Exercise Before Exercise?

When I used to work out with my mom at Shoreview Community Center, I would see people run/bike/roller blade to SCC, then go inside and do weights or another work out, then leave the same way they arrived. I thought they were nuts! Why would you work out BEFORE you workout?? Well.... I did that today :) I did an interval walk/run to the gym, did my strength training, and did a moderately paced walk back. It's only about 0.35 miles from my house so it's not far at all. Not to mention I got to enjoy the beautiful sun!

Something I've really been enjoying for dinner are the Morning Star Spicy Black Bean Burgers. I'll cook one of those up in a skillet and put it on a wheat bun with some mustard. Occasionally I'll have a slice of provolone cheese if I'm lacking in calcium for the day. Today I cooked up some mixed vegetables with a little olive oil, garlic and lemon juice. DELISH! I'm so glad I discovered frozen vegetables! I don't make them every night as my veggie serving and it makes it so much easier to keep them and not waste them.

Good day overall. Now I'm going to enjoy a Skinny Cow Chocolate Truffle Ice Cream Bar, yum!

Why Would I Workout Without Great Tunes?

Part of what I want to put on this blog is things that I have found helpful and things that motivate me.

Some of my favorite things for snacks right now are:

*Chobani Greek Yogurt in Raspberry and Blueberry

*Laughing Cow Light Garlic & Herb cheese wedges (35 calories in 1 wedge) with either a serving of Triscuts (6 crackers) or Multi-grain Wheat Thins (15 crackers)

*Skinny Cow single serving ice cream in Chocolate Fudge Brownie

*Orville Redenbacher's 100 Calorie Popcorn mini-bag

Now onto my most recent workout playlist:

*La Bamba-Wyclef Jean (from Zumba)

*Mambo Italiano-Wiseguy Orchestra (from Zumba)

*Give Me Everything-Pitbull

*Club Can't Handle Me-Flo Rida

*Que Te Pica-Notch (from Zumba)

*I Know You Want Me-Pitbull

*Blow-Kesha

*Party Rock Anthem-LMFAO

*Telephone-Lady Gaga & Beyonce

*I Gotta Feeling-Black Eyed Peas

*On The Floor-Jennifer Lopez

*Rock Ya Body-MVP w/Stagga Lee

*Yeah 3X-Chris Brown (yeah, I know, I know, but it's a great running song)

*Woohoo-Christina Augilera

*Evacuate the Dancefloor-Cascada

*Poker Face-Lady Gaga

*DJ Got Us Falling in Love-Usher

*Dynamite-Taio Cruz

*Fire Burning-Sean Kingston

*Not Myself Tonight-Christina Augilera

*Safety Dance-Glee Cast

*The Time (Dirty Bit)-Black Eyed Peas

*Thriller/Heads Will Roll-Glee Cast

*Born This Way-Lady Gaga

*Single Ladies-Beyonce

*Hey Mama-Black Eyed Peas

*All Night-Janet Jackson

*Yeah-Usher

*Tilt Ya Head Back-Nelly

*Bottle Pop-Pussycat Dolls

*Break Your Heart-Taio Cruz

*Price Tag-Jessie J

*In My Head-Jason Derulo

*The Way You Make Me Feel-Michael Jackson

*I Just Wanna Love You-Jay-Z

More food-type posts to come!

The Project is Back On!

Yes, "Project Slim Down For Baby" is back on! I slacked off quite a bit over the last 2 months and rediscovered my motivation to lose weight and eat better.

On March 17, one of my best friends, Millie, had a baby boy, Jack. On March 24, my brother and his girlfriend had my nephew, Xavier. I already have baby fever, but the pull has become even stronger since I've been spending time with these 2 adorable little guys. With Bobby and I working opposite schedules Monday-Friday, I decided to get back into the game and get serious.

On April 9, I joined Snap Fitness near my house. It's a 3 minute drive, which makes it perfect. A week later, I saw my new OB/GYN. We talked about my goals and how I want to lose some weight before I get pregnant. I have a short term goal and long term goal. I need to reach my short term goal before getting pregnant. After expressing my concerns about not fitting in all of my vegetables and fruits, she referred me to a nutritionist. I also met with a trainer last week who started me on a strength training plan, which is exactly what I need to start burning more calories during my day. Yesterday was the meeting with the nutritionist and it was SO helpful!

I've learned a lot in the last 3 weeks about fitness and diet. Now that I'm equipped with the right tools, I am totally confident that I can succeed in achieving my goals! I have already lost 9 pounds since I did my starting weigh-in on April 14! I'm doing this for myself and my unborn child. But I'm also doing this to inspire my friends who are the same way I used to be: not thinking I could do it, being afraid to ask for help, not knowing WHERE to get help.

For those of you who have been following this blog before, you know I'm all about being open and accountable. I plan to share my meals, recipes, weight loss and other useful information that I come across.

One website I have found to be HUGELY beneficial is www.myfitnesspal.com. I entered in my current weight, age, height, gender, goal weight, daily activity level and how many days a week I exercise. From there it gives me a guideline of how many calories I should take in per day. Right now it's telling me 1410, unless I work out and "earn" calories, but my nutritionist said to shoot for 1500 if possible. I can also choose what other elements I monitor. Right now, I'm keeping track of calories, fat, protein, calcium and fiber. Now, even though I can "earn" calories to eat by working out, I almost never (meaning never except once) eat all those calories back. What's the point of working out then? It's really cool for me to see the caloric deficit that I have from working out, and at the end of each day it tells me how long it would take me to get to my goal weight if I ate like that day, every day.

Here are some stats and goals:
Starting Weight: 229 lbs
Current Weight: 220 lbs (5/2/11)
Short Term Goals:
210 lbs by 5/31/11
200 lbs by 6/30/11
190 lbs by 7/31/11
Long Term Goal: 160 lbs

And, if I can achieve all of these goals, I'll be on the path to trying for a baby in no time!

Getting back on track

Starting weight: 228 lbs

Friday December 31: 225 lbs

Friday January 7: 223 lbs

Thursday February 3: 219 lbs

I got a little off track over the last few weeks. I was still working out 3-4 days a week and trying to eat right, but the eating part was getting out of hand. I was going out a lot, I had a confirmation retreat where I didn't have control over what was served, and I started to feel gross. So this week, I made it a point to get myself back on track. It's amazing the difference I feel between eating out a lot and cooking my own meals. I still feel like I'm dragging every morning before work but in general, I feel healthy. I'm almost down a total of 10 pounds which is awesome. I really make an effort to get in at least 3 workouts a week when I have a lot of stuff crammed in, and when I have a less busy week, I try to get in 5 workouts. It really feels good to just be back in this!

GOOD NEWS!

In case you didn't catch the slight reveal in a previous entry, BOBBY GOT A JOB!! One year and 3 days after he lost his previous job, he got offered a position with People Inc. He'll be working in a brand new chemical dependency facility in Minneapolis. The hours are not in any way ideal for a marriage, but we really need this job and he needs to gain experience to put towards his ultimate career. He starts on February 14, so we'll have lots of time before then to spend together. It's an awesome opportunity and I couldn't be happier!

Another success with El Dorado!

We LOVE this recipe! You can eat it like a casserole or eat it with some tortilla chips like a dip. This made TONS of leftovers and is one of our favorites! The ingredient photo shows 2 lbs of meat, that's because I doubled it this time :)

1 pound extra lean ground beef or ground turkey breast

1 onion, chopped (I used half an onion and it tasted fine)

1 cup (8 oz) fat-free ricotta cheese (I used "part skim")

1 package (8 oz) reduced fat cream cheese

2 cans (4 oz each) chopped green chile peppers

1 can (4 oz) black olives, chopped and drained

4 cups coarsely broken baked tortilla chips

3/4 cup shredded reduced fat Monterey Jack cheese

3/4 cup shredded reduced fat Cheddar Cheese

Salsa (optional)

*Preheat oven to 375*F. Coat a 13" x 9" baking dish with nonstick spray

*In a large, nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, cook beef/turkey and onion, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes or until meat is no longer pink. Drain off any fat.

*In a large bowl, combine ricotta, cream cheese, peppers (with liquid) and olives.

*Spoon half of meat into the prepared baking dish. Top with half of ricotta mixture. Top with 2 cups tortilla chips. Sprinkle with half of Monterey Jack and half of Cheddar. Repeat layers with remaining meat mixture, ricotta mixture, chips and shredded cheeses.

*Cover and bake 20 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 minutes, or until hot and bubbly. Serve with salsa, if using.

*Makes 8 servings

*I suggest skipping the layer of chips and sprinkling them on top towards the end of baking. The chips got soggy during baking, which didn't affect the taste, but there was no crunch.

*Bobby ate his with hot sauce and LOVED it!

Unfried Crunchy Chicken

Didn't get an ingredients photo on this one, whoops!

I ended up putting everything together, then we got the news that Bobby got a job and he wanted to celebrate, so I ended up freezing the chicken breasts for a few days and it still tasted fine!

4 garlic cloves, crushed

1 Tbsp. lime juice

2 Tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce

1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

4 skinless, bone-in chicken breasts or thighs (we used boneless)

1 cup (8 oz) fat-free plain yogurt

1/2 cup unbleached or all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

2 Tbsp fat-free milk

1 1/2 cups dry bread crumbs (I used Progresso ones)

*Preheat the oven to 375*

In a small bowl, mix garlic, lime juice, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, and 1/4 tsp pepper. Rub into chicken and refrigerate 30 minutes.

In a shallow bowl, combine yogurt, flour, garlic powder, milk, remaining 1/4 tsp pepper. Spread bread crumbs on waxed paper.

Dredge chicken in yogurt mixture, then press into bread crumbs on all sides. Place on the rack of a roasting pan and coat generously with nonstick spray.

Bake 45 minutes, or until a thermometer inserted in thickest portion registers 170* and juices run clear.

We ate it with sourdough bread from Target's bakery, yum! It was tasty and very easy!

408 calories, 38 g protein, 49 g carbs, 6 g fat, 74 mg cholesterol, 760 mg sodium, 0 g fiber.