Week 1

Well, I am in week 1 day 5 of the 12-week weight loss challenge. As I mentioned in the last post, this is a company-wide challenge to see who can lose the greatest percentage of their beginning weight.

Funny enough, we had an office potluck on day 2. What kind of abusive willpower training are they trying to pull with that?! People barely had a chance to get their feet wet with day 1 then they rolled out a spread of sausage and pastries and cheese before anyone had a chance to have a little caffeine and find their clarity to resist. It was tough. I didn't give in. I may have picked up a plate then put it down, but I ultimately didn't give in.

After surviving the first potluck, they're planning another potluck for Valentine's Day. As a woman I used to work with would say, "Lord help me, Jesus."

Thankfully, this was a good week. I kicked off a few pounds and rediscovered some of the things that work for me.

If I haven't said it enough, it's really important to find what works for you. Not everyone's system responds the same. Try a few methods and see which produces the best results in a way that you can live with. (Some produce results in a way that you would go mad sustaining.)

One thing I respond to is a 12-hour fast. I try not to eat anything between the hours of 7 p.m. and 7 a.m.  I can lose weight without it, but it seems to come off a lot faster when I stick to a 12-hour fast. If I feel a little hungry or restless, I make sugar-free hot tea or have a glass of water. Otherwise I don't eat or drink anything.

And now let's get to the food! (Just after talking about fasting, gotta love it.)

When it comes to food I think it's good to find a healthy version of the food you like. Well, sometimes maybe just healthier. But we've already established that I'm not a food puritan.

When it comes to what I crave, chicken strips are top five. I like to either buy frozen chicken strips and bake them or batter my own using Kraft Fresh Takes.

This week I paired homemade chicken strips with veggies for lunches. It was wonderful.

If you like fries, try baking sweet potato fries and chicken strips. It's like a trip through the drive-thru without all the guilt. I've learned that a quick spray of nonstick butter-flavored cooking spray (in the last few minutes of baking) will allow the fries to crisp up.

Will and I made stuffed tomatoes. I would post a recipe, but I honestly don't think we've nailed this dish yet. We stuffed the tomatoes with wild rice, lean ground beef, 2% cheese and seasoning.

They were good, but we still need to figure out how to properly bake tomatoes. Once we do, I'll post a recipe.

One thing I've been working on lately is figuring out a substitute for energy drinks. I am addicted to the buzz.

A coworker introduced me to his Advocare Spark energy drink mix recently.

It definitely helped me focus, but it didn't have the same zing as my favorite morning beverage - NOS. Still, Spark has 45 calories and tons of vitamins per serving. I'm going to make the switch and give it a month.

As for treats, I like to have chocolate here and there. Skinny Cow has become my favorite culinary invention.

The dreamy clusters and peanut butter heavenly crisps are AMAZING! And they're both just over 100 calories per packet.

Well, that does it for me. Here's to the weekend! 

If you want a good read, click here. I stumbled upon this earlier in the week. It's a good reminder that you shouldn't waste time beating yourself up. Not only are you impacted by that mindset, but also you're teaching those who look up to you to see themselves negatively. So let's encourage ourselves and each other. 

Food and Team Challenges

Two things. First, I have been playing in the kitchen with great results. Second, I joined a weight loss challenge at work. 

First, food. 

My favorite new breakfast idea: muffins. Not blueberry or bran, the kind of muffins composed of eggs, hash browns, sausage, and cheese! Ok, they're only called muffins because they're baked in a muffin pan. STILL, how brilliant?! They come pre-portioned and have a great flavor. 

For those of us who are NOT morning people, this is a great idea because you can make them ahead and reheat as needed. Below you can see the ingredients I used (whatever I had at my house, customize as desired) and the nutrition facts per muffin. (I am addicted to My Fitness Pal. You can add ingredients and view nutrition facts for your recipes. That's the app I use when I provide nutrition about my recipes. Try it out if you're curious to see the stats on your favorite foods.)

I have also discovered a white bean dip I like. It's simple (1 can of white beans, 1.5 T olive oil, 1 T roasted garlic, salt, 1.5 T lemon juice -- process in a food processor until smooth). 

This snack gives me a reason to eat pita chips. And I really like a little crunch in my snacks now and then. By combining this dip with chips I can get the crunch without making me want to eat half a bag of chips. One serving really satisfies.

The nutrition facts for 1/4 c. of dip are below. As you can see, 1/4 c. of dip with a serving of pita chips tops off at 213 calories. 

Now, the weight loss challenge. As I've said, I'm struggling lately to get back on track. For inspiration, I decided to join the office weight loss challenge. I'm on a team of five women. Technically, the goal is to be the team with the most weight lost and also the individual with the most weight lost over a 12-week period. Me? I just want to be encouraged and learn new ways to live well. It's amazing how much we learn from each other when we're working toward the same goal. I'm really looking forward to that aspect of the challenge.

That said, I am trying to avoid the competitive craze. The people I work with are hardcore competitive. I'm talking, some teams binge before the first weigh in so that they gain a few pounds that are easy to lose. Then they feel that allows them to have a greater weight loss total by the end of the challenge (12 weeks later). Some teams go to a sauna together the day before the final weigh in to dehydrate their bodies to a smaller weight. 

Uh...no. I think we all have to realize, it's not about the dang scale. It's about feeling better and living better. There are a lot of things you can do that will hurt you but still budge the scale. We should strive to do good things for ourselves, instead of getting caught up in numbers. 

Here's to agility. Whatever you face, however hard it seems, just try to keep finding ways to work toward your best. You may not be perfect, that's part of being human, but you can do little things every day to change your life for the better. Here's to learning more!

Considerations of a Not-So-Sleek Athlete

For a while now I have been considering training for a triathlon. Really, I work out better with a goal in mind. Once I make up my mind to follow through, my training plan comes along nicely. (Mainly because I know I can't slack off or I'll embarrass myself when the event comes.) So I figure if I sign up for a triathlon five months out then I'll bust my butt getting in shape for it. How could it go wrong?

Then I saw how people dress for triathlons. Ok, listen, I realize this should have occurred to me around the time I considered the swimming portion of the three-sport event, but I'm not always on my A-game. I'll admit. And I've seen triathlons, so why didn't this come to mind? I have no idea. I think I was too busy thinking of the how I'd train up to the swimming, biking, and running to process what kind of outfit I'd wear.

The triathlon I'm interested in incorporates a 400-yard swim, 13-mile bike ride, and a 3.1 mile run. To be dressed to perform all of those activities you wear something like this (from trieva.com):

Oh. My.

My first reaction was...

My second reaction was...well, maybe. I mean, there has to be something else I could wear because...

Then I read that you stand out more if you don't wear a triathlon suit. -sigh-

These people are testing me. I got to put all the curves on show to engage in this athletic achievement, huh? 

After googling 'plus size triathlete' I felt a little better. In fact, I remembered how silly I was being. Though, I am still not loving the idea of spandex in a public place, (I don't do spandex in private! How am I supposed to go public with that mess?!) sometimes you have to swallow your pride and do it anyway. It's not about the outfit, it's about the challenge. [Will corrected me. It's not spandex, it's lycra. Still, it's unattractive by any name.]

Will is considering training with me. We figure it'll cause us to take up swimming and (gulp) bring us back to jogging. We're already comfortable on bikes, covering greater distances easily.

So it looks like I may have a new challenge -- as soon as I get comfortable with the required uniform. Let's see if I can adjust to the idea.