Walking.

Day 2: another beautiful morning and refreshing 25 minute morning walk. Breakfast was a cup of coffee with cream and sweetener, a bottle of water and some cottage cheese with blueberries, vanilla and sweetener.

Bored = hungry

cheese strings. yum.

Bored = hungry

Tea.... it's my cure-all.

It's been too long

It's been a year since my last post. That's right; 365 days. In that time so much has happened, so much has changed.
About six weeks after my last post I found out I was pregnant. So much for losing some weight before packing on some baby pounds. Nevertheless, I only gained 17lbs during my pregnancy. I was 237 lbs when I went into labour.
Niven Paulino Ruberto was born on October 10, 2011 and weighed in at 8 lbs 5 oz. He was much smaller than I imagined since everyone thought I was going to have a 10 lbs turkey.
It didn't take long to get down to my pre-pregnancy weight of 220 lbs, but I am stuck there, fluctuating up and down 3 to 5 lbs and feeling like a total blimp. As much as it kills me to say it, today I am tipping the scales at 224.8 lbs.
Shit.
I have tried everything. The trouble is I am addicted to food. I almost wrote that I love food, but I don't think that I do. I just can't stop eating. Sometimes I eat things that I don't even like the taste of. It is, without a doubt, an addiction.
I recently went to the doctor to inquire about a lap band. For those of you who don't know, the lap band is a device used to restrict the amount of food your stomach can hold at one time. Given that I have Benign Intracranial Hypertension (Pseudo-tumor Cerebri), a neurological ailment likely affected by excess weight, I thought the lap band surgery may be covered by OHIP. It is not.
My options are: gastric bypass or diet and exercise. I have a number of friends who have done remarkably well with gastric bypass but, for me, it is not an option. So, back to the drawing board we go.
Luckily I have a wonderful support system and my mum came up with a brilliant idea to help me (us) stay on track. We are starting a diet group! Each member chooses a diet or plan that works best for them and once a week we will meet up, weigh in, share recipes, swap clothes as our waste lines shrink, share recipes and enjoy a cup of coffee and a light snack... not to mention good company.
As of now, we have four members. The three women that have joined me are not only my family, but my best friends also.
So, determined not to let myself or my support system down, I woke up this morning with a plan. I am back to the low carb diet and exercise.
For breakfast I had about 1/2 cup of vanilla cottage cheese and a cup of coffee with cream and sweetener. I then packed up both kids and walked Miss V to school. Round trip, this walk took about 25 minutes. I have to walk back to the school this afternoon, so that will be a whopping 50 minutes of exercise for me today! This is great considering I have done absolutely no exercise for a very very long time.
It seems as though I have a good start on this new plan. My short term goal is to get out walking for 50 minutes at least three times a week. My next goal: to lose 25lbs before my sister's wedding on September 1, 2012. And, my long term goal: to reach my ideal weight of 150 lbs by June of 2013.
I am not sure if anyone will read this blog, given that I've started and stopped it so many times, but I intend to write on here daily to ensure I stay on track and remain focused.
To all of you out there in the same boat as me; stay strong, stay focused and be healthy!

Once upon a time....

I was fatter than I am at present.
The two photos above are from 2008. I likely topped the scales at 250 + lbs. I was scared to step on the scale and even more scared to look at myself for what I really was. I hardly recognize myself in these photos. What was I thinking???

That said, today has been another pretty good day. I had a coffee on my way to work and then drank my fruit smoothie (courtesy of the best boyfriend ever) when I got to the office. I wasn't hungry at all until lunch at which time I had a bowl of cream of celery soup and a smoked meat sandwich on rye with mayo. Not a salad I know, but much better than the huge chicken caesar wrap and fries I usually order. ;)

Dinner will be a nice piece of pork tenderloin, brown rice and some veg.
Feeling better already. Now just to incorporate more water and a little exercise.

Today.... getting a little easier.

I woke up this morning feeling a little less bloated. For the past couple of weeks I have felt like I've been wearing a fat suit. My feet have hurt, my legs have ached, my joints have strained under the excess lard I am carrying around. I even looked in the mirror the other day and came to a mind altering conclusion: I looked NINE MONTHS PREGNANT!

Yesterday I was starving. Not in the morning, or midday or late at night. I was famished all day! Today I feel a little better. I started off my day with a mango/banana low fat/no sugar smoothie (thanks Amo <3)>

Supper will be chicken breast and something. Not sure what yet. Likely the left over baked rice and some veg. Simple and quick. I may even try to squeeze in some yoga tonight too.... :)

Off to a good start people and I've even managed to blog two days in a row! Holy crap, eh?

Some Yummy HEALTHY recipes for 2011

2011 is here! Guess what my New Year's resolution is!...

WRONG! It's not to diet and lose a bunch of weight. It's to be more AWARE.

I want to enjoy the world around me entirely. I want to be more conscious of what I am putting into my body. I want to see, touch, hear, smell and taste the world around me and experience all that it has to offer. The end result: good health, happiness and a gazillion new experiences that I can share with others.

So my journey towards enlightenment begins.

I ate more consciously yesterday and chose healthy options. For dinner we cooked a beautiful pecan crusted chicken breast, broccoli and baked brown rice. Here are the recipes for the chicken and the rice as they were BOTH delicious!

Pecan Crusted Chicken for 4

2 boneless/skinless chicken breasts

1 egg

3 tbsp milk

1 1/2 c (approx) of pecans (halves or pieces)

1/2 c (approx) bread crumbs

1 tbsp of sweetened coconut

2 tsp ground cinnamon

pinch of salt and pepper to taste

4 tbsp (approx) olive oil

Preheat oven to 375.

Take the chicken breasts and cut them in half so that you are left with 4 thinner chicken breast portions. Tenderize using a meat tenderizer (or a rolling pin as I did).

In a shallow dish, beat egg and milk together thoroughly.

Using a magic bullet or blender grind together pecans, bread crumbs, coconut, cinnamon, salt and pepper.

In a second shallow dish place pecan mixture.

Dip chicken portions in egg then pecan mixture coating evenly. Be sure to shake the dish after each portion is coated to ensure even coating for other pieces.

Place chicken on a shallow baking pan and bake for 10 - 15 mins.

Heat olive oil in a large frying pan. Take chicken portions from the over and place in frying pan until cooked thoroughly and browned on both sides.

So YUMMY!

Baked Brown Rice

2 tbsp olive oil

1 diced onion

1 cup of chicken broth

1 1/2 cups of water

2 1/2 cups of Uncle Ben's 10-minute Brown Rice

Salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350.

Heat olive oil in a large pan. Add onion and salt and pepper to pan. Toss onions until nicely browned.

Add broth and water to pan and bring to a boil.

In a large casserole dish mix onion/water mixture and rice. Cover and bake for approximately 30 mins. When all liquid appears to be absorbed and rice can be fluffed with a fork it's ready.

* We added roasted red peppers to this last night... MMmmmmm! Tonight we will likely add sun dried tomatoes and olives.