The First 43: My Life Now

My husband was on dinner duty last night and he decided to use a Jamie Oliver recipe as a base but, adapted it based on what we have bought and what we like our in chili.  It turns out, it is quite a healthy recipe and it tastes absolutely delicious.  Glad to have a healthy chili to eat this winter as it's one of my favourite comfort foods. Our Recipe Adaptation: 500 gram package of extra lean ground beef 1 large can of diced tomatoes (796ml) 1 regular sized can of Kidney Beans, drained (540ml) 1 medium white onion, diced 2 medium green peppers, diced 2 large stalks of celery, diced 1 cup of carrots, diced 2 cloves of garlic, crushed or diced. 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar 1 tbsp chili powder 1 tsp cumin 1 tsp cinnamon Directions: Place all the vegetables in a large pot and simmer for about 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. In a separate pan, cook ground beef.  Add kidney beans, diced tomatoes and cooked ground beef. Fill half the empty tomato can with water, add to

Being on a low calorie diet really leaves you in a bit of a food rut after 6 months.  I was looking over my meals in my MFP diary and I eat the same things over and over because they are low calorie, taste fine and I've just gotten into a routine with it.  I must admit... I'm really bored by food lately.  Nothing really seems all that appetizing anymore.  I eat to fuel but not because I'm really enjoying it. We all know by now how much I used to love food!  This rut has me inspired to do some cooking this weekend. Break the pattern. I've found a few recipes that I will be trying out and featuring here once I make them this weekend; so long as they taste good!  They are: - Apple Pumpkin Soup - Turkey Meatballs - Spinach and Ricotta Lasagna Rolls My hope is to start making healthy food that I can freeze and use as I need it. Keep my menu a little more varied.  For example, I can take some lasagna rolls out of the freezer after work and cook them easily, making my

I talked about this last week but here it is, the thinning of the face!! The most noticable change for me when I look in the mirror now. It's probably the one thing that makes me the happiest. It is hard to feel like you are loosing weight when you still see a chubby face in the mirror or in photos.  I have a short neck however, which makes it a little bit more challenging for my body to work with when it comes to a second chin. I had started to really hate seeing my face in photos. I was at the point where I would have preferred to avoid photographs altogether.  Now I am glad that I did. One, photographs gave me a wake up call and second, it gives me something to compare back to. Now... if only my body would decide to take some weight from my thighs I'd be the happiest girl in the world! 

Here I am!  Down 26lbs in this photo. Did both a side and front comparison.  My stomach is slightly flatter than this time last week, it is really starting to stand out as a change. (You can find that photo in an earlier post) Also, when I sit down, my stomach roll is not even close to as big as it was which is fantastic. I must remember to thank my body for taking the weight from my stomach first which has always been my biggest problem area. This weekend I added core exercise back to my routine (on top of cardio and weight training) and two days later it still hurts to laugh, cough or sneeze.  Overtime it will get better and I will hopefully continue to trim down!

Now that I've been at this for almost 6 months I started to look at the trends with my weight loss and I found something very interesting. The weeks where I got minimal exercise but controlled my diet, I lost 1.5 -2 pounds a week.  In the weeks where I got a lot of exercise and controlled my diet, I lost between 0.5-1 pound a week.  I lose about 1 pound per week when I do one day of intense exercise and two days of lower impact. That keeps me right about on par with MyFitnessPal's weight loss projections. I know exercise is good for me, ultimately will increase my metabolism which eventually will result in weight loss but I find it to be less than motivating!  If I can lose the 43 pounds faster being a bump on a log, why do I spend all the time sweating it out on a run or at the gym? Every time I lose less than a pound I feel a little bit defeated that even though my diet was perfect (and the same as many weeks before it) I didn't manage to drop the full pound. So, to

Who knew my Nana's old cookbook would be a gold mine for low calorie delicious treats?  You already know about my love for muffins (and just how much I miss them!)  Well, while working my way through my Nana's cookbook I came across these muffins.  They taste delicious and they are a low calorie option.  This makes my stomach smile. Kay's Banana Bran Muffins 2               Large Ripe Bananas 1 cup        Bran Flakes 1 cup        Flour 1/2 cup     Sugar (or substitute sweetener if you prefer) 1/3 cup     Calorie Reduced Margarine 1/2 tsp      Baking Powder 1/2 tsp      Baking Soda 1/2 tsp      Salt Mash bananas. Add bran flakes.  Cream margarine and sugar with mixture. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Line your muffin tin with paper cups. Bake at 375*F for 15 minutes. Makes 12 muffins. Calorie Count: 120 calories per muffin (and they taste oh so good!) 

Whether you are skinny or fat, watching the number on the scale go up and down has a tendency in youth to define your personal worth. It's both self imposed and socially engrained our our minds. Well, for girls and women anyway.  These insecurities tend to follow us into adulthood too. The inner struggle never vocalized but so many battle. Much of what I write about is getting a handle on food and losing weight but I really do think it is important to touch on weight defining you as a person.  So many people place value on the number on the scale and nothing else. I'm Guilty! For a long time I did define myself by my weight, I was overweight/fat and I just accepted it for what it was. I knew my friends and family loved me for who I was on the inside so, I gave up on the outside. When I was in high school I decided that I wasn't ever going to be beautiful because I carried around more weight than any of my friends, I was always the heaviest one in my group.  Now when I

Brought to you by popular demand!  I've received many messages and emails about how people really like the "changes" photos so I thought of one for this in between period where you won't see significant changes in my weight in photographs. This is a little flashback so you can see ultimately where I am headed. The last time I weighed my goal weight was 2002/2003 (yes, obviously I also looked younger!) It is pictured above.  In the middle, I have a photo of where I am now with my 25.5lb loss (Yay!) Then in the final frame my starting weight. It took me about 9 years but I managed to pack on 43lbs in that time period. It will take me about 9 months to take it off. If I can get back to my weight from when I was 16/17 I will be one happy woman! One thing is for sure though, when I hit my goal I will be in much better shape physically than I was as a teenager. With 17.5 pounds to go, I'm working on loosing my freshman 20. I'm turning the clock back!

The yellow mass is 5lbs of fat.  The red mass is 5lbs of muscle.  I have honestly been referring back to this photo time and time again since April.  I found it right at the beginning of my life overhaul.  I have lost 5 of those yellow masses off my body.  I honestly almost gag thinking about it.  I can safely say that the majority of that came off my stomach and my bum. I'm fairly sure the next 5 are coming from my bust. I wish I could take it off my thighs but I guess the body decides where the fattiest parts are and starts there.  We cannot target where our weight loss comes from but wouldn't it be nice if we could? At the end of the day, which one would you prefer to lose?  Getting active helps you get rid of one, not being active makes you lose the other.  It makes me feel awful and overjoyed to think I'll lose almost 9 of the fat model by the time I'm done. So, next time you need a little motivation to get off the couch, think about how many pounds of t

I saw this on Pinterest a few weeks ago. I pinned it and moved along but for weeks it stuck with me.  This however really made me think about how "fat" people are really looked down upon.  Often the definition of fat is "not Hollywood thin" which isn't the healthiest standard. I have been working so hard to lose weight because I want to be healthier and in order to be healthier I needed to increase my exercise, control my diet and lose some weight but a small tiny bit of me really does feel that being fat really isn't acceptable and people think less of you as a person. Which meant that people thought less of me.  If you can let yourself go in your appearance, what else will you not care about in your day to day life? or at work? People can be very judgmental.   I often felt like I was being judged by people.  Maybe it was just residual personal issues from being bullied about it as a child but, part of me thinks that that mentality does transfer over to

Today marks day 150 of calorie counting and food journaling. Wow. What a long few months it's been. As of today, I am down 25.5 lbs! (though the ticker always rounds up, that's why it says 26!) This is what I am trying to focus on on day 150: I've decided to do a then and now, a little motivation to set out on my next 150 days. What I did when I started and where I am now. Just a little reflection for this Monday morning, keeping me working toward losing another 17.5 lbs. April 2012 vs. September 2012 Food:   In April I was allowed 1680 calories/day on MyFitnessPal. Now, I'm allowed 1470.  That's reduced my food intake by 210 calories/day which is quite a dramatic change. This is all thanks to losing 24lbs! Running: I couldn't run longer than 90 seconds.  Now I can run 5km (though, it does exhaust me!) Exercise: I was getting exercise maybe once a week. Maybe.  Now, I exercise at minimum 3 days a week.  Whether it is running, taking a long

Over the last month I have been sharing my story with all of you.... Now I'm curious... does anyone have any questions for me?  Any stories they'd like to share? Feel free to comment on this blog post or leave me a message on Facebook, Twitter or Google+ and I will make sure to answer your question or questions in a blog post in the near future!

I have never been a big cookie eater but lately I've been craving cookies. Maybe because it's because it's one of the "you can't eat these" foods. Either way, I was looking at the cookie recipes I had to sort out which cookies would be best to make. It turns out that my Nana's delicious Special K Cookie recipe is really quite low calorie! Most cookies are about 80 calories per cookie (such as Dad's Oatmeal Cookies or Presidents Choice Chocolate Chip .) This cookie recipe is 45 calories per cookie and makes  about 30 cookies.  You could make bigger ones of course but these cookies are just a bit smaller than a Dad's Oatmeal Cookie once baked. The photo I posted isn't quite representative of size as I made myself mini versions and made my husband larger sized cookies. The recipe is this: 1 Cup              All Purpose Flour 1 Cup              Special K Cereal 1/2 Cup           Calorie Reduced Margarine 1/2 Cup           Sugar 1 t

It's that time of year. Pumpkin everything!  I love pumpkin pie. It has to be one of my favourite fall treats.  I was determined to find a recipe that would have less calories than the store bought pies or homemade recipes I had tried previously. I managed to find one and it tastes great. The biggest difference is that I can use 1% milk instead of evaporated milk in the recipe. Reduces the calories significantly. Recipe I made (slightly adapted from original): Half a large can of pureed pumpkin 1 Cup 1% Milk 1/2 Cup Sugar 2 eggs 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp nutmeg 1/2 tsp salt 1 unbaked pie shell (I used a premade Tenderflake all vegetable shortening shell) Blend together dry ingredients.  Beat the eggs. Add the pumpkin to the egg.  Then add the dry ingredients.  Slowly blend in the milk.  Pour mixture into an unbaked pie shell. Bake at 425*F for 15 minutes then reduce heat and bake at 350*F for 40 minutes.  This recipe works out to 207 calories per slice (based o

Today's blog is going to be a few random thoughts. Nothing worth a blog of their own but still worth noting. I've talked a lot about the mental struggle and what I've done to change that part of it.  Aside from my before and after photos, I haven't written much on physical changes I've noticed. When you see yourself everyday it's hard to see changes and to really notice them.  It's much more noticeable to people who see you less often. That said.... every once in awhile I will notice things changing. First and foremost, I've always had a belly. I'm fairly certain in March I was getting to the point where people might have mistaken me for a newly pregnant woman on the subway (confession: that became a huge fear of mine right before I made this change!) I've noticed that my muffin top was slowly disappearing but that was about it.  While I was  getting changed to go for a run today I noticed the big difference. I wish I had a before picture

  Another one of my creations from Saturday night!  All four of us liked it and I've got to say.... it doesn't taste low calorie at all. This recipe I kind of made up myself.  It is a fusion of two different recipes morphed into one and luckily it turned out. Recipe is as follows: 1/3       Cup Low Fat or Fat Free Sour Cream 1/3       Cup Light Crumbled Feta 1/3       Pesto (store bought or homemade, whatever you prefer. I used the Classico brand Pesto) 1 tbsp   Lemon Juice Garlic powder to taste (I gave it a few shakes.) Throw everything into a food processor or blender and blend. Take it out of the blender and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes just so the ingredients marry together and voila, you've got your dip! 34 calories/serving (per tablespoon)  As a comparison, hummus is a healthy low calorie snack and it is on average 30 - 40 calories per tablespoon serving depending on the brand.

I debated whether to blog about this but, I read a quotation the other day that really stuck with me and is a big reason behind why I'm writing this today.  It said: "The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we  compare our behind the scenes with everyone else's highlight reel" With the internet and social media it's very easy to just see everyone's highlight reel, see what they want you to see and really get down about yourself.  So in an effort to be completely transparent and honest about what I'm doing, I will share the good and the bad.  So, here I go.  As I mentioned earlier this week, I really enjoyed our vacation. A lot.  I ate so much fabulous food and was lucky enough to not gain any weight. This week however has been so difficult.  I'm back to my low fat, lower carb, high protein, literally watching every single thing I eat lifestyle.  I know I always refer to it as a lifestyle change and I've felt that way the whole

Two of my best friends came over for dinner last night and I wanted to make something low calorie, delicious and pretty. I wanted to actually try something I pinned on Pinterest.  I decided to give Caprese Chicken a try.  It is delicious and it plates beautifully! I made it as follows: * Chicken Breast (150g) * 1 slice of Tomato *  1/5 of a Buffalo Mozzarella * 2 Basil Leaves * A splash of balsamic vinegar Note: I did marinate the chicken in my own homemade balsamic mixture for 2 hours before dinner and then let it cook in it.  I also oven baked the chicken instead of BBQ because sadly we can't have a BBQ at our apartment.  Calories: 304 (based on the above portions) Here is a link to the recipe that inspired this creation but I did make changes based on my own personal tastes and to keep it lower calorie. I highly recommend it! http://addapinch.com/cooking/2012/06/15/caprese-grilled-chicken-with-balsamic-reduction-recipe/

Thanks to Pinterest, I stumbled upon this fun tool.  It is a weight loss simulator.  You enter your height as well as your starting weight and goal weight and voila, it gives you a rough guideline as to what you looked like and what you will look like.  It even lets you change the outfit, hair colour, hair style, bust size and so many other things if you really want to get detailed about it. Here is my weight loss simulation model... I used two different outfits for fun! This model simulates a 43 lb weight loss. Obviously this is just for fun but it's kind of interesting to see. You can do your own at these URLs. WOMEN: http://api.modelmydiet.com/eywomen MEN: http://api.modelmydiet.com/eymen

September is upon us and with that, an earlier sunset and cooler evening temperatures.  I will admit, I have been slacking in the running department for a month or two because it's just been too hot. I refuse to run outside when its over 25*C and I can't say I am a huge fan of running on the treadmill at the gym - gets too boring for me! Since I had already completed C25K I decided that it was time to start C210K.  Will I actually run 10k? Probably not but, I like being able to use the app on my phone to time the walk and run portion while I listen to my music.   If I happen to get up to 10k using this app, that would be a fantastic bonus. So tonight when the sun set, I broke out my running clothes and got going.  I decided on starting C210K at week 5 because the first 4 weeks are basically the start of C25K so I skipped ahead and cheated a little ... but I think this kind of cheating is perfectly okay. Even though I don't love running, it was really nice to get outside a

A little off topic but thank you to those who read my blog. I'm well beyond 1000 page views and I can't believe that many people come by to read about all of this, so, thank you!  Now onto the topic of the day, calorie counting on vacation.  My goal on vacation was to enjoy the food I was eating and not gain any weight. Mission accomplished! I came home the exact same weight!!  What a relief. I was more than a little scared to step on the scale this morning. That said, we did do a lot of walking so it evened everything out and I'm not going to complain about that. While I was in Italy I enjoyed pasta, bread, olive oil, a couple glasses of wine, cheese and gelato daily. I think I also had a "personal sized pizza" about 3 or 4 times during our vacation as well as big Italian panini's.  It was all so delicious and I often joked that this trip was my "food-cation." The food in Italy is so fresh, and tastes so great but it is also so rich.  That

I'm back!  Had a wonderful vacation and am feeling refreshed and jet lagged all at once. Wonderful week away. In the next few days I will post about calorie counting on vacation (and still enjoying food) as well as a post about Italian food specifically as per a reader request.  Anyway, this evening I was going through photos of the trip and noticed how different one of my dresses looks on me now compared to our honeymoon in February. So, with that said, here is a little before and after of this particular outfit. I'm looking forward to getting back to blogging this week!