Never Trust a Big Butt and a Smile

Interesting Read

2010-12-14T06:45:00.000-08:00

I found an article this morning by a gentleman who lost over 100 pounds.

101 thoughts on losing 100 pounds has some interesting ideas in it. One of the things I can relate to is his discussion on how six small meals a day isn't necessarily practical for those of us who work 9 to 5. (Or 8-4:15, in my case.)

Week 2 Results: 2 lbs lost, 44.6 lbs to go

2010-12-13T06:56:00.000-08:00

It wasn't the best week, but there were a couple of big factors working against me.

First off, I had a cheat night. A friend I don't see often was in town, and we went to a lovely dinner at an Italian joint near her hotel. I mostly stayed on plan, but I did indulge in a couple of pieces of bread with fondue, and I split a dessert with my friend. I also had a couple of glasses of wine. I'm actually sort of surprised it wasn't a worse week - when I've done lower-carb in the past, I've found that adding them back in suddenly often balloons you up quite quickly.

Second, Aunt Flo is in town, and that always screws things up.

Still, I'll take it. Any loss is a good loss, methinks.

I'm staying in Phase 1 for the next couple of weeks. I think I need the discipline as we head into Christmas, and I'm not ready to start messing around with the "adding carbs back in" process. Luckily, someone with more weight to lose is allowed to stay in Phase 1 for up to a month, so I intend to do just that.

For the most part, I'm not missing carbs. I was craving chocolate something fierce right before Aunt Flo showed up, but other than that, things have been going surprisingly well. I might as well ride this out for as long as I can, eh?

As an aside, a couple of people have asked me why I mentioned 80 lbs to lose below, but I'm counting down to only 50 lbs. Well, the answer is all psychological. 80 lbs to lose just sounds daunting. 50 sounds a little more doable. It puts me back at a weight I've been at in the past couple of years. I haven't seen 80 lbs less than where I currently am since college, and I'm not even sure it's doable. For now, I need to focus on a goal that I know is attainable.

Recipe Reviews

2010-12-08T10:40:00.000-08:00

I've been making a lot of recipes from Kalyn's Kitchen in support of my South Beach efforts. Mostly for my own memory, I'm going to chronicle what I think of some of them. A lot of the time, I make the recipes ahead of time and bring them to work. I'll note where I do that, as I suspect reheating may alter the results.

Egg Muffins: These little guys are a handy on-the-go breakfast. I will admit that I don't much care for the consistency of the eggs when you reheat them - something about it is just off. But given my morning laziness (I hate making breakfast before work), they're a good way to ensure I stay on plan for breakfast.

Chicken Broccoli Curry Casserole: This is another dish I made ahead of time and packaged up for work. I added garbanzo beans to this to pack on some extra fiber. I think I'd be happy with just a curried broccoli/garbanzo bean dish. The chicken turned out dry and flavorless even in the curry sauce. I might try this again, only with tofu next time. I think it would absorb the curry flavors nicely. That, or bake the chicken directly in the curry sauce, and then add the broccoli/garbanzo beans halfway through.

Halibut with dill, parmesan, and sour cream topping: This dish was ok, but the sour cream topping was a little lacking in flavor. And the fish needs something more than salt/pepper for seasoning. I think I'll play around with this one and see what I can do with it, as I think it has potential.

Curried Turkey Stew: I liked this. I think I would add hot curry powder next time, though. (I used sweet and the flavor wasn't as good as I would've liked.)

Crockpot Recipe for Cannelini Beans, Sausage, and Peppers: YUCK. I need to remember that I don't much care for dishes where Italian flavoring are the centerpiece of the dish. I just don't like it. Sad, because the big cannister of this ended up going in the trash. I hate wasting food.

Week 2

2010-12-07T08:10:00.000-08:00

I'm adding another aspect to my workouts:

Yeah, it's not really a "workout", but it's a way to get the heart pumping faster for an extra half hour or so a day (in addition to any other working out I might do).

Graceful gal that I am, I managed to fall on the ice and hurt my knee. (I do this every year. I should really just wear cleats from December-March.) So I'll have to be careful to not aggravate it.

For foodstuffs this week, I'm eating a lot of eggs, chili, veggies, and fish. We also made some turkey meatballs last night that were really, really good. (Mr. BigButt had his in a pasta with marinara sauce, I just added a little sauce to mine and ate it with a side vegetable.)

It should be an easier week in that I don't have a lot planned for the weekend. I think last week's drunkfest put quite a cramp on my efforts. We'll see what happens to results if I skip it. :)

Week 1 Results: 3.4 lbs lost, 46.6 lbs to go.

2010-12-06T10:20:00.000-08:00

I came in at a loss of 3.4 lbs this week.

It's not the huge weight loss that you're generally promised on the first week of South Beach, but I also spent most of Saturday drinking. I stayed on plan - only ate veggies and cheese and drank vodka with no-sugar mixers, but I know that drinking slows your weight loss no matter what.

Still, a loss is a loss, and I'll take it. After talking with some of the folks I'm in a contest with, I'm going to have to step up my game, though. Time to bring it!

The Final Countdown

2010-11-28T19:14:00.000-08:00

I think I'm all set to get going in the morning. I've decided that I'm going to be following the South Beach Diet for my weight loss program. The South Beach Diet focuses on lean proteins, "good" carbs, and lots of veggies and fruits. I think it is a very sensible way to eat and one I hope to maintain over the long run.

The first few weeks of the diet are a bit rougher, though. I'm limited to lean proteins, low fat cheeses, low fat dairy, non-starchy vegetables, legumes, and limited amounts of nuts and good fats. The purpose of eating like this is to break your addiction to carbs and refined sugars. Having done this before, I know the first few days will have me feeling very hungry all of the time. I'll be ready with some cheese sticks/hummus and celery/nuts, but I know it will be hard.

For breakfasts this week, I made these Egg Muffins to take to work. I've tried doing baked egg casseroles before but something always ends up not quite right with them. I cooked these for a shorter amount of time than I normally do, and I figure they'll finish cooking when I heat them up in the morning.

For lunches and "fast" dinners this week (I'll be seeing my trainer on Tuesday and maybe going to dance class on Thursday, so it will be harder to cook those nights), I'll be alternating between three recipes.

The first is a chili that my husband made a few weeks ago. He didn't make it specifically for the SBD, but the ingredients he used are all SBD friendly.

The second and third recipes were found over at Kalyn's Kitchen, which has a huge repository of SBD recipes. The first recipe I made was a curried turkey, which is basically just ground turkey, chickpeas, tomatoes, onions, and greek yogurt simmered together to create a creamy curry. The second is a stew using white kidney beans, turkey sausage, bell peppers, tomatoes, and lots of herbs.

I think I've done well this week and have set myself up for success. Tomorrow, I'll check back in with my official starting weight and we'll take it from there!

The Best Laid Plans.....

2010-11-19T21:13:00.000-08:00

I was all set to get back on the diet bandwagon this week. I had my foods all purchased, my meals all planned out, my workouts all lined up. I was ready set GO.

Sadly, my mouth had other ideas. (No, that's not a euphemism.) A tooth that I had a root canal on a few years ago? Failed. My jaw and gums? Infected. The tooth? Extracted.

Needless to say, my diet of the past few days has mostly consisted of vicodin, soup, jello, eggs, applesauce, ice cream, and some mac and cheese where the hubby boiled the heck out of the pasta to make it soft enough for consumption. (He also made the applesauce and ice cream. Did I ever mention what a swell guy he is?)

Diet? FAIL. But sometimes, life happens.

But my workouts, hey? I still had my fabulous trainer, I still have my gym, right?

Found out my trainer is moving back to Ohio, and that the gym I go to has shut down.

Double FAIL.

I'm not going to let this get me down, though. There are other trainers (I hope!). I'll figure out another gym situation. (I should really open a gym in my neighborhood. Do you think anyone would come to a gym owned by a fat chick?) And the diet plan will still be there in a week when I can actually eat all that food again.

For now, I wait. It's really all I can do.

Yiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiikes.

2010-11-08T19:30:00.000-08:00

I've neglected this blog for many moons.

I got hitched. I went on my honeymoon. And I gained 20 pounds. Yikes.

So, I'm now back up to having 80 lbs to lose to get to my ideal weight of 180. Double yikes.

Can I do it? I guess we'll see.