Day 130

Hi all! I'm back after my disappearance...I went home this weekend so of course my routine got thrown out of wack. Plus the school work has been piling up so I've had a little less free time.

Sadly, my weigh-in was not as exciting as expected. Although I was down to 211 earlier in the week last week, by Friday I was back up to 213! Not sure what happened, especially because I exercised so much, but hopefully it will go down this week. I actually got two more walks in over the weekend with the parents (although the walk we did on Sunday wasn't exactly aerobic...dad and I stopped to fish a few times), so that was great. Hopefully I can keep overdoing my exercise!

I don't have an exciting meal to show today...I didn't get back up to Athens until this morning, so I haven't planned meals or gone to the grocery. That's on the to-do list for tomorrow. I have some leftovers to eat up to, but hopefully I can get some tasty dinners together.

The good news is I found out what was wrong with my camera connector! The memory card was cracked, so the connector was having trouble reading it. But now I have a new memory card and all should be well!

So that's about all I have to say for myself! Back with more tomorrow!

Day 126

Hey all! Sorry I missed you guys yesterday. I was preparing for an in-class essay today, so blogging ended up falling by the wayside. But things are going well! I completed my fourth day of exercise today, and I've pretty much decided that exercising only four times a week isn't enough. So we're going to try and up it to five for next week! I'm also going to stick with the ab exercises, if not every day, then at least five times a week. If I can get four hours of exercise in a week, instead of the two that I've been doing, I think it will help me a lot.

Today for lunch I made a tasty smoothie:

Once again, Gus was very interested. Don't worry, I didn't let him lick it! I followed Susie Bee's Blueberry Banana Smoothie again, but this time added frozen organic strawberries and a splash of orange juice with the banana instead of blueberries. I actually got the flax seeds this time too(actually, they were milled flax seeds, so it was already all ground up for me!).

I also made an AMAZING avocado sauce to go with my leftover steak from this recipe. It was so freaking good! I've pretty much decided that avocados are my new favorite food. I'll just sit there and eat them out of the skin if you let me! Unfortunately, they're pretty high in fat, so I have to limit myself. 

I have pictures of dinner but once again my camera connector is acting up. I'm going home this weekend, so I'll be able to pick up my other connector and hopefully we won't have this problem anymore! At least I got the smoothie pictures to load. 

So we're revving up for weigh-in tomorrow! I'm feeling pretty hopeful about it. My abs definitely got more work this week than ever before!

Day 124

Pretty decent day today! I think that, even though I haven't felt the hugest difference in my clothes, I'm really starting to feel the effects of weighing less in other ways. I don't know how to describe it, but I just have more oomph. I feel strong and determined and ready to persevere! As I creep closer to turning that first digit on the scale from a 2 to a 1, I find myself feeling healthier, happier, and more optimistic with every day that passes.

For example, I did 30 minutes of ab workout today, and instead of skipping the parts that were hard, I actually pushed myself and tried to keep up with everything they did in the video. From that, I discovered that I'm actually a lot stronger than I think I am. I can do planks, though when I saw them for the first time I figured I wouldn't be able to do them. I can also do most of the lying-down ab exercises they do in the video...there's just one or two that I can't keep up with. So that was fun to discover! I'm sure I'll be sore all over in the morning, but it will be totally worth it.

For dinner tonight I kept with my international theme and made some tasty yet healthy Sweet and Sour Chicken:

The sauce wasn't as gummy and syrupy as the stuff you get in the restaurant, and of course, the chicken wasn't breaded and fried. It was really very good, and filling too! I think next time I might add some more vegetables, maybe edamame or something. The snow peas were good, but I'm not the biggeset fan of sweet peppers. Note: don't panic...that's not a tiny octopus in there - it's the bottom of a scallion! 

So I made it through another day! Still feeling good. You guys are awesome! Thanks for sticking with me!

Day 123

So we're back to Monday! It was a very good day today. I had my 30 minute walk out in this beautiful, prematurely warm weather and actually felt pretty energetic the whole way through. Usually, by my last lap, I'm starting to flag a little, but today I was all charged up for some reason! I wasn't as as winded as usual, which was nice. Hooray for getting into shape!

I meant to do my ab workout too, but as is bound to happen when you put something off long enough, it ended up falling by the wayside. I'm determined to do it tomorrow, though! It's so easy to do, just turn it on and get moving, but I do have to actually make myself do it, or it won't happen.

Also, I made it through my first week with no soda! It actually wasn't that bad at all. It's been warm, which is usually when I get in the mood to drink water anyway, so that helped. I satisfied the need for fizz with the sparkling water and made it through no problem. This week I got some Propel Zero to get me through, so we'll see how I like that.

I actually had pictures of the delicious steak salad I made tonight, inspired by this recipe, yet pretty extensively modified. But my dumb camera connector is giving me fits and I can't get my memory card to load up. Ugh. I think something is up with the USB ports on my laptop. Not cool, Apple. Not cool. I'll try to get a picture up later if I can get it to load. Let me just say that the salad was awesome! It was just spring mix, diced tomatoes, sliced flat iron steak, and some crunchy shallot rings. The dressing was great too: just olive oil, coarse mustard, and red wine vinegar. Yum!

Okay, the connector decided to work! Here's the picture...

Not the most beautiful salad ever, but it sure was tasty! Most of my greens were 'bout ta turn, so I had to pick the good leaves out one by one, which is why it looks a little lacking in the green department. Still good though!

By the way, does anyone know where I might be able to find rutabagas? It was a no-go at Trader Joe's and Wal-mart.

Day 120

So wow, folks. It's been about four months since I started this. Four months. One third of a whole year! Frankly, it's still a little unbelievable to me that I've kept this going for this long. Sure, I've had my ups and downs. Over Christmas, I just about put things on hold. But the fact that I came back full force after Christmas is a sign that something about me has changed. Usually once I let things go, it's hard for me to pick them back up again. Not so in this case. It's like something in my brain just clicked into place!

I've been consistently exercising four times a week since I got back to school (and before I left, too). It might not seem like much to most people, but for me, who led an almost completely sedentary lifestyle prior to October 22, 2010, it is a HUGE accomplishment. I have never been an exerciser. Let alone a regular exerciser.

Now, I feel confident enough to say that I am. Whoa.

I've also gone four months without french fries, cheeseburgers, or candy. Four months. And while I've had my moments of cravings, I haven't given in to them. And honestly, I really don't miss it. Because I feel so much better without it.

I've also gone four months without binging or sneaking food. Four months. I don't know exactly what has adjusted emotionally to stop me from binging, because I haven't even felt tempted to. Not even when I'm stressed or feeling down. Crazy stuff, guys. Crazy.

Now that I've italicized about half of all that, we can move on. I just had to step back and revel in it for a minute.

In other news, I weighed in this morning, and lost another .6 pounds! That officially puts me down 27 pounds total. I've noticed that my weight loss seems to have slowed down lately, but I've been keeping under my calorie goals and have been exercising, so I'm not sure what's causing it. I think maybe I'm actually digging into the tough poundage now. But I feel great, and that's what matters!

As I mentioned in my last post, not only did I walk today but did 15 minutes of my ab workout video! I'm going to try to start doing 15-20 minutes of the ab stuff every day, on top of 30 minute walks four times a week (I'd like up it to five, so we'll see how that goes). That way, I'll be getting cardio and some tummy work done, and I'll be able to double my weekly exercise time. I don't know if I'll manage abs tomorrow though, as I'm really hurting after doing it two days in a row. I might just try decreasing the time. But the video really gets those abs working! Ouch!

Man, I sure seem to have a lot to say today. But let me get to the most important part: dinner! Dinner tonight was a total win!!

I actually used a recipe I saw on Food Network from Aarti Sequeira, Pea-lafels. They're basically falafels, but with peas and edamame instead of chickpeas. I know, I'm going all international this week, aren't I?

Doesn't that look delicious? After a week of pretty ho-hum meals (with the exception of that Roti Chicken, of course), this was a great way to end up. It was like a cheeseburger for a girl who's trying to be healthy. The bread is whole wheat pita, the sauce is nonfat Greek yogurt with fresh mint (which I ended up adding dill and lemon to, to make it a little more like tzatziki sauce), and the pea-lafels, while pan-fried, are full of really good (and by good, I mean healthy) stuff. So tasty, and I truly got the same satisfaction out of it as I would have with a big ol' burger! Seriously, y'all have got to try this. It's relatively easy to do, and so good. I think next time I'll add some greens and tomatoes in there...the recipe didn't call for it, but I think it would be pretty good.

I think for next week, I'm going to have to limit myself to making only 3 or 4 meals instead of 5 or 6, because right now, the fridge is jam-packed with leftovers. I have got to remember to half my recipes! So I should be very well fed this weekend.

Okay, I'll shut up now. Happy weekend everyone! Love all y'all!

What's Wrong with Average?

So I did the Crunch Fitness Abs workout video again today after my walk, and it really got me to thinking.

It’s so funny to watch the people in these workout videos. The girls are usually stick-thin and a little too muscley, then sometimes there’s your token gay guy thrown in there somewhere. In this particular video, however, they have one girl with a perfectly average body type, though she looks a little chubby next to all the other women.

This average girl is placed in the very back, and the camera never focuses on her. However, whenever they start doing something challenging in the video, the girl leading the workout will call out something like, “Ashley’s keeping the tap in, so if you need to do that, it’s cool.” We are never introduced to Ashley...we are merely meant to assume, I think, that the regular looking chick in the back of the room is the one that can’t do standing oblique crunches without touching her toe to the ground.

Sigh.

In addition, while all the other women in the video are wearing sports bras and tight-fitting shorts or pants, Ashley gets to wear baggy, unflattering capris and a high-necked, short-waisted sleevless shirt. Here's a screenshot of her:

and here's a shot of the whole group:

Thing is, most of the women watching the workout video probably look more like Ashley than the other ladies in it. And as far as I'm concerned, six packs are just not attractive on women. I don’t know. To me, Ashley has the best body of the bunch. I think the video could do with two or three more Ashleys, and closer to the front, please. Oh, and why can't she wear a cute matching outfit like everyone else? (click below to keep reading)

Day 119

So I'm going to keep this short and sweet...once again I've left posting till the last minute, and I still have to read the Homeric Hymn to Demeter before bed.

Today for exercise, instead of my walk, I did 30 minutes of a Crunch Fitness Ab workout video. I feel like I haven't really lost much from my midsection, as my pants still fit the same, so I'm going to try focusing my exercise on that area a couple of times per week. Hopefully that will get the waistline a-shrinkin'!

For dinner I had Avocado, Tomato, and Edamame salad from, you guessed it, Kalyn's Kitchen!

Isn't that pretty? I love the colors. It was a nice, light, refreshing meal, and WAY easier than what I made last night! I've also decided that avocados are officially my new favorite food. Seriously, I can just sit there and eat it right out of the skin. So yummy!

So I'm signing off now. Weigh-in tomorrow...let's hope it's more good news! 

Day 118

Lemme just talk to you guys about the EPIC dinner I made tonight. Seriously, my back is aching from standing up for so long in the kitchen. I started this meal exactly at 5:00 this evening and didn't sit down to eat until 7:45! And I was working almost the entire time. It was a rather labor-intensive meal, which I didn't really anticipate.

I had to make mashed potatoes and dough for the roti, then chop up chicken, onions, garlic, peppers, green beans, you name it. And of course, as with anytime I elect to make a challenging meal, I had to endure several giant fails along the way.

First I decided to make the mashed potatoes with my hand blender, which quickly and efficiently rendered them into glue. GLUE, I tell you. No matter how much I banged the spoon on the bowl, the potatoes would NOT come off. It took me several minutes to clean all the potato off the hand blender. Two words on that one: never again! When in doubt, use the food processor!

So then, even though I thought I had followed the the roti dough recipe perfectly, it was really dry and crumbly and I couldn't figure out what I'd done wrong, so I kept adding water and oil until it came together. I just rechecked the recipe now to find out I only added 2 tbsp of water to begin with, entirely missing the part where it said one 1/2 cup PLUS 2 tbsp. Sigh. Now I see the problem. Luckily, the roti turned out okay, but it was a little thick. Kind of like biscuits. I'll have to try again another time.

Happily, the chicken turned out perfectly...tender and flavorful and all that jazz. There were supposed to be potatoes in the chicken/green bean blend as well, but I chose to leave them out since I used mashed potatoes in the bread. Didn't want to overpotato!

Sadly, by the time I actually sat down to eat it, I was so exhausted I couldn't really appreciate it very much. It was a good meal, but not worth all that trouble! I do want to try making more Indian food soon though...I absolutely love all those awesome spices and flavors. But this was definitely not a weeknight meal. Thankfully I did all my homework before I started. There's no way I would have been happy about sitting down to do it now!

Phew. So anyways, here is what I made: Roti Chicken from Kayotic Kitchen

Doesn't really look like much, does it? Not enough to merit almost 3 hours of prep and cooking! Sigh. I've got to work on my speed.

But I did get my walk in today and got through Day #3 of no soda! It hasn't been bad so far. I actually like the sparkling water. I think I'm going to try to make some iced tea one of these days too.

All right. I'm pooped. Good night all! Peace and blessins!

Day 117

So I didn't have my best day today...I know, way to start out on a high note, right? Eating was fine, but I skipped my walk, which I can't exactly call a good choice. I blame it on the fact that I didn't take those ever-important ADD pills this morning. My supply ran out and I didn't get it refilled until this afternoon. They really help give me the extra boost to get out and get going, and without it, it was just too easy to let myself slide. It's not a great excuse, I know...I need to be able to get out and exercise with or without extra chemicals making my brain work correctly. But that's always easier said than done.

But you can be sure I'll be poppin' those pills tomorrow, so I should be able to get moving to make up for today!

I made Spicy Pinto Bean and Tuna Salad from Kalyn's Kitchen for dinner today...

It was good, but not spectacular. I think the reason it left a little something to be desired was because my pinto beans were a little hard...maybe I'll heat them up first next time? Also, I started cutting into the cherry tomatoes I bought at Wal-Mart yesterday to find almost all of them yucky and brown inside! This is just one of many times Wal-Mart produce has failed me recently, and I'm resolved never to buy fresh fruit or veggies from them again. Anyways, I managed to pull out four or five good tomatoes from the lot, but the salad was supposed to have more.

Still, the dressing was really tasty, and the flavor of the salad as a whole was great! I ended up sprinkling some goat cheese over it (after I took the picture), which added a little extra yum.

So here's to a better day tomorrow! I weighed again this morning, and was the same as last night, so I don't think it was just a fluke. Hooray! Hopefully things will continue in this vein!

Day 116

I'm going to make this kind of brief, as I'm exhausted and the head hurts and I need my beauty sleep. BUT, some good news first - the scale finally went down!!

I jumped on it tonight before my shower, just for a looksy, and lo and behold, I was down to 213.6! And at night, too! I don't really know what to make of this...losing almost four pounds in three days. Only thing I can think is that I was retaining water for some strange, unknown reason. But I'm not complaining! I hope it's not just a fluke. I rechecked it three times to make sure it was accurate, but who knows? Anyways, it was really nice to see some friendly numbers on the scale after two weeks of not so friendly numbers. Hopefully this will continue!

One thing I've decided to try doing is giving up soda. I drink a LOT of it. I always get diet, so I tell myself it's okay, but I know it's bad for me. And I've heard that it can actually make it harder to lose weight. So I'm going to try and nix it. Water is always better, but if I have soda in the house, I will always grab that first. So I got some flavored sparkling water to wean myself off, and it hasn't been bad so far! Hopefully I won't miss it too much...I've been using it to satisfy my sweet tooth at times, so I'm going to have to think of new strategies.

Also, I went for my walk today! It was an absolutely beautiful day, and I enjoyed myself thoroughly.

Here's what I had for dinner, Chicken Bacon Bites and Creamed Spinach. I switched with Tuesday because I don't trust the salmon at Wal-mart and didn't feel like dragging myself to Kroger just for salmon.

I know, I know. There I go again with the bacon. But between the two pieces of chicken up there, there was only one slice of bacon, so I don't feel too bad. Moderation! Sadly, the spinach didn't turn out quite how I intended. I'm not sure what I did to it, but it was a little too salty, and I'm really sensitive to salt. Sigh. I'll try to get it right next time! But the chicken bacon bites were pretty much amazing. The glaze you put on them is delicious...usually I have to put sauce on my chicken, but this didn't need it at all. SO good.

So I'm going to go crash now. Love you all! Thanks for all the sweet comments! You guys are so great at keeping my spirits up.

Day 115 (continued)

So I just had to post this really quick. I happened upon a video I recorded with PhotoBooth on Day One, in which I have some serious chub going on. I wanted to see if there was any difference in the way my face looks today. I tried to get as close to the original position as possible for a fair comparison.

What do you guys think? Is there a difference?

Day One

Today
(I'm not wearing any makeup. Ignore this.)

Day 115

So this post was intended for Friday, but then, of course, the weekend happened! So this will be a combination of end of the week/beginning of the week posts.

First of all: Sigh. The scale did not yield the happy news I had expected. Gained .4 pounds. I can't decide why this is, as I've been sticking to healthy eating and exercise. But I do know that, if I keep at it, eventually the scale will go down. This is the point at which, in the past, I would have started getting discouraged. I might have even let the disappointment get to me and resorted to fast food/candy to dull the ache.

Thus, it was a HUGE sign of how my habits are changing when, on Friday after the second disappointing weigh-in in a row, I resolved to redouble my efforts instead of sabotaging myself. I went out for my walk with renewed determination and worked it, thinking not about how nice a cheeseburger would taste, but about the great calories I was burning!

Because the fact of the matter is, even if the scale doesn't look like I want it to at the end of the week, you just can't go wrong with healthy eating and exercise. Eventually, you're going to lose weight. On the other hand, if you get discouraged and let your good habits go, weigh-ins are going to get increasingly depressing. DUH. So I'm not letting myself get down about it! I sat down and laid out my meals for next week, and I'm ready for another week of regular blogging, cooking, and being healthy! I won't be defeated that easily!

For dinner on Friday I had black bean burgers. The black bean soup, in case you were wondering, has been postponed indefinitely. Here are the burgs:

I don't know. They were okay. Might have been better on a bun. I'm not sure what I did wrong, but they were kind of crumbly and the flavor wasn't that great. I tried to adapt them from two different recipes, and I think I cut out too many things. After enjoying everything else I made this week, there was bound to be one not so great meal! I was inspired by this awesome black bean burger I had at the 5 Seasons Brewing Company in ATL a little while ago, but mine wasn't nearly as good. Oh well.

So here's next week's menu:

Monday

Salmon Confit

Roasted Green Beans

Tuesday

Chicken Bacon Bites

Creamed Spinach

Wednesday

Spicy Pinto Bean and Tuna Salad

Thursday

Roti Chicken 

Friday

Avocado, Tomato, Edamame and Red Onion Salad

Saturday

Pea-lafels

Sunday 

Leftovers!

Can't wait...it's looking like a very exciting week! We'll see how it goes! Love you awesome people!

Day 112

To begin with, I have to say - today was an extra delicious day at Campbell's house. But more on that in a minute.

I missed my walk today, even though it was a pretty day outside. I had lady pains, and I just couldn't get the energy together. So, logically, I spent two hours cleaning and organizing my room instead. Lol! I don't know where I got the energy to do that...I didn't take my pills today and I didn't have a paper to avoid either! Weird. But I figure I burned about the same calories as I would have walking, even though it wasn't really aerobic activity. I scrubbed down the bathroom, did laundry, changed the sheets, dusted, vacuumed, wiped down surfaces, organized bookshelves, and even spot cleaned my bedspread! But I will definitely be back out to do my walk tomorrow. I've done two 30 minute walks so far this week, so I still have two more to go!

Anyways, back to the delicious thing. I had a Greek salad for dinner:

I was inspired by this Greek salad, but had to edit out the ingredients I don't like, namely onions and cucumbers, along with the stuff I didn't have. The salad I ended up with is a mixture of spring greens, banana peppers, Lindsay natural olives (I know you're supposed to have kalamata, but I like these better!), artichoke hearts, and goat cheese.

As directed by the recipe, I let the peppers, olives, and artichoke hearts marinate in an olive oil/lemon juice/salt/pepper/McCormick's Mediterranean spice mix concoction. DELISH! I enjoyed it far more than restaurant Greek salads, which always have the iceburg lettuce with the crunchy white parts (as most of you know I cannot abide the crunchy white parts!). Yuck. The spring mix was a great substitute!

Oh, but the deliciousness does not end there. For dessert, I made (or rather, improvised on) Susie Bee's Blueberry Banana Smoothie...

Dang, you guys, I can't even communicate how scrumdiddlyumptious this smoothie was! It was really more like ice cream. As usual, I did not have all the ingredients (forgot to buy coconut milk and flax seeds at the grocery), but it still turned out amazing. I used frozen blueberries as well as a frozen banana, and the texture was just like Smoothie King! All I added to the fruit was one egg white and a splash of skim milk. It was PERFECT. Y'all have to try this! I made it in my food processor, as I don't own a blender, and it turned out great. YUM.

A side note: Seems like I'm using a lot of CAPS in this post.

Anyways. Weigh-in tomorrow! Hope it's good news!

By the way, y'all are awesome.

Day 111

Good things that happened today:

1. I took my 30 minute walk, even though I really didn't want to!
2. I cooked all three meals!
3. I curbed the munchie feeling with gum!
4. I'm posting in the blog two days in a row!

I also discovered one of the reasons why sugar is such an enemy for me. I hadn't thought about it until watching this vlog at The Token Fat Girl. She talks about how even sampling sugary foods leads her down a dark path to more sugar, and I realized it's the same for me. I have a box of 90 calorie fat-free chocolate popsicles in the fridge for a little treat now and then, and so far, I haven't abused them. But I had one after dinner tonight and, about halfway through eating it, I felt this strong urge to go get a second one. It's not the first time that's happened since I've had them in the house. It's like, the sugar high didn't last long enough, and I need another hit. See?? Like drugs! Just taking note of this was enough to drive away the urge to have more. And if I don't have sugar in the first place, the desire for it is less potent than after I've already had some. I think that sugar will always have this effect on me. I know I will never be able to give it up entirely, but I also know that A) it's dangerous to keep it in the house and B) no matter how "healthy" or "low-calorie" the sugary snack is, I will always be tempted to overindulge. It's better to just cut it out entirely.

I bought some apples, mangos, and prunes today, and all three do a really good job of satisfying my sweet tooth. But I found I had the same problem with the prunes, which don't have any added sugar, but are really sweet on their own. So those are going to have to be moderated. The sugar-free gum really helps too. Just gotta keep lots of healthy substitutes handy!

It's just really helpful to see how much of a trigger sugar is for me. It's as if, the minute I have some, I become less able to think objectively...it makes that little evil voice in my head that says, "Have another one, they're only 90 calories, and it will taste really good!" even louder. So I'm going to do what I can to stay away from it and stick to healthy alternatives like fruit.

For dinner tonight, I made a DELICIOUS soup! It's another recipe from Kalyn's Kitchen: Yellow Split-Pea Soup.

It's mmm mmm good!

I can be kind of funny about soups, so this was an experiment...and it really paid off! I couldn't find yellow split-peas, so I just used plain old green ones, and they were delicious! The red pepper flakes gave it a great spicy flavor, and even though I skimped on green peppers and onions (another texture thing I'm weird about), they added a nice flavor too. The recipe called for fennel seed, which I didn't have, but it tasted great all the same. It was a perfect, hearty, filling meal for a cold night.

I know, I know, I was supposed to have black bean soup today...but I didn't realize it needed like five hours to stew, and I didn't start until around 5:30. Oops! So I just swapped it to Friday. I only had to let this simmer for an hour, and it was ready to go.

So go make yourself some soup and stay warm, everybody! Be careful if the roads are icy tomorrow! Love y'alls!

Day 110 (continued)

So I've already said most of what needed to be said today, but I had to drop in and post pictures of my yummy shrimpy dinner! I also had to mention that I got my 30 minute walk in today! It was an absolutely gorgeous day, if a little chilly. But the sun was out, and it feels like it hasn't been out for DAYS! So I definitely appreciated that. I also added some new songs to my workout playlist, which I find really helps motivate me to get out there and start walking. New songs included:

1. Forget You, Gwyneth Paltrow/Glee Cast
2. Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough, MJ
3. Fighter, Christina Aguilera
4. Right Place, Wrong Time, Dr. John
5. I'm Too Sexy, Right Said Fred
6. Single Ladies, Beyoncé (I blame my mother for that one! I added it to her workout playlist, so I figured I might as well add it to mine)

A side note: I feel like I start a lot of sentences with "so."

So (sheesh, there I go again!) here's dinner! Shrimp with Mustard-Horseradish Sauce...

I definitely thought of my mom when making this...she's a big horseradish girl, and would love this sauce! It was so good. I added avocados because a) I love avocados and b) it gave it some nice color. I highly recommend this recipe...very tasty! And it didn't call for ham hocks!

On a side note, I have GOT to get back to counting calories. It makes such a difference, to know exactly what I'm eating. Starting tomorrow, I'm going to get back to paying attention to portions, serving sizes, and calorie counts. Even though I've been eating healthy things, I worry that I've been overindulging since I don't keep track of what I'm eating. So that's the goal for tomorrow!

Day 110

Yikes, I didn't realize it had been eight days since my last post! The time really gets away from me sometimes. But I'm here now!

This post was meant for last night, but my homework ended up taking longer than I expected and I was up until 10:30 finishing it. So we're doing a daytime post instead!

First item: So, as expected, my weight did go up a pound when I weighed Friday morning. But it's no big deal...after measuring myself, I've found that the pounds matter less than the feeling that I'm being healthy. The real reward is seeing inches coming off! So I'm going to stick with the program and hopefully there will be some good news on the scale this Friday.

Second item: I finally got around to planning dinners for the week and stocked up on groceries! Here's what's on the menu:

Monday

Cobb Salad (my recipe)

Tuesday (today)

Shrimp with Mustard-Horseradish Sauce

Wednesday

Black Bean Soup

Thursday

Greek Salad

Friday

Yellow Split-Pea Soup

Saturday

Black Bean Burgers

Sunday

Leftovers!

Looks like pretty yummy week, eh? I also have it on my mind to try Susie Bee's tasty-looking Blueberry Banana smoothie sometime this week, so I'll let you know how that goes.

This particular grocery trip was somewhat of an adventure, as I was supposed to buy ham hocks for the split-pea soup. Let's just say I took one look at them and declined. Gross. I think I'm going to try using bacon instead. I know people use ham hocks all the time, but after I looked it up on Wikipedia and started think of them as pig ankles, I couldn't handle it. I would never survive as a vegetarian, but I can sympathize. I don't like being able to visualize the animals I'm eating. Ham hocks actually look like pig ankles. Ew.

Yesterday, I made a delicious Cobb Salad for dinner (and had the leftovers for lunch today). 

Now I know what you're thinking...that doesn't exactly look like the healthiest salad. And I would agree. Bacon is never the healthiest choice - it was definitely a treat. BUT, it's a good hearty meal if you're craving a good hearty meal. It's also low carb and has green things in it and beats a cheeseburger hands down! And it's filling and delicious.