Weigh-in 1

Well today is June 15. I posted the other day that I wasn't going to weigh in since it was the already the 12th. But this morning while I was getting ready, I saw the scale and thought might as well... 

Drum roll please....

I'm down 3 pounds for a total of 11 since  starting my blog, and a grand total of 76 since I was my heaviest. 

I worked out with the new trainer at Camp Gladiator, Edwin, on Thursday. Holy craaaaap. He is tough! He wants you moving the entire hour. Even when he was explaining exercises he wanted us like marching in place, and to rest and catch our breath, he had us walk a little lap. We did exercises that I've never done before, and I had to do quite a few modifications. Edwin was really nice and encouraging, but he didn't let me not finish an exercise. The last part of the workout he actually made the rest of the people do it again to finish with me and another girl. I felt a little bad about that, but since we are slower it wasn't as hard on them, and they seemed happy to finish with us.

To finish camp Edwin brought some noodles (like for the pool). We played Star Wars; he named it. We used our noodles as light sabers chasing each other around and hitting each other below the waist. If you got hit, you had to go outside of the circle and do some jumping jacks. It was really fun. Edwin is an elementary PE teacher, so I'm looking forward to all of the silly games we'll play. 

That's all I've got for now. Yay Saturday!!

Hump Day!

Has this seemed like a long week for you guys? It really has for me. I started feeling sick on Monday night, I was sick yesterday, and I'm about 80% today. I don't really know what I had because I didn't have any real symptoms except that I felt really tired and achy. Because I did not feel well, I have not been very active, and that probably just exacerbated the feeling tired. Who knows? I'm starting to feel better though, and I'm ready to get back at it.

I don't know if I told you guys that my trainer at Camp Gladiator, Rand, left! His last day was last Friday. I was REALLY bummed because I really liked working out with him. He's a trainer that is very supportive no matter your fitness level. He was encouraging without being mean. He's like Bob from Biggest Loser kind of, and I LOVED HIM. So... yeah, I'm bummed that he left, but he is off to grad school so good luck to him! I think I'll make +Jimmy Ho be friends with him on Facebook so I can keep in contact with him. We had a Camp Gladiator happy hour on Friday to say goodbye. Check out me and Rand.

Such a cutie, right?! Sorry ladies.. he's taken (and he's like 22!)! I got so much stronger working out with Rand. When I first started, I could not do a burpee or jump to hands (click on the links for explanations) to save my life! I did not go to Camp Gladiator last Thursday because when I went last Tuesday it was SO HOT I honestly thought I may die. So instead, I got up at 5 freakin 30 AM on Friday to go work out with Rand on his last day. He made us do 25 reps of like 20 different exercises. It was TOUGH, but you should have seen me doing jump to hands!! I actually did all 25 and was able to jump back and forth. Check me out!!!!

Since I started this whole journey back in March, I have only lost about 8 pounds. I know I'm gaining muscle and all that jazz, but I still feel like I should be losing more. So.. I think it is time to get more strict about my diet. I do pretty well most of the time, but I still go out for drinks with friends and eat pizza and burgers sometimes. To encourage myself to keep pushing, I am going to start weighing in on the 1st and the 15th of each month, and I am going to post here how much I've lost.. or gained.. eek!.  No, I won't put my weight, but I will be honest in whether I've lost or gained. Today is the 12th, so we are going to count this as my 15th weight in and say I'm down 8 lbs overall! I would like to lose 100 pounds by May of next year. That's my ultimate goal. Wish me luck!

Btw - I met the new trainer, but I have not trained with him yet. Tomorrow will probably be my first day with him. I'll keep you guys posted.

Last week was a lot of fun. On Monday night we had concert tickets to see Of Monsters and Men. They are from Iceland, and I absolutely love them. I have been dying to see them for about a year.. after they were here for SXSW in 2012, and I did not listen to a friend about how awesome they were. A few months later, I discovered them and became obsessed. Should have listened to you, Eileen! Before the concert Jimmy and I grabbed some Vietnamese food since it was Meatless Monday.

I don't remember a lot about the food we ate last week except that one night we had some beef fajitas, and they were delicious!

I got my 2nd haul from our local farmer on Friday, and I was really surprised. I got cactus. CACTUS?! I realize people eat it, but I didn't know it was grown locally. So.. I have not tackled it yet. I'm a little intimidated. I also got some grass that a friend believes is Onion Weed. What in the world do I do with that? I got some more Swiss Chard, green onions, peppers, greens, carrots, herbs, garlic, and I think an eggplant. I think I'll just have to start biting things to taste them. Getting produce from a local farm is like a box of chocolates... you know the rest.

I have been having such a sweet tooth lately, but I really need to stay on track. I found a recipe on Pinterest for some oatmeal raisin cookies, and I feel pretty good about them. No flour OR sugar! 3 mashed bananas (ripe), 1/3 cup apple sauce, 2 cups oats, 1/4 cup almond milk, 1/2 cup raisins (optional), 1 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp cinnamon. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. I used 2% milk because I didn't have any almond milk. I haven't tasted them yet, but they look and smell delicious!

That's all I've got for today! Hope you guys have a great Thursday and Friday!

Shaking things up...

Lots to share this week! I have been cooking quite a bit this week. Here is a glance at some of the foods I've had.

Veggie patty is under the avocado!

Kale, Raspberries, and Apple

There is chicken under that avocado mixture!

I have also tried some new recipes! One of them is called Bubble Pizza that I found on good ole' Pinterest. You cut up biscuits and use them as the pizza dough. You add your toppings, and pizza sauce then bake for 20 minutes at 400. Then add the cheese and bake for another 5 minutes. Take it out and sprinkle with oregano. Viola!  It was SO simple. I found WHEAT biscuits! I was so excited, but quickly found out that just because it is wheat does not mean it is healthy. I followed the pinterest recipe and used the whole can of biscuits and all of the cheese. You make it in an 8X8 pan, and cut it into 8 small pieces. It ended up being about 650 calories for 2 servings which is just crazy. I may as well had 2 pieces of deep dish pizza from Pizza Hut! So... next time I'm going to use half of the biscuits because there was a ton of dough, and I don't think you would be missing anything by cutting it out, and I think I'll use half of the amount of cheese (that one will be tough!). But, just by doing those 2 things, I will save 260 calories!!! And if I can have 2 pieces for 390 calories, I feel a lot better about it! Here is a pic of each step.

Oh, oh, oh! I did something SUPER exciting this week! I made my first omelette!!!! Should I be that excited about it? Um, yes! Because making an omelette is not that easy. I've tried before, and it was just a mess. I was so excited about it, that I'm pretty sure I texted 3 or 4 people. I used 2 eggs, some pico, and cheese. It was delicious. I'm feeling pretty confident now. Many more omelettes to come!

In continuing our pursuit of a healthy lifestyle, I have been wanting to get most of our produce from a local organic farm. I finally contacted one that is pretty close to our home and makes home deliveries every Friday. Well.. we signed up! We got our first delivery this past Friday. The produce looked and smelled amazing! We got Swiss chard, kale, carrots, potato, a pepper, peaches, leeks, green onion, and some cherry tomatoes. Getting these deliveries every Friday will push us out of our comfort zones to eat things we haven't eaten before, to eat more vegetables, and to learn to cook new things. Here is a pic of our haul.

With that said, we had never had Swiss chard! I took that on tonight. I found a great recipe. For those of you like me and don't venture out with veggies, the easiest thing to compare it to would be fresh spinach. Not so much the taste, but in the way that it looks and the preparation. I sauteed it with olive oil, real butter, garlic, purple onion, carrots, white wine, lemon, and Parmesan. I was pleasantly surprised! Jimmy and I really liked it. It was so flavorful, and I felt like such a culinarian! Even +Jimmy Ho thought I seemed like a real chef! It was pretty exciting. It was so colorful and delicious. Take a look!

Isn't that amazing? I am so looking forward to all of the new things we will start making.

Because I have such a sweet tooth, I NEEDED to find a way to make something that would satisfy it without undoing everything good I have done. This week, I found it!! Thank you to @SmugCookery on Twitter, I will be able to survive. Watch her YouTube video that saved me here. So what did she do? She taught me how to make a creamy, not icy, homemade ice cream in my +Vitamix! It was SO simple and takes 2, yes TWO ingredients. Buy some ripe bananas, peel them, cut them in halves or pieces, and freeze them. After they are frozen use about 2 cups of the frozen bananas and 100 ml (in between 1/3 and 1/2) of a cup of milk. We used 2%, but she used fat free in her recipe. The ice cream is ready in like 30 seconds. It was creamy. It was sweet. It was amazing. The recipe is enough for 2 people, and if you use fat free milk, it is 152 calories per serving (per @SmugCookery). Ours had a few more calories since we used 2% milk, but not a lot. Just another reason to love the Vitamix!!

As you can tell, I had a pretty productive week! I also worked out pretty hard at Camp Gladiator! But.. we made time for some fun this weekend too. We went to a beautiful wedding on Friday night. Congrats to Claire and Tre! So happy for you guys!! We did some yard work and gave the dogs their summer haircuts. We went and saw the new Fast and Furious movie. I know you're thinking really? How can it be good? It is the 6th one! I know.. but it was! It was good! We also checked out Top Golf today with a friend which was really fun.

This was a pretty great week, and next week is off to a good start! We are going to see Of Monsters and Men tomorrow night, and I can't wait! I've been wanting to see them for over a year now. I'll post pics of that next time. Hope you all have a great week!

One foot in front of the other...

Yesterday morning, I went with +Jimmy Ho to a middle school around our neighborhood to walk around the track while he ran. It was POURING rain the entire time. Jimmy had to run about 5 miles which took him about 40 minutes. So in that time I walk/jogged (mostly walked) 2 miles. I felt pretty good afterward. I was a little tired, but I didn't feel like I was going to die. I was completely soaked. My shoes are STILL soaked and sitting in the garage. It was so weird being in the rain because I loved and hated it at the same time. It was nice because it was cool, and I didn't feel like I was sweating. At the same time, getting hit in the face with rain totally sucked because it kind of hurt!  Here's a pic of me soaked post-working out.

When we got home we made breakfast. As you can tell from my last post, I'm kind of obsessed with avocados right now. So we made this! We baked a corn tortilla in the oven to make a tostada and topped with with some cheese, tomato, egg, and avocado. It was SO good! That recipe came from Pinterest, and I've been pinning a TON more so watch out. Here is a pic of our breakfast from yesterday!

After breakfast we just kind of hung out for a while around the house. Then we ran to the outlet mall in San Marcos and then to see the new Star Trek movie, which was actually pretty good! After that we spend a quiet night at home, which was nice since Jimmy was out of town last weekend.

I told Jimmy I kind of wanted to to go walk around Town Lake this weekend, and we decided we would go Sunday, AFTER walking 2 miles on Saturday. I don't think I have ever, EVER walked 2 miles one day and then walked the next day as well. Town Lake is really pretty. It is close to downtown Austin, and there is 10 mile loop trail that goes around parts of it. There are smaller loops along the way that go from 1.5 miles all the way up to the 10 mile loop. Since I did pretty well with 2 yesterday, we decided 2 would be good today too. Obviously I am still alive, but today was tough. We did not wake up until 10:00 a.m. (which was awesome), but in Austin, that means it is already hot! And since we got so much rain the past 2 days, it was also really humid, especially down on the trail by the water. So we get out to the trail around 11. At first it was cloudy and breezy. It felt pretty nice! That didn't last long though. The sun came out, and it became harder for me to breathe as the humidity was rising. Walking in the trail was a little stressful for me because it is really popular, and Austin is a really active city so tons of people are always there. I am super self-conscious so that doesn't help! In my entire time of living in Austin, I have never walked a loop around town lake! I have gone there and walked a little bit to an area where Bentley could play, but never gone there for a workout. It is very different from walking in my neighborhood or on a track. There are places that incline, places you have to go up and down stairs, and you have to watch out for other walkers/runners/bikers/and dogs. With all of that going on, it made it hard for me to focus on you know.. breathing.. trying to walk... things that come naturally to everyone else it seems! With the heat, humidity, the trail, and doing 2 miles 2 days in a row, when it got toward the end, I honestly thought I would not make it. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other. Sounds easy, but it isn't, and that is what I had to keep telling myself. I kept taking steps, and eventually, I made it around to the loop and back to the car 2.33 miles later!!! It is kind of sad because I remember back in 2008 or 2009 when I was probably my heaviest, sometimes we would take Bentley to Auditorium Shores at Town Lake to play. We would probably walk about 1/2 mile from our car to the place he played, and I would be exhausted. EXHAUSTED! I walked almost 2 miles farther than that today, and I'm okay. It is so easy to not realize what kind of shape you are in until you try to change. The good thing is, it isn't too late.

I have not sweat that much in so long. I think I swelled up, and I looked like a tomato. It was not cute, but I took a pic anyway because I was really proud of myself.

 After the walk, we ran by my office to drop some things off, went to lunch, went to Randall's (grocery store), Costco, and another store. We ran around until 5:00 p.m. after walking 2.33 miles today and 2 miles the day before. There is no way in the world I could have done that a few months ago, and that makes me happy.

I have to say that I'm really thankful for Jimmy. He is able to run marathons, and he makes it look easy. I'm very lucky because he is so supportive of me, and he will go out and walk 2 miles with me even though in the same time he could run 5, and he doesn't complain. It means a lot to have some support you. If you can think of anyone you could support in making a life change, do it! I can't tell you how much it means to me when I get comments, emails, and texts from you guys that support and encourage me.

Well, time for some much needed rest. Hope you all have a fun and relaxing Memorial Day tomorrow.   

Food!

So I thought I would post a blog about the types of things I eat on a a decent day. This day that I'm posting did not have enough fruits or veggies, but there weren't any "bad" foods either.

So on Monday, I woke up super early, around 4:45 a.m. I had breakfast around 5:30. I ate cottage cheese with some apples and cinnamon. I saw it on a guy's Instagram and knew I had to try it. I'm a huge fan of cottage cheese, so I loved it. Cottage cheese is a great source of protein!

Because I ate my breakfast so early, I was starving around 9 and had some multi-grain waffles. I didn't take a pic because they aren't that exciting.

I've been kind of obsessed with avocados lately and started looking up things I could do with them. I found an interesting recipe that calls for avocado instead of mayo in making egg salad. I thought.. why not? 

If someone asked you how to boil an egg, what would you say? I mean sure, you boil water with eggs... but how long do you boil it? When do you know if it is ready? Do you REALLY know how to boil an egg? Enough to explain it to someone else? I found out an easy way to make a perfect boiled egg every time. So.. you put water in the pan. I always add a little oil because I've heard it helps the shell come off easier. I put the eggs in and bring the water to a boil. Once the water is boiling, remove the pan from heat, and let it sit there for 15 minutes. Then you have a perfectly boiled, delicious egg!

So I boiled my egg, chopped up some tomato, green onion, and mixed them all together with salt, pepper, and paprika. I was creamy and delicious.

Before, even though I loved avocados, I was hesitant to buy or cut into them because I felt like I had to eat the entire thing so it would not go bad. I mean... eating an entire avocado is pretty easy to do, but even foods that are good for you should be limited, right? It seems like as soon as you cut into them, they start to brown. Well I read somewhere that if you cut an avocado in half, if you leave the pit in, it won't brown as rapidly. I decided to put it to the test! I cut an avocado, and put the rest with the pit still in, in a zip-lock bag overnight. To my surprise, there was very little brown! I tested it again and left half of an avocado in the fridge for 24 hours, and again, there was not that much brown! I was so excited!!! I will definitely start eating avocado more frequently now that I know how to keep them fresh.

After 12 hours

After 24 hours

Since Monday was Meatless Monday, for dinner I had a veggie burger with a piece of jalapeno jack cheese, avocado, and some jalapenos. For a meatless, at-home, burger, it was SO good, and I'll be making that again. The avocado gives you enough fat and creaminess that you could do without the cheese and not really miss it. You should try this out!

This week was an off week from Camp Gladiator, but it all starts back up next week. Last week in Camp Gladiator was SO hard! The last week of each month is always tough, but that last week, there was so much running. So many of my friends are runners, and I just don't understand how they do it. The hardest thing for me is trying to control my breathing. I CAN'T BREATHE! I feel like I'm breathing so fast, but I'm not getting any air. Any advice?

Just thought I would share the tidbits about the eggs and avocados I learned this week. If you have any avocado recipes or running tips, feel free to share. Hope you all have a nice Memorial Day Weekend! 

Oh, hi. Remember me?

Hey you guys! It has been FOREVER since my last blog, I know. There are a lot of reasons why, but the main one is I have not been working as hard as I need to be! It is not called a weight loss straight shot; it is a weight loss journey. I veered off the path a bit, but I'm back on track.

It all started with my trip to Lubbock a couple of weeks ago. I had SO much fun. I got to see my cousin get married, hang out with my aunt and uncle that I consider to be a second set of parents, see my sweet Granny, got to spend time with my best friend, and I got to meet her new twins!! It was an amazing weekend, and I was sad to see it end (kind of). I learned that it is HARD (for me for sure) to eat well/healthy in Lubbock unless you cook all of your meals at home. Yeah, you can get a salad when you go out, but it has iceberg lettuce. No thank you. I'm sure I could have made healthy choices, but all of my favorite restaurants (read: Taco Villa and Rosas) don't have super healthy options, or at least the things I order are not healthy, ha! I had an off weekend when it came to food, but my visit was wonderful. I love and miss my friends and family in Lubbock, but I'm thankful to live in Austin. It is just easier to be healthy here. I don't know if it is all of the food options we have, or that so many people here try to be healthy. I'm not sure, but it is good for me. Time for pics!

Aren't they all beautiful?! So happy for my cousin, Bryce, and his new wife Jana. I just love them.

Here are some pics of my best friend, Ginger's, kids. We got to see Hunter play baseball while hanging out with Miss Harper. And finally, there are the new sweet little twins, Hudson, and then Hagan! I got to hold and feed them. It was so special. Love Ginger and her family.

Hudson

Hagan

The day we got back into town, Jimmy's sister, Julie, and her husband, Ben, were in town from New York City and asked us to come over to Ben's parent's house for dinner. It seems like every time Julie comes in town she has us over and cooks for us. She is an AMAZING cook, and I'm always blown away watching the things she makes. The food is always delicious. Through her I've tried quinoa, lamb, and couscous, and I've really like all 3. Julie calls our dogs the kids, and we refer to Ben and Julie as their Aunt and Uncle. Since none of us have any children, I think that is totally acceptable. Here a pic of our brother and sister-in-law. Love them!!

After that things just seemed to be so busy. We went to Chris' going away party, we had a farewell dinner with him and his friends, and then he stayed with us the night before he left to head to Peru on his first stop of his year long trip around the world. I'm really excited and happy for him since he made a lifelong dream come true, but after dropping him off at the airport, I was pretty bummed for the rest of the day. Miss him already. Stay safe, friend!

So the day Chris left also happened to be my 31st birthday! I'm OLD!!!!! Jimmy and I went and got cupcakes and had coffee on South Congress to hang out and people watch. Then we went to happy hour with a close group of friends pictured below. [Not pictured is +Jimmy Ho  because he took the picture, Rob because Jimmy is not a great panoramic photographer, and Brad, Nicole, and Raye since they had already left.]

I had a wonderful birthday. Thanks to all my sweet friends who came to celebrate. And no, I had not had too much to drink in the picture directly above. HA. I didn't drive!

Jimmy and I have resumed our cooking at home! The last week or so we have embraced Asian foods! We made spring rolls and vermicelli bowls. Jimmy did most of the work on these. I just helped put things together. They were surprisingly pretty easy to make, and very good. We'll probably be making these things more frequently. They were fresh and healthy other than the noodles.. but moderation is key. Check it out.

This past Sunday, I got back out there and walked a mile and a half. It was HARD. It insane how long it takes to get strong, but how quickly you can lose it. I was pretty afterward, but I was glad I did it. One step in front of the other, and one small step at a time is the way I'll get through this. Sunday was such a beautiful day I decided to use the +Vitamix to make some real fruit margaritas! The Vitamix blended it so well! I was really impressed at the consistency. The orange I used was a little large, so the color looks a little orange. Next time I think I'll use half an orange and another lime.

Random, but in one of my hanging plants, a bird built a nest. In the pic below you can see some of the fuzz used. That fuzz is from Bentley and Lily's toys they have destroyed in the backyard. I left it alone, and there are now 4 (I think) little baby birds in the nest! I took a secret pic.

Tonight I went back to Camp Gladiator! The last time I was there (which was a little over a week ago), I hurt myself!! I was doing bicycles, and I hurt what my trainer called a hip flexer. It is where your hip and leg meet. It hurt SO bad I could barely get into my car because I could not bend my leg at the hip. I know this is crazy, but I kind of felt cool for having an injury from working out rather than just falling down like I usually do. Whud up.

Tonight Camp Gladiator KICKED MY BUTT. We had to run so much! I have made a friend at Camp Gladiator, Jen, and she really pushes me. I don't run full laps when we have to run because the trainer told me run a shorter distance due to being slow and it being hard on me (he didn't say that, but that's why). But today, Jen made me run the full distance each time we had to run. It SUUUUUCKED. But, when I got home I felt like I had nothing left to give, and that felt awesome. Jen also invited me to go to Zumba with her so I may start doing that.

I'm feeling motivated again because of some pics I looked at today. People on Instagram always put up transformation photos. I get a lot of inspiration from pictures I see on there. I decided to compare pictures of myself. I took a picture from last April, around 4/20/12 when Jimmy and I saw The Black Keys (amazing!!) and this year around 4/12/13. Below, the picture on the left is last year, and the picture on the right is this year. CHECK ME OUT! I know I still have a long way to go, but seeing these small changes is going to keep me going.

So that's my story for the last few weeks. I'm back!!! Heart all of your faces.