Tags

fitness, health, quinoa casserole, weigh-in, weight loss, weight-lifting

I usually weigh myself on Mondays but I forgot all about it in a rush to get to work. (I’m on-call subbing again so it’s a different job everyday. I dislike it but it’s work. More on that later.)

So I weighed myself Tuesday morning and I’m writing about it now. Once again, my weigh-in is the same. I’m not thrilled with the results. I weigh exactly the same. UGH.

Seems like it takes me two weeks to drop weight. So, I’m reminding myself not to worry about it. I’ll weigh in again on Monday and hope for the best.

(Picture from the Santa Monica Classic 2010)

Workouts for the week:

Monday- NROLFW Stage 4 Workout #3a

Tuesday- Treadmill 2.31 run/walk HIIT.

Wednesday-Off

Thursday- NROLFW Stage 4 Workout #4b

Friday- Off

Saturday- 15 push-ups, Treadmill HIIT 2.27 run/walk HIIT

Sunday- Livefit Phase 1 Day 1- Chest & Triceps

My knee hurt pretty bad after the run on Saturday which is disappointing. Stretch, ice, and heat to the rescue I hope!

Dinner last night was an amazing quinoa casserole.

Recipe:

1.5  cups dry tricolor quinoa

2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

4 oz cream cheese

3 cups chopped veggies of choice. I used cauliflower, kale, red bell pepper, caramelized onions, and spinach.

Seasoning to taste (I eyeballed dashes of seasoned salt, pepper, and garlic powder.)

1/2 finely shredded mozzarella

Prepare quinoa according to package. (on stove top in a fairly large pot) Stir in cream cheese and let it melt. Add in chopped veggies and stir until creamy.

Preheat oven to 350 while stirring the quinoa. Add ingredients to a baking dish. Top with shredded mozzarella and cook for 20 minutes.

It was SO delicious. We had some pork loin on the side. The cream cheese adds the perfect amount of creaminess. I was heavy-handed with the kale/spinach because we have a ton of greens on hand. It didn’t matter much since the greens cooked down to practically nothing. Next time, I’ll add some chicken to this.

Can I just say how excited I am to take food pictures when we buy a house and have better lighting? Ridiculously excited.

Here’s hoping to a better weigh-in next week!

Tags

accidental glutening, babycakes la, gluten-free, gluten-free baked good, hard cider, salted caramel donut

On Saturday night, Andy and I went to Hollywood for dinner. We went to Blue Palms Brewhouse, a favorite bar of ours. Andy is obsessed with craft beer, they have hard cider, and delicious food. Blue Palms is closing due to some leasing issues so we had to go before it was done. They have craft beer AND hard cider, so it was perfect for me and Andy.

I ordered a burger sans bun which is my go-to for bar food. Especially when I’m not positive about what is gluten-free. It was delicious but I started feeling familiar stabbing pains in the gut later. I’m not sure if it was gluten or not. I didn’t ask about gluten-free options because I hate asking so it’s definitely no one’s fault but mine if I was glutened. (I need to work on this.)Luckily, those pains went away overnight and I feel tons better.

We also went to Babycakes in Larchmont. It was my first time and it was amazing. We will be back.

Salted caramel donut and a pumpkin cupcake. Andy had a cinnamon sugar donut and we split the cupcake.

The texture of these baked good was amazing. I would never have guessed that they were vegan and gluten-free. That donut had the best flavor. Salted caramel is my soulmate.

I also got my hair colored red. This is the first time I’ve had it colored in three years. I had to cover up some grays. I LOVE IT. My friend Marisa did it for me and the color is exactly what I wanted.

So now my stomach is irritating me (I just feel swollen but no pain anymore) and my knee hurts from that stupid two mile run. Why does two miles hurt? I am irritated. I plan on doing my PT exercises every night and alternating ice and heat.

Andy and I also tried the first workout from Livefit. I wanted to do some upper body work and the New Rules of Lifting book really focuses on lower body so it was a good time to try it out. We did a chest/triceps day. We modified a few moves due to lack of a cable machine in our gym but it worked.

Wide Pushups: 3 sets of 12 reps
Dumbbell Bench Press: (15 lb dumbbells) 3 sets of 12 reps
Flat Bench Chest Flyes: (15 lbs) 3 sets of 12 reps
Overhead Tricep Dumbbell Extension: (20 lbs) 3 sets of 12 reps
Tricep Kickback: (5 lbs) on bench 3 sets of 12 reps

I don’t plan on starting Livefit anytime soon because our gym is so limited but it’ll be fun to try in a few of these workouts into the mix when NROLFW & Cardio gets boring.

Hope you had a great weekend! I’m afraid to weigh-in after over eating during the Super Bowl. (which I didn’t even watch…)

Tags

5k training, high intensity interval training, HIIT, placebo, run, running, the color run, tinkerbell half-marathon

Today I finally got on the treadmill and ran. (On the 11/11 post I wrote about how I am afraid that I’ll never run regularly again. I want to squash that fear.)

The last time I ran was last Sunday. I am slowly trying to train for races again because Andy and I are signed up for The Color Run with my sister. (My sister is a hardcore runner FYI) So I’d love to be able to keep up with her, Andy, and the other members of our team.

These are pictures from the Tinkerbell Half Marathon which she completed in 2 hours with a chest cold. I am SUPER proud of her.

But…I can barely keep up a 12 minute mile pace. This is a little embarrassing.

The Color Run is more of a fun race than a training race however. So I don’t feel pressured to go all out. I do want to feel awesome. I would like to feel comfortable running at a decent pace.

So today I hopped on the treadmill. I set my Nike+ for a goal of 30 minutes. I walked 2 minutes and ran 3 minutes. It looked like this…

30:00-28:00- walk 3.5 MPH

28:00-25:00- run 4.4 MPH

25:00-23:00- walk 3.5 MPH

23:00-20:00- run 4.5 MPH

20-18- walk 3.5 MPH

18-15- run 4.6 MPH

15-13- walk 3.5 MPH

13-10-run 4.7 MPH

10-8- walk 3.5 MPH

8-5- run 4.8 MPH

5-3- walk 3.5 MPH

3-0- run 4.9 MPH

The entire time I felt like I could have ran a little bit faster but my problem is burning out too quickly. Sure, I can run a ten minute mile for one minute but I can’t keep that up. I want to slowly train myself to running for thirty minutes with out any walking breaks. It’s a goal I set for myself two years ago and never met. I kept blaming it on my knees, my weight, my breathing. So today, I pushed through all of the negative thoughts in my head telling me that I couldn’t. I pushed through. I didn’t dare set the speed on the treadmill lower or higher. It was tough but I feel wonderful now that it’s over.

You better believe that this song was in my head the entire time. (I like Placebo’s version more than Kate Bush’s don’t hate me.)

I also feel like weight-lifting and the New Rules of Lifting for Women plan have helped increase my stamina a ton. I haven’t been able to run longer intervals like this for awhile. I struggled with the 1 minute running/1 minute walking for a long time.

I also did 15 real push-ups today. I am proud of myself.

Let me know if you have any interval training ideas for me. I’d love to eventually be able to run a ten minute mile. It’s been a long time…it sucks how easy it is to lose your running endurance.

Tags

11 things, about me, meme, tag

Emily at Eating Chalk tagged me today in this 11 things meme and I decided to play along.

11 things about me:

1. I’ve had my livejournal account for over ten years and still write in it. I’ve met several people from my friend’s page and really miss when it was more active. Luckily a lot of us are facebook/twitter friends.

2. I go to work without makeup more often than with makeup. Not a morning person and subfinder calls me as early as 5:30am.

3. Before teaching, I worked in banking for eight years.

4. The only reason I want an iPhone is so I can instagram.

5. My ex-boyfriend and I stalked bands like MxPx and Something Corporate for a long time. We saw Andrew from Something Corporate at a Counting Crows concert and thought it was the coolest thing ever.

6. My family has been discussing going to our motherland this summer. Ireland! I hope we can afford to go.

7. Part of me doubts I will ever run regularly again. I just cannot get into it.

8. I once went on a date with a guy who took me through a drive-thru, ordered himself a ton of food, and offered me a soda. He said I could get any size soda I wanted. I watched him eat in his car before yelling at him to take me home.

9. I want to eat Man vs. Food proportions but my gut won’t allow me. It’s rough.

10. When people tweet, “only 3 followers away from X number!” I unfollow them immediately.

11. Andy and I have never gone to bed angry with each other. We’ve been together 6 years. I hope we can keep it up.

Emily’s Questions:

1.  You can fly anywhere in the world to eat one item of food.  Where do you go and what do you eat?

I’d fly back to Venice and eat a potato-pancetta pizza. (you know and be sick from the gluten on the plane ride home.)

2.  How many songs are in your i-Tunes library?

Over 5,000. I need to move some songs over to my new computer however.

3.  How many states have you lived in?  How many have you visited?

California forever. Why would I live anywhere else? I’ve only visited 13, I think. Depressing. I need to see more of the U.S.

4.  If you could be any TV character, who would you be and why?

Hmm…probably Dr. Bailey on Grey’s Anatomy. She is a badass. She is the reason I’ve continued to watch Grey’s.

5.  If you had to change careers tomorrow, what new job would you want to do?

If I could afford it, I’d be a writer. I have ideas but no time to write them down or pitch them.

6. If you had to pick one food to give up for the rest of your life what would you pick?  What would you pick to have to eat every day for the rest of your life?

Wheat. Because I’ve already done this and it’s not so bad.

To eat everyday? Peanut butter

7.  How many blogs are in your GoogleReader?

213.

8.  How many children do you want to have?  How many siblings did you grow up with?

I want 3 most days. I go back and forth between wanting kids and wanting to get my tubes tied. I am terrified of becoming an impatient mother.

I have 4 siblings. Kerry is 24, Sarah is 22, Emily is 20 and Daniel is 10.

9.  (If tv was still good…) would you rather be on Real World or Road Rules?  Why?

Real World. I’ve actually never seen Road Rules.

10.  Which fashion/hair/make-up trend did you participate in that you wish you’d skipped?

Too many. The bleached blonde streaks in my hair come to mind.

11.  What physical attribute do you love most about yourself?

Yikes. I like my eye color. I love being curvy too.

Back with regular posting soon!

Tags

bard's, cauliflower pizza, celiac disease, gluten-free, gluten-free beer, low carb, quinoa pasta, sorghum beer, south beach diet, south beach diet meal plan

Hey guys! Thanks for the sweet comments about binge eating. I am proud of myself albeit a little nervous about slipping up.

I said I was going to post all of my eats this week to keep me on track but totally blew it on photos. (I’ve been decent though!) We had a busy week trying to get some stuff done for buying a house. The process is way more complicated that I would have guessed. It’s taking quite a bit of time.

Weigh-in this week down 1.2 pounds! I am excited. I am close to my first goal of losing 10 lbs which puts me 1/3 of the way down. It’ll be nice to say, “I’m trying to lose 20 pounds” instead of 30.

My last day of long-term subbing seventh grade English came. I was sad. The kids gave me cards and it made me more sad. I’m not good at endings. Dramatic goodbyes make me teary. I managed to hold it together though. Now, I’m just wishing and hoping that someone else goes on maternity leave and needs a sub. (Long-term sub pay is twice on-call pay!)

Eats from this week:

Froyo. They have some no sugar added flavors that are pretty good. I added sugar to it in toppings though…balance.

Quinoa pasta

For quinoa mac & cheese with peas and spinach. Turkey burger and guacamole on the side. I loved this pasta. I’m still experimenting with the mac & cheese recipe. I love the stats of the pasta.

Tried a gluten-free beer. It was “meh.” I still have my craft beer tastebuds. Give me stouts and porters.

Cauliflower pizza. I saw that Christin made this and had to try it. It’s delicious. It’s more of a knife and fork pizza but it’s pretty easy to make and has a good texture. I’m not a cauliflower fan either. Try this!

I used this recipe and having a food processor made the process much quicker. The center isn’t really crispy but the edges definitely were. I feel inspired to try more cauliflower recipes. (Which is good because our CSA sent us a bunch.)

Here’s to more structure for the remaining days in this week. I need to work out more and veg out on the couch less.

Hope you’re having a good week!

Tags

binge eating, depression, emotional eating, emotions, south beach diet, south beach diet meal plan

I had an emotional weekend. I had grand plans of a low-key relaxing time with Andy but life had other plans.

Friday was a decent day. It was my last full week as a long-term sub so I started to wrap things up and prepare the students for the return of their regular teacher.

Lunch on Friday. Larabar samples (even though dates are off-limits on South Beach), almonds with m&m’s, cucumber (I ate them before taking a picture) and a babybel cheese.

I also got my hair cut. This was the one highlight of the week. This is my hair before.

It was long. I like the length but going without a trim for several months meant that I had major split ends. It was so hard to manage.

Here it is after. My friend Marisa is going to cosmetology school and cut it for me. I used to pay $65 for a cut and this was $17.

This picture is awkward. I was hot-rolling my hair in the bathroom in my robe and asked Andy to take a photo. It looks like I’m posing with my hand on my hip but no, I am holding my robe closed. This is not that kind of blog, sorry friends.

I love the new hair and am excited for her to color it next week. She was going to today but I am bogged down with essays and stress.

This week has been a rough one for me emotionally. Without getting into too much detail, I dealt with some family drama Friday night that sort of ruined my mood. We went out to dinner with my sisters (all 3 of them!) and that was really nice and helped me calm down for a bit. Unfortunately my depression reared its ugly head… And, I spend Saturday and Sunday randomly crying and feeling frustrated. I do not like when I am not in control and this family drama is yet another thing I cannot control. Bah.

Usually, I’d respond to this sort of stress by binge-eating. I felt those demons trying to make their presence known. For me, eating until I was stuffed was a way to numb the pain. I would just eat until I felt nothing and then I’d temporarily feel better.

It did nothing for me long-term. I reminded myself of that and talked it out with Andy. As much as I wanted pint of ice cream, a bottle of red wine, and crappy bar food, I know it would do nothing for my body. I don’t want to keep re-gaining weight because I need to eat my feelings. I’m proud to say, I didn’t succumb to any emotional eating. A lot of this is thanks to Andy who listened to me complain and gave me lots of support. (It’s a wonder he loves me…)

I thought I had moved past this but obviously not. I am semi-afraid of how this week will go. So, I’ve decided to track my eats this week via the blog. It’s therapeutic for me and will hopefully help me focus on eating things that nourish my body. I am so over being overweight. I want to be healthy and happy.

I haven’t done any binge-eating in years yet still feel like I might do it. Is that weird? I’ll definitely emotionally eat from time to time but can’t even remember the last time I binge-ate. So yay, for a minor success?

Tags

future, hydration, journey, south beach diet, south beach diet meal plan, south beach diet phase 2

This week is bittersweet. My long-term substitute teaching position ends on February 1st, so this is my last full week with this particular set of kids. Part of me is excited to be done and another part of me is afraid of what’s next. I hadn’t put much thought into ending this chapter of my life until…

I was driving to work and Journey’s “Wheel in the Sky” came on. (Yes, I am one of the few people who listen to the radio still. It’s comforting.)

The song doesn’t really hold any nostalgia for me, unlike “Don’t Stop Believing.”

This picture is from our wedding while we were singing “Don’t Stop Believin’” at the top of our lungs. It’s totally from a page of “Stuff White People Like” but I wanted that song to play at our wedding and it’s one of my happiest memories. /End random Journey Nostalgia.

Anyway, “Wheel in the Sky” has a lyric, “I don’t know where I’ll be tomorrow” and it made me think about my future. My career, our house-hunting adventure, the potential for a baby, the potential for a pup, and life in general is up in the air. I don’t have control over any of it. Will I find another long-term sub job or just go back to being on-call?

This is such a tough time for teachers in California, who knows if I’ll be a sub for another six months or sub for years. Permanent jobs are far and few between. I’d like to think that my chances for a job are higher now but it’s hard to know.

My weight loss journey is also sort of up in the air. I worry that I’ll plateau again. That I won’t make my goals and I won’t lower my blood pressure and get off my medication. Which is the ultimate goal.

I can’t dwell on tomorrow so I’m trying to focus on today. Hydration station at my desk. 2 hot teas and water. I prefer my water cold and the Contigo on the right is perfect for that. I make sure to drink all three before I leave work for the day.

Homemade falafel using almond meal instead of flour. Healthy and delicious.

Random mixes of veggies. Edamame, leeks, and kale. So delicious too. Glad I tried it. Eating more produce always makes me feel like I’m eating healthier and taking care of my body.

Banana soft serve with gluten-free cookies because I need to satisfy my sweet tooth every now and again.

Quinoa mac & cheese (yes, please!) Check out this recipe.

Dinners full of healthy foods that keep me satisfied have been crucial in helping me avoid the desire to snack on sugar at night. We’ve switched from ice cream every night to sugar-free pudding and banana soft-serve. I love both. I need more ideas though.

What do you do when things are out of your control? I am a control-freak so I’m feeling a little uneasy. Plus, I finished all of the seasons of United States of Tara so my distraction is gone too!

Tags

south beach diet, south beach diet meal plan, south beach diet phase 2, weigh-in, weight loss, weight-lifting

So clearly, the womp womp indicates no weight loss for this week. I am frustrated because I felt pretty good. To be fair, work-outs this week were few and far between due to house hunting and finishing report cards for the semester. This week will have more calorie burning for sure.

This weekend’s eats included insanely good bbq from Boneyard Bistro (Yeah, this could explain why my weight stayed the same…) split with Andy. We got tri-tip, pulled pork, bbq baked beans, and collard greens. Good thing we split it as it was super filling.

And a huge French Fermented Cider at Ladyface. This was 80 calories per serving. The bottle was 3 servings however.

I feel the need to rein it in so today I’m keeping it simple with lots of small snacks. Gluten-free crackers, laughing cow cheese, salami, cheddar, hummus, cucumber, and blueberries.

Today was day 1 of no caffeine for me too. (I MISS COFFEE! But I want to try to see if no coffee lowers my blood pressure.) I had 2 huge glasses of hot tea instead. I’m trying to drink 100oz of water a day. I think the added water will help with the weight loss too.

As for my weekly goals:

Drink 100 oz of water a day.

Weight lift 3x this week.

Up my daily fiber intake to 35 grams

Walk 5-6 miles.

Daydream about this kitchen. (This house is in escrow. Super sad face.)

Tags

backyards, buying our first house, house hunting, kitchen, remodel

Andy and I have lived in a one bedroom apartment for over four years. As much as we love each other, the close quarters are beginning to feel a little cramped. We feel ready to start thinking about buying a house. So we’ve been spending some time during the weekends looking around. I’m telling you this is ten times more stressful than wedding planning. Although, I was a pretty laid back bride. My biggest stressor was deciding not to keep my maiden name. I really struggled with that one!

We had a feast of Indian food pre-house hunting. It seemed like the right thing to do. Saag paneer, chicken tikka masala, and shahi paneer. (Shahi paneer is AMAZING. The sauce is similar to tikka masala but with cashews and paneer cheese. I could live on this forever. Indian is my favorite.)

Probably not South Beach friendly but we skipped the rice.

Kitchen #1. This kitchen was to die for but the rest of the house was sort of meh.

The realtor humoring us w