I stopped off to see my cousin Devon and we decided to do the Couch to 5K training in the fall to prepare for the 5K that my work always sponsors in December.  Crossing a finish line in a race has been a recent dream of mine, even if I walk most of it.  A year ago, I wouldn't have even considered it to be a possibility.  It's amazing what the body can do once you take the mental blocks away.

Slim Jenn and White Bread

Usually for breakfast I make a chicken sandwich with a smart bagel and it ends up being under 200 calories and keeps me from being hungry until lunch time.  This morning I realized i was out of those and so had to grab two slices of white bread instead.   No worries, it still ends up being around the same amount of calories.  Since the only toasters are in the first floor break room, I went downstairs to toast up the bread.   It had just popped up and I'd wrapped it up in a paper towel when who should come around the corner but Jeff.  When he saw I had white bread in my hand, he said, "Minter! I'm shocked!" Sheepishly I countered with, "But Jeff, it's only 100 calories!" He then reminded me that even though the calories might be right, white bread is high on the glycemic index and therefore I would be hungrier faster.  Like a bad dog, I tucked my tail under and went back to my desk with my evil white bread.

Later on in the day I was on my way to the gym when I ran into my cute friend Lisa.   She said, "You are looking good" and told me that she'd recently seen a Slim Jim commercial and decided then that she should call me Slim Jenn.  I loved it. I'm not slim yet, but Lisa, I take that as inspiration!

I continued down to the gym and met up with my gym family to work out.  Since every one of my muscles was sore (a pride I wore like a badge, thank you Jeff and John!) I decided to lay off the weights and just do cardio.   I'd made it through the treadmill, bike, elliptical, and crunches and was stretching out when around the corner came Jeff.  "Hey White Bread!" he said.  We then had a good conversation about what I should be eating and I realize now that I have to plan my food better. 

One thing I did plan ahead on was tonight's dinner, Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken.  It was tasty:

Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup salsa
1 package reduced sodium taco seasoning
1 can of reduced fat cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream
***I added black beans too.

Add chicken to slow cooker.  Sprinkle taco seasoning on chicken (can use 1/2 a pack for less sodium).  Pour salsa and soup over chicken.  Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.  Remove from heat and stir in sour cream.  Serve with rice (I didn't eat the rice and it was good because I added the beans).
157.2 calories,3.3 g of fat, 6.7 g of carbs, 24.3 g of protein.

So, I have two new nicknames: Slim Jenn and White Bread.  Add those to Minty Fresh, 50 Mint, and the like.  Hey, I'll answer to anything. :) 

Sledgehammers And a Recipe

I've always watched the trainers on the Biggest Loser take the contestants outside and have them beat a tire with a hammer and thought, "I want to do that!"  I also would watch them swing those heavy ropes up and down and thought, "That would be cool!"  Today I got a chance to do both.

I had a great workout with John where we did bench presses, kettle bells, lunges, squats, push ups, bench curl presses, the cable machine, and my favorite - boxing. Each exercise lasted a minute and if you think that's not a long time try it sometime. Then we went through all of those things again, and that is before we headed outside.

John had me swinging a sledgehammer onto a big 18 wheeler tire and it is harder than it looks!  So are those ropes. You think, that looks pretty easy.  Heck to the no.  Those ropes are heavy as lead and you have to swing them like a furious stage coach driver.  If I could have talked at the time, I would have been tempted to say, "Ya! Git along little doggies!"  Whew!  Crazy hard workout but I enjoyed the heck out of it and felt so accomplished at the end, even though all my muscles were shaking. 

I arrived home hungry like a wolf and was so happy that my supper was ready in my BFF, the crockpot. The recipe, from sparkpeople.com:

Easy Slow Cooker Beef and Mushrooms
1 pound lean beef stew meat (in pieces)
1 can low-fat cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup of water
1 packet dry onion soup mix
8 oz fresh mushrooms (whole or sliced)
Brown meat in skillet (or you can skip this step, I did). Place meat in crockpot. Place mushrooms on top of beef. Combine soup, water, and soup mix and pour over mushrooms and beef.  Cook on low 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours. Number of servings: 4


It was 214 calories per serving, 6 grams of fat, 12.4 grams of carbs, and 26.9 grams of protein.   We ate it over one cup of brown rice and had brussel sprouts on the side.   So tasty and hit the spot after quite a workout!
 

Crockpots and Noodle Arms

I'm fortunate to have my wonderful little brother work at the same place I do. Although we're both so busy that we don't get to say more than "hey how ya doin'?" some days, it's still nice to know he's around somewhere. Today shortly after I got back to my desk from the gym, Charles happened to swing by on his way to somewhere else on my floor.  When he asked how I was doing, I thrust my arms out and said, "I have noodle arms!"

I saw his eyes get big and he said, "Dang Jenn!  You're arms are really getting defined! I bet you're stronger than a lot of guys now!"

I must say that I'm proud of my arms.  I'm not all gorilla-ed out and don't want to be, but it's nice to see definition.  I think most people have a favorite muscle group to workout, whether it be their arms, legs, or abs and I must say that arms are mine.  That being said, I thought I was going to cry today during Jeff's killer arm routine.  

After work I hit the grocery store armed with a handful of low cal crock pot recipes I pulled off of www.sparkpeople.com.  If you've never been there, check it out.  It has calorie trackers, workout trackers, exercise and nutrition advice, forums, and recipes. It's a good free tool.There's even a free recipe calculator located here: http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp so you can see how your favorite recipes stack up calorie wise. I'm really trying to focus harder on the food than I have been because no matter how hard you work out, you still have to watch what you put in your mouth. A wise person once told me that (right D?). 

A New Solution

The hardest thing about the losing weight game is by far the food.  What to eat, when to eat it, what's good, what's bad, how to eat healthy on the go...there are challenges around every corner.   This challenge is then compounded when you work full time and have a commute.  Add to this limited restaurant choices due to living in a small down, and thus my daily dilemma.  Between more often than not leaving work late, an hour drive home, and the daily errands of a normal life, and usually I find myself too tired and without the time or inclination to cook dinner.  And friends, there are only so many days a week you can eat Subway. This has been a huge challenge for me...until now.

I have found my new BFF, the slow-cooker liner.  They're made in the same manner as oven bags and fit right onto your crockpot so that when you're finished eating, you just toss them and go...no dishes to wash.  Last week I put a roast into the crockpot and threw in some frozen veggies that were already washed and prepped, added some seasoning and cut that bad boy on low before walking out the door in the morning,  and in five minutes you have dinner ready when you walk in the door.   It's so nice to have that hurdle jumped and to walk into the house to the lovely aroma of a healthy, home cooked dinner all ready and waiting.  And no dishes to wash! 

This morning I put a pork tenderloin with marinade on before I left for work.   The smell of garlic and herbs welcomed us home.   I threw one of those steamable frozen veggie packs into the microwave, sliced up a fresh tomato and seasoned it with herbs, and voila: a healthy and delicious dinner!   The pork was falling apart and juicy.   And the meal was under ten dollars.  Considering I paid twelve dollars for some Subway the other day that was not nearly as satisfying, not so bad all around. Ten dollars and ten minutes and we had dinner.

So much of losing weight, whether its in what you eat or the exercise that you do, is thinking outside of the box and constantly re-inventing the wheel.   Now I need to do some more research into low cal, easy, low carb recipes, but it's nice to have a new solution!

Savor the Little Things (and I don't Mean M & M's)

There is so much that being overweight and unhealthy does to take over and enslave your life.   You never really realize the full gravity of it until you start bringing yourself out of it.   There are many things that I'm discovering as I go along this journey, things that the average person just goes about their daily life doing without thinking about it too much. When you bind your body up with so much weight, it affects absolutely everything you do. 

For instance, last summer some good friends of ours were moving and my husband and I went over to help them out.  Well, Eric helped them out...I just was moral support because at that point in my life (close to the time the picture of me at the Fourth of July in a prior post) I felt so overburdened that even walking minute distances was unbearable and I couldn't stand for very long.   If I tried to pick up anything much, my lower back would feel like it was about to give way.  I was already carrying so much weight with my body, how could I add even a pound more to that?   So, while Eric and the others spent hours moving things out, I sat on the couch and made boxes.  I love helping people and I felt utterly lazy and useless.

Fast forward to almost a year later; I called our friend Pam to tell her we'd be able to pitch in a help her move this afternoon.   She said she'd love to have Eric come help and I quickly volunteered myself as well.  "Shug, it's going to be some heavy stuff to move. I don't think you'll be able to lift it."  I laughed and said, "Woman!  You won't believe what I can do these days."

After work a party of about eight of us assembled at Pam's old house to help her move.  No one likes the process of moving, but with our friends it was fun!  There were plenty of laughs and a lot of smack talking and good natured jabs going on.  And, I showed Pam what I could do!  It felt so good to be "normal" like everyone else, able to pitch in and help a friend out and not feel so useless.  My cousin Devon, one of my most awesome supporters, looked at me and said, "I know you feel good if you've volunteered to help with this move."  It was nice that she knew what it meant to me too.

We got Pam loaded, made a caravan of vehicles to her new place, and unloaded everything again. After the last load was carried in, we were all standing around hanging out, passing out water and beer and enjoying being outside on a nice Friday evening.  I decided to experiment and see if I could hoist myself up onto the tailgate of my husband's truck. Yep, got up there with ease and crossed my legs Indian style.  Again, an action that most people wouldn't think about or even consider a victory, but I don't take any of these changes in myself for granted.  I savor each one along the way and carry that good feeling in my heart as armor against the bad temptations.   I inhaled the fresh air of a rare summer evening without heat or humidity, looked around at my awesome friends, and just basked in the feeling of normalcy and the good "hurt" of my muscles after today's workout and tonight's move.   And it just felt right.  :)