Holiday Calendar

I received an e-mail this morning from Spark People with a link to a 31-day calendar with daily tips on how to survive the holidays: Holiday Calendar

Just for the halibut

Had a delicious (and easy) dinner last night, courtesy of Robin Miller's Robin to the Rescue. The recipe was for tilapia with mango sauce, but I used halibut instead.

Grill, pan-fry, or bake the halibut (seasoned with salt and pepper)

Serve with Mango Sauce:
1 Mango, peeled and diced
1 Tbs. low-sodium soy sauce
1 Tbs. minced ginger (I used fresh ginger)
1 Tbs. water
1 clove garlic
Blend all ingredients until smooth - if too thick, add more water

Delicious. And did I mention it was easy?

I served it with oven-roasted veggies - also easy. I don't have a recipe, per se, I just wing it:
Put 1 Tbs. olive oil in a gallon-size Ziploc bag
Add salt and pepper to taste (or any other seasoning as desired - garlic would be good, maybe some rosemary)
Cut veggies - last night I used potatoes, parsnips, onions, zucchini, and mushrooms. I've also used beets, peppers, etc. If you like carrots, feel free to use them
Add veggies to Ziploc - shake to coat NOTE: Beets bleed, so I use a separate Ziploc for them
Put veggies on a foil covered cookie sheet
Bake for 20-ish minutes at 400 (to 425) degrees until all veggies are done
NOTE: if you want, you can start with the veggies that will take longer to cook, i.e. potatoes, parsnips, etc. and add the other veggies later - however, I just cook them all together. The mushrooms and onions get nice and crispy.

I don't have the nutritional information for either recipe, but halibut is healthy, right? Mango is a fruit, right? Healthy...

I'm still here

I know it’s been awhile. What, with three weeks in New Zealand, one week in Tallahassee, etc. time just seems to get away from me. However, just because I haven’t been posting on this site doesn’t mean that I haven’t been working toward my goal.

New Zealand was the first time I was able to put my fab and fit goal to the “travel” test. Although I continued to lose weight during the trip, I had both successes and failures.

Success – I didn’t have a rental car, so I had to walk everywhere, which I actually enjoy. Built in exercise. One nice thing (well, nice until I got all sweaty) is that my hotel and the office where I worked was on a hill. So, anytime I walked to dinner, lunch, or anything, getting back to the office or hotel required a workout. Sweatiness aside, that was a win because it counted as exercise. I also did a lot of hiking, walking, etc. over the weekends, so even more exercise.

Failure – Although I had a mini kitchen in my apartment, I only cooked a couple of meals there. I did have breakfast in my room every day, consisting of whole grain cereal, skim milk, and low fat yogurt (as well as delicious kiwi), but I ate out for all lunches and most dinners. Eating salads got boring quickly, especially being in a foreign country with so many different things to try, so, I’ll admit, I did eat some non-diet food (like yummy fish and chips). However, I did manage the portions, so I either took the leftovers back to the hotel, or just left the rest on my plate. And, when I did eat something that wasn’t especially diet-friendly, I worked out a little bit harder the following day. Input cannot exceed output. So, kind of a combination success/failure.

So, I’m down almost 30 lbs. from where I was when I started this thing. Feeling so much better, but I know that I have more to go.

Tip of the day – exercise in the morning. This is actually easy for me, I can’t seem to exercise in the afternoon/evening – too much to do (or I get too easily distracted). Getting up in the morning and getting it over with is the easiest thing for me to do. This article gives other reasons why exercising in the morning is better:

1. Exercising early in the morning "jump starts" your metabolism, keeping it elevated for hours.
2. Studies have shown that exercise significantly increases mental acuity (which I really need before spending a day at work).
3. Exercising first thing in the morning is the most foolproof way to ensure that other things don’t overtake your fitness commitment (see, this is what I said)

My niece recently started a Biggest Loser competition with a bunch of people, and I gladly joined. Wish I could count the 30 lbs. I've already lost, but, oh well, it's all part of the adventure known as life, right?

Too little of a good thing?

I know it’s been awhile. A little over a week ago my mom started having some health problems, so I have been otherwise occupied. However, I have been (mostly) keeping up with my quest to be fit. Today, my Spark People newsletter contained an article that I want to share: 6 Risks of Eating a Low-Fat Diet (By Sarah Haan, Registered Dietitian). Risks? Low-Fat? I've known for awhile that fat-free is not always better - it's all about the right kind of fat. And we all are aware of the risks of a diet too high in fat. But I didn't know that there were actual risks if your fat intake was too low. According to this article, your fat intake should be anywhere from 20%-35% of your daily caloric intake (although an article linked to this article says your fat intake should be less than 30%). That seems like a LOT.

Risks are:

1. Poor vitamin absorption - "Eating a diet too low in fat can interfere with the absorption of the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. Because these nutrients are fat soluble, your body needs dietary fat to utilize them." Maybe that's why I'm always low in Vitamin D?

2. Depression - "Both omega-3s and omega-6s play roles in mood and behavior." I found this especially interesting.

3. Increased Cancer Risk - "Colon, breast, and prostate cancers have all been correlated with low intakes of essential fatty acids."

4. High Cholesterol and Heart Disease - this one was weird because I've always associated high fat and high cholesterol, but according to this article "[w]hen your diet is too low in fat, your body's level of HDL (the "good" cholesterol) goes down. This is problematic because you want your HDL level to be high to help protect against heart disease."

5. Imbalance of Nutrients—Especially Carbs

6. Overeating - "Many of these [low-fat/fat-free] processed foods contain added sugars to enhance taste; often they're similar in calories to the original full-fat product." "[F]at helps carry flavor in our foods. It leads to fullness and satiety, which means you can get by longer on a meal or snack that provides fat without feeling the need to eat again soon."

It's all about moderation (and knowing which fats to eat), folks.

Good fats

#1 Monounsaturated fats (they help lower bad cholesterol while not lowering good cholesterol). Foods include: certain oils and margarines (canola, olive, peanut, sesame), avocado, nuts (almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamia, pecans, peanuts, pistachios), peanut butter, olives, and sesame seeds.

#2 Polyunsaturated fats (they help lower bad cholesterol but also lower good cholesterol). Foods include: certain oils and margarines (corn, safflower, soybean), walnuts, mayonnaise, most salad dressings, pumpkin and sunflower seeds.

So, not only can you have too much of a good thing, but now you can have too little as well.

Am I Ready?

Like many Americans, I have watched The Biggest Loser. Sometimes I find it motivating (although obviously not motivating enough or I wouldn’t be where I am); other times I find it depressing (as I have yet to lose 10 lbs. in one week). But, regardless of whether I find it motivating or depressing, I LOVE Bob Harper (the fitness trainer) – so much so that I bought a few of his strength training DVDs and [now] I’m actually using them. Nothing against the other Biggest Loser trainer – I know that many people respond very well to her type of training – but she and I would have serious problems. She doesn’t motivate me, in fact she makes me want to punch her in the face. AND I would want to do the exact opposite of anything she asked me to do. (what does that say about my personality?)

Anyway, in addition to the DVDs, I also purchased a book by Bob Harper, Are You Ready! What I really like about Bob (yup, we’re so tight that I can just call him Bob) is that he seems to really care about the people he works with and wants to address the underlying reasons for an individual’s weight problem. I am living proof that someone can change their life enough to lose weight, but (I’m guessing) because there are still issues that haven’t been dealt with, the weight will come back (with a vengeance).

So, that said, I think I’ve finally come up with some type of format for this blog. Broad topics include: recipes, exercise info, food finds, weight loss epiphanies, and any articles I find interesting and/or pertinent. And, of course, I will be sharing any and all progress I make in my quest.

Wrap it up

Update - still a plateau ! If this keeps up, I'm actually going to go see a doctor about it.

For my birthday this year, my friend Lisa gave me a couple of "diet" cookbooks, one being The Most Decadent Diet Ever! by Devin Alexander. Wednesday night I made Renovated Reuben Wraps. SOOOO delicious! I LOVE Reubens. To me, the sign of a great deli/sandwich shop is how good their Reuben is. So, I couldn't wait to try this recipe. It was a hit - I've even been asked to make them again tonight.

1 1/2 Tbs. Russian Dressing (recipe follows)
1 low-fat, whole-wheat tortilla
1/2 c. finely shredded, low-fat Swiss cheese I couldn't find low-fat shredded Swiss cheese, so I used slices - one slice per wrap
3 oz. 98% fat-free corned beef oddly enough, I couldn't find corned beef, so I used low-fat pastrami - just as yummy
1/4 c. well-drained, refrigerated sauerkraut

Prepare the Russian Dressing
Preheat a non-stick skillet/frying pan. I didn't use a non-stick pan, and it worked without a problem
Lay the tortilla in the pan. Heat for 30 seconds - flip.
Sprinkle the cheese in a 3-inch strip down the center of the tortilla (leaving 2 inches at one end).
Cover the pan long enough to melt the cheese and heat the tortilla. This took about 1 minute
Remove lid, top cheese evenly with the meat, then add the sauerkraut and dressing.
Move tortilla to a flat surface.
Fold in the bare (2 inches) end, then "wrap" the tortilla.

Russian Dressing
3 Tbs. low-fat mayonnaise I used 2 Tbs. fat free mayonnaise and 1 Tbs. regular mayonnaise because I didn't have any low-fat mayo
1 1/2 Tbs. ketchup
1 Tbs. minced onion
1/4 tsp. bottled horseradish
1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Mix all ingredients

1 wrap
309 calories
27 g protein
29 g carbohydrates
9 g fat (4 g saturated fat)
55 mg cholesterol
3 g fiber

I am in love

In my quest to get fit (and at the same time, still eat yummy food), I’ve been doing a lot of searching online for healthy recipes. I came across the coolest website: http://blog.healthyeats.com. It contains recipes, links to recipes, taste tests (I liked the one on frozen yogurt), meal makeovers (like lightening up Macaroni and Cheese, for example), etc. I am in love with this website. I already had my meals for this week planned out, but will use some from this website for next week.

10 reasons you’re not losing weight

I saw this subject line in my Inbox this morning, and needless to say I was intrigued. Some interesting stuff was listed in the article. My comments are italicized.

1. Not enough muscle – the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn. No matter what you’re doing, muscle rips through more calories than fat. This is why I alternate between cardio and strength training.
2. Genetics – Researchers estimate that your genes account for at least 50% - and as much as 90% - of your stored body fat. Your weight-loss challenge is just 10% to 50% greater. Sweet! (sarcasm) I don’t know how my sister and one brother lucked out, but the rest of us battle (or have battled) weight problems of one degree or another.
3. Getting older – yes, I’ve noticed that this time it’s more difficult to lose weight than, say, 10 years ago. What to do about it? Lift weights and just MOVE. Funny story: last night I took a book to a woman that I visit teach. As I pulled back into my driveway, I thought “huh, I totally could have walked to her house.” It’s a mindset. When I’m in Europe (or even New York City), I don’t think twice about walking well, everywhere. When I was in Austria in April, we would walk probably 20-30 minutes to get to work. Then we’d walk another 10-15 to get to the “downtown” area for dinner. But last night I took my car to go a couple of blocks. I’ll have to work on that mindset.
4. Your body can’t keep up – This didn’t quite make sense to me, it said something out how our hormonal responses can’t cope with our sedentary lifestyles. So, another reason to BE ACTIVE and fill up on low-calorie foods (Does anybody have a list of the best, most filling, low calorie foods?).
5. The problem is in your medicine cabinet – A host of drugs that treat diabetes, depression, high blood pressure, inflammatory disease and more affect weight regulation. Luckily, this reason doesn’t apply to me, so whew! However, what the article suggests is to ask your health care provider if an alternate drug or a lower dose could work, but don’t change your medications without discussing it first.
6. You underestimate your portions and calories – this could very well apply to me. So, when I say that I’m within my caloric intake for the week, I could very well be off. I will have to pay closer attention. However, I really do hate measuring stuff, so I’ll keep trying to eyeball it.
7. You eat mindlessly or when distracted – distractions can lead to overeating. Make it a rule to always eat from a dish, never from a bag or carton.
8. You deprive yourself – It’s the vicious cycle I’ve been in so many times. I restrict what I eat so much that when I finally give in and eat something I think I shouldn’t, I feel guilty and angry. Then I figure, what the heck, I’ve already ruined my diet for the day, I might as well eat what I want and then start again tomorrow. Oh, the whole “I’ll start again tomorrow” trap… it drags me down. I do like the suggestion in the article “Take the focus away from that list of bad foods and emphasize those that are good for you. If 90% of the time you eat a wholesome diet of ample fruits and vegetables, some whole grains, lean meats or other sources of protein, then the other 10% doesn’t really matter.”
9. You’re usually good, but… – unless you’re on vacation or dining out – or my problem is unless I’m on-site. When I’m on-site, it’s hard, if not impossible to have a healthy “home-cooked” meal. Most, if not all, of my meals are dining out. One suggestion is to take half of the restaurant meal home to have the following day. As long as I have a refrigerator, that will work – I guess what I can do if not is just leave the other ½ of the meal (waste but not waist).
10. You overestimate your calorie burn – dieters can easily out-eat their workout. I can’t even estimate the calories I burn, so I just work out and try to eat my best (and hope for the best).

Oh, the frustration!

I can't even express how frustrated I am. Yet another week has gone by and I STILL haven't lost any more weight. To be honest, instead of weight, I am losing motivation. Seriously, I've switched workouts (Shake it Up! from the last post), the new workout is longer (Increase physical activity from the last post) and still nothing. I stay within my weekly calorie range - or at least, pretty darn close to it. Still NOTHING. Sometimes I feel that if getting up early to workout and "depriving" myself of the foods that I normally enjoy aren't making a difference, why try? Any ideas?

However, since I can't even hope to succeed at something I give up on, I'm not giving up. I have purchased a new workout DVD; I'll let you know more about it if it helps.

Tip for the day:

I eat a lot more salads when I'm dieting, and plain, undressed salads can get really old really fast. However, when I'm not at home, it's possible that the only fat-free dressing is something I don't like, i.e. the so-called French dressing which is a. disgusting and b. not French. Anyway, a little trick I learned from some weight-loss center a few years ago is to get the dressing on the side (of course), then dip my fork into the dressing, tap off the extra dressing (or not), then load the fork up with salad. That way each bite of salad has dressing AND I avoid eating too much dressing. In fact, I rarely even go through 1 Tbs of dressing. AND because fat-free dressing is not calorie-free dressing, this works even when you CAN get the fat-free dressing you enjoy!

Holy Plateau, Batman

How is it possible that I have reached a plateau already? I’ve lost weight enough times that I know that everyone, eventually, hits a plateau – but after three weeks? Come on! I’m eating less (and better), I’m exercising at least 5 times a week, and you’re telling me that I have stopped losing weight already? It’s been over a week since I’ve lost any weight. Now, I know that there are other benefits to eating better and exercising, but I really would like to see some visible benefits.

Anywho, because of this plateau issue, I did some looking online and found some ideas on how to get past the plateau. Several sites had the same suggestions, so they have to be good, right? Some suggestions annoyed me, but they all were helpful.

1. Hang in there. The annoying part? The website said “even dropping a third of a pound per week means that in a year, you'll be down a whole 17 pounds.” Like I only want to lose 17 pounds in a year. If I’m “depriving” myself, I better dang well lose more weight than 17 pounds a year.

2. Increase physical activity. Maybe I could wake up even earlier and workout longer… I’ll have to see what kind of energy that requires.

3. Increase protein (but only up to 25% of daily calories). I’ll have to make sure that the lunches I take to work have more protein in them.

4. Shake it up! – i.e. try alternating calorie-cutting days with less-restrictive maintenance days (but maintain the same weekly caloric intake), switch to a new type of exercise, alternate aerobic workouts with light weight training (I already do this, but maybe I should switch aerobic workouts).

I will try over the next week or two to “shake it up.” I’ll change my workout program, try different exercises, etc. Since I’m trying new things, that means I’m “hanging in there,” right? I will keep you posted.

Push-up is a four-letter word

I know it’s really six letters, but trust me – it’s a four letter word. As part of my new “fit by 40” regime, I try to work out at least 5 times a week. Right now I alternate a *Turbo Jam cardio workout with a *Slim in 6 strength training workout.

Strength training is a critical component of fitness. Strong muscles help you lose weight. Strong muscles are healthy for your heart. Strong muscles protect your joints and your back. Strong muscles give you a mental boost. Strong muscles help fight free radicals. Strong muscles slow bone loss that accompanies aging and increases bone density.

The Slim in 6 has a lot of lunges, squats, pliés, push-ups and sit ups. Who would have thought that 90 seconds of push-ups could be so difficult? I was quite shocked – I do a couple of push-ups, rest, do a couple more, rest, continue for the 90 seconds. I was so happy when I was finally able to do ten in a row. I think heavier people are at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to push-ups – way more weight to actually push up. Maybe thinner people have an easier time of it? I’m hoping as my weight goes down (and, of course, my strength is trained), that push-ups will become easier. When I can do push-ups for all 90 seconds, there will be much rejoicing.

* I’m not endorsing any workout video, diet regime, etc. I’m just describing what I’m currently doing.

The eternal question… what’s for dinner?

Have you ever noticed that it’s much easier to put weight on than to take it off? Patience really isn’t one of my virtues.

Tonight I made a recipe out of my South Beach Diet Cookbook and it was DELICIOUS (of course, I made a few changes – which I’ll note). Since I’m only cooking for two, yummy, leftovers for lunch tomorrow…

Chicken Capri

1 cup reduced-fat ricotta cheese
½ teaspoon dried oregano - My oregano was too old, so I used ½ teaspoon of Italian Seasoning
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves - I had three large chicken breast halves, so I cut them in half – thus giving me 6 pieces of chicken, instead of 4
½ teaspoon garlic salt
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup crushed tomatoes - I used diced
4 slices reduced-fat mozzarella cheese

Combine the ricotta, oregano, salt and pepper.
Rub the chicken with the garlic salt. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook for 12 minutes per side.
Personal Note – I’m a huge Alton Brown fan. I remember from several of his episodes that he said once you put the meat in the skillet – walk away, just walk away. I didn’t move or turn the chicken until the 12 minutes were up. This gave the chicken a nice crispy crust. OK, now back to the recipe…
Once the chicken breasts are done, move them to a large baking dish and allow to cool.
Preheat oven to 350˚F.
Divide the ricotta mixture evenly and put it on top of the chicken breasts. Divide the tomatoes evenly and put it on top of the ricotta. Top with a slice of mozzarella. Bake for 20 minutes (or until thickest portion registers 170˚F. I’m not sure if it’s because I had extra thick chicken or because I live at a high altitude or what, but it took about 35 minutes for my chicken to be 170˚F.

I think next time I might try putting a fresh basil leaf between the tomatoes and the mozzarella. Nothing can beat fresh basil.

Per Serving
340 calories
15g fat (5g saturated)
44g protein
6g carbohydrate

Fab and Fit by 40

Like I really need to start another blog, right? However, that’s just what I’m going to do.

Two things happened recently:

1. In July, a friend of mine was visiting from France. I was so happy to spend some time with her and one of my former companions. As you can expect, since we haven’t seen each other in (muffle, muffle) years, many pictures were taken. I was appalled when I saw myself in these pictures. Now, I’ve never been photogenic, but these were awful. After seeing these pictures, I tried to motivate myself to do something about it. Luckily, the second thing happened soon after.

2. My friend Amanda joined Weight Watchers and invited me to join with her. I quickly accepted. Working on losing weight with a friend to back you up is always easier than doing it alone. One of the main benefits is that when we go out to eat, we’ll both be looking for the same healthy options.

I’ve been fighting a weight problem for the past, oh, 39 years. OK, I might be exaggerating a little, but I have had a weight for as long as I can remember.

I opted against Weight Watchers, but will still be moral support for Amanda (and she for me). Although the pricing for Weight Watchers is reasonable, I didn’t really want to spend money each week to weigh in. Another friend of mine showed me a free website that tracks weight loss – sparkpeople.com. So, I signed up. sparkpeople.com provides recipes, fitness ideas, etc. and allows you to track nutrition intake, exercise time, etc. I’ll have to see how it goes.

Anywho, I thought that it might be helpful to start a weight loss blog to chronicle the adventure. It’s mainly for me and my own accountability, but if anyone else can get something from my postings, all the better. I’ll be posting about recipes, exercises, successes, failures and anything else I want to post (it is my blog, you know).

So, my goal is to be (as you can see from the URL) fab and fit by 40. I know that being fabulous has nothing to do with size, but it’s very hard for me to separate the two. So, I have 11 months to get in shape – I’m not shooting for a particular size or weight because body structures can differ so much. I’m always frustrated with those programs that say “oh, you’re 5’7”, you should weigh XXX.” I mean, come on, people come in all shapes and sizes and trying to stick all people who are the same height into the same weight range is ridiculous.

So, sit back and enjoy the ride. I hope I do.