Sistah Pat

Okay, so I weighed myself this morning and I’m at 187.  That’s okay.  I knew the three pound loss I showed yesterday wasn’t going to stay for long.  I’ll entertain my old friend 187 today but I don’t want him to stick around.  I’m ready to have a friendly little visit with 185 and hope to see him again real soon.  I’ve done everything I can to make him want to visit.  Sticking to my plan, counting calories, working out, and being positive.

I’ve got a couple of goals for today. I need to find a spreadsheet for body measurements and take all the horrendous measurements so I can chart my progress. Wonder if the tape measure will fit around me… I also want to get my weights organized. I know where a couple of them are but I have no idea where to find the others. I want to find them and get them upstairs by my treadmill. I also want to dig up some of my old workout DVDs and find one that has a good upper body weight training and a lower body training. Getting organized is half the battle.

My poor bike is still out of commission. When Andrew broke the chain 2 weeks ago, I told Donnie to just take it up to the bike shop and have them put another one on it. He said that was just wasting money…he could replace it for me. I looked at K-Mart and Meier and they didn’t have chains. A few days later, I tried Target and they didn’t have them either. Finally, I found one at Walmart. They only had one universal chain but the guy in sporting goods told me it would fit so I finally got a new chain. A couple days later, Donnie went to put it on my bike and found out he needed a special tool. He called my son, David, who said he had one but he’d have to look for it. A couple more days passed and he told me he’d found it and would bring it over. He finally brought it over this morning and Donnie went to put the new chain on and found that’s it’s at least 20 inches too short. I called Dick’s sporting goods to see if they knew and carried the kind that I needed and they said they could sell me the chain or just go ahead and install it for $8.00. Donnie is now on the way to Walmart to return the chain that doesn’t fit and then he’s going over to Dick’s to have them put a new one on. Hello! Weren’t we here two weeks ago?

12:15 - Why is this so difficult?  I figured I’d do a google search to find a template for recording body measurements over time but I can’t find anything.  Anyone got any suggestions?

4:15 - I’ve made a conscious decision not to work out today.  My back was hurting when I got up this morning and it’s gotten worse as the day progresses.  Alleve and aspirin didn’t help.  I thought I’d sit in the spa for a few minutes and discovered that the rugrat grandkids turned the temperature all the way down when they were outside yesterday so it will take hours to heat back up.  Instead, I think I’ll go to my soaker tub and try a hot bath.  If it still doesn’t improve, I’ll dig up an old pain pill from somewhere.

Breakfast
Kashi Go Lean (180)
Soymilk (35)

Snack
Rice Cakes (90)

Dinner
Ginger Grilled Pork Chops (400)
Herbed Potato Salad (150)
Baked Apples (150)
Strawberry Tart (60)

Snack
Strawberrys (40)

Total 1105

Sista Pat’s Faux Tortilla Soup

1 T. canola oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 fresh jalapeno pepper, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 t. ground cumin
5 cups chicken broth
1 ½ lb. diced, boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
2 cups Chi Chi’s original salsa (I like Chi Chi’s but you can use any salsa)
 

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add onion and jalapeno; cook, stirring often, until vegetables are tender (5 min).  Stir in garlic and chicken and cook until chicken is no longer pink, about 3 minutes.  Add cumin and cook 30 seconds more.

Add broth, increase heat to high, and bring to a rapid simmer.   Stir in salsa, bring back to a simmer, season with salt and pepper to taste and serve hot.  Makes 4 - 2 ½ cup servings

Cals, 320;  8 g. fat, 2 g. dietary fiber.

I always preheat the oven to 350 and spray a cookie sheet with Pam.  I cut a whole wheat tortilla into strips about 1/4 inch wide and 2 inches long and spread them on the cookie sheet.  Spray the tops with Pam and bake for a few minutes until crisp.  Sprinkle a few of these on the soup.

What makes this special?

• It’s another one of those flexible soups that you can do all kinds of things with.  Add roasted red peppers, cilantro, fresh lime slices, green chilies, fat free sour cream, baked whole wheat tortilla strips.  None of these really increase the calories very much.
• It’s barely over 300 calories for 2 ½ cups!
• For a family dinner,it works great with a baked tortilla with melted low fat cheese and jalapenos.
• My family will eat it.

Lemon Linguine (This a great recipe that I’ve had for years.  It’s from Cooking Light.  It comes in handy when I get to really missing carbs)

6 oz. linguine
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 Tablespoons skim milk
1 Tablespoon margarine
1/8 teaspoon
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
lemon twists for garnish

Cook linguine in a large dutch oven according to package directions.  Drain and place in serving bowl;  toss with lemon juice and set aside to keep warm.

Combine milk, margarine, and salt in a small saucepan;  cook over low heat until margarine melts.  Add warm milk to linguine in serving bowl. Sprinkle linguine with Parmesan cheese and toss well.  Garnish with fresh parsley and lemon twists.  6 servings  (142 calories per serving)

I think I might do a little work on this recipe to reflect some updating.  I might try to do it with soymilk, whole wheat linguini and Brummel and Brown Yogurt spread.

Wow!  Weighed myself this morning and it shows a loss of three more pounds!  I’m at 185 which is my goal for May 15 so I’m a couple of weeks ahead of schedule.  Of course, knowing how this goes, I’ll probably flucuate for a few days.  So…I’m going to try to find my weights and a toning video I have so I can alternate upper body training and lower body training and try to start building up a little muscle again.

It’s Derby Day today!  Donnie worked an 18 hour day yesterday and he’ll probably work about the same today.  He had to be there at 6:00 this morning and last year he got home at midnight.  Yesterday afternoon it started raining and it rained buckets all night.  I’m sure the ladies at the Oakes got drenched and I feel sorry for all the Derby fans because it’s going to be a muddy race.  Me, I’m running my own little race and working hard to train for it.

12:30 - Working on the week’s menu.  Think I’ll go ahead and paste a couple of these dishes on here if anyone wants to give them a try.

3:30 - I’m going crazy.  Five grandkids are running around the house.  Three of them under 8 and they’re wild today.  I got tired of all the noise and banished them to the backyard.  Ten minutes later, they have the hose on, they’re all dripping wet and covered in mud.  Now, they’re banished to the living room to watch cartoons.  Why do kids have such shrill voices???

On a brighter note, I finished my menu for the week and went to make out the grocery list when I had a “duh” moment.  Last week, I made out the menu and saved it on my laptop and then made a grocery list of what I needed at the store.  Now, I have that menu but I’d have to make out another grocery list if I decide to use it again.  This time, I wrote down everything I needed for every single meal in a spreadsheet and left an open column to check off what I already have.  That way, if I decide to use this week’s menu again, I already know every single thing I’m going to need and can just go down the list and check off what I already have and pick up everything else at the store.  Cool!  If I can do this for a couple more weeks, I’ll have a real simple way to pull up a good healthy menu for the week and not have to make out a grocery list.

11:15 - Went upstairs and walked on the treadmill for an hour.  Burned off 350 calories.  It wasn’t grueling but it was rough.  Now my ankles are kind of painful so I’m going to finish up my blog, go outside, and sit in the spa for a few minutes before I go to bed.

Fixed my fake tortilla soup for dinner.  Thought I’d have some leftovers for lunch tomorrow but everybody ate it up.  Maybe I’ll go ahead and copy the recipe in here.  It’s pretty good stuff.

Headin to the spa…wish I could have a glass of wine.

Breakfast
Kashi Go Lean Crunch (180)
Silk Light Soymilk (35)

Dinner
Two bowls Tortilla Soup (500)
Whole Wheat Tortilla with fat-free cheddar (150)

Snack
Chocolate Mint Rice Cake Snacks (90)

Total 965

Breakfast
Egg White Omelet at Wild Eggs (found one online that looks comparable so I’ll add an extra 50 calories to be on the safe side) 200
Fresh Fruit Medley (75)

Dinner
2 cups Lentil soup (250)
2 slices Light Whole Grain Bread (70)
6 slices deli Roast Beef (70)
1 slice Fat Free Cheese (25)
Strawberry Tart (60)

Snack
Mini Rice Cakes (180)

Total 930

Today is a bonus day.  Off work, nothing driving me to distraction, just an easy morning for me and my coffee.  At least for the moment.  I’m meeting Sistah Pam at 9:00 and it’s 8:15.  We’re meeting at “Wild Eggs” for breakfast.  I haven’t been there before but she assures me they have a selection of egg white omelets that are healthy.

Morning checkup–Got two legs, two arms, my butt’s behind me (is it lower than yesterday or is that my imagination?), weighing in at 188, ankles are feeling good.  No excessive pain or swelling to show for yesterday’s workout.  Today looks like a go!

11:00 a.m. - Boy, am I stoked!  Way too much coffee.  Chatting with Pam and gulping coffee and I’m totally wired.  Wild Eggs was okay but I would have liked to see some nutritional  info on the menu.  I had an egg white omelet with Cheddar Jack cheese, tomatoes, green peppers, and mushrooms and a fresh fruit medley.  I don’t know how many calories were in the omelet so I’ll have to give it my best guess but I passed up the home fries, grits, and muffin that were included and asked that it be prepared with egg whites so I guess I did okay.

I’ve been up and about for three hours and my ankles are fine.  Looks like I need to toss three pair of expensive (at least $150 each) athletic shoes and a $300 pair of orthotic inserts and dig through the closet to find all my cheap, ratty athletic shoes for working out.

Sistah Pam and I compared notes.  Gotta bring her back on board.  Last week’s illness really knocked her back a few paces but she’s better now and ready to go again.  We talked about setting up days when we can meet at the gym and I talked about starting to workout with weights and doing some muscle strenthening exercises.  The last five years have been devastating on my body and it’s going to take a lot of work to get back up to speed.  I’m not going to rush it or even try to figure out long-term goals right now.  I just want to try to deal with a couple of months at a time.  For now, I want to keep losing about five pounds every couple of weeks and concentrate on cardio and some toning.  Vacation is looming and I’m keeping my thoughts directed at meeting my goals for that.

What is my main short-term goal?  Hiking to Lower Calf Creek Falls in Escalante National Monument.  We have a nice motorcoach (hubby doesn’t like for me to call it an RV.  We used to have an RV, now we have a motorcoach.) and are taking a 7,000 mile trek in it this summer.  We’ve done this loop a couple of times before but the grandkids have never been out west so we’re taking Andrew and Steven (17 year old twins) with us.  Visiting places like Arches, Devils Tower, Great Basin, Mt. Zion, Escalante, Vegas, Petrified Forest, Mexico, etc. in the summer can be difficult and hiking can be grueling in some of these places.  The last time we went, I was just beginning to have ankle problems and the hiking was kind of rough on me.  I know I have a long way to go and will never get back to where I used to be but I’m determined to hike the Lower Calf Creek Falls with the boys.  Last time we did it, it was 110 degrees and walking in the sand was really demanding.  The reward comes at the end of the hike when you come to a beautiful, crystal-clear pool at the bottom of a waterfall with a sand bottom and ice cold water. Find out more about the trail here.   Right now, all I want to do is complete that hike.  According to my time-table, this should happen on June 28.  That means I have almost two months to make it happen.  In two months, I want to be down another 20 pounds and able to walk four miles without pain.  That’s my goal and that’s where I’m going.

For the moment, however, the house is a mess and I need to start cleaning.  Ever tried to live with four men?  Believe me, Ladies, it ain’t pretty.

2:30 - Cleaned the refrigerator, got the kitchen halfway clean, cleaned the bathroom, workin on the bedroom…did I say this was a day off?

5:30 - I’m exhausted.  Got too involved with cleaning and it got away from me.  I had all this stuff out on the counters, trying to clean out some cabinets, 3 loads of laundry going at once, and tons of stuff pulled out of the bedroom closet when it hit me.  Thought I was going to drop!  Haven’t eaten for 8 hours, my back is killing me, and I’m staring at all the mess.  I had to throw all the stuff back in the closet, throw stuff back in the cabinets, fold the laundry and put it away and collapse.  Now…do I have any food?  Do I want to see what I can scarf up or go to Applebees for carry out salad or go to the store?

8:30 - I almost fell off the wagon but managed to pull myself back up.  I came across a package of dehydrated brown lentil soup when I was cleaning out the cabinets today and decided to throw it in a pan because it had to simmer for 1 1/2 hours. I grabbed a bowl of it (pretty crappy if you really want to know but full of protein) and ate a light sandwich and treated myself to one of my strawberry tarts.  I felt pretty good about my meal since it would have been a lot easier to grab a Lean Cuisine and felt like I’d earned an evening relaxing in front of the TV.  Propped myself up and was consumed by guilt for 15 minutes until I finally gave up and headed upstairs to the treadmill.  I didn’t reach the point that I did last night but I managed to hang in there for an hour at 3 mph and gradually raise the incline to 10% before  I started back down.  I wish I had as much fun as I did last night but I did manage to burn up 300 calories and work up a good sweat.  Now I’m going to relax in front of the TV.  I’ve earned it.

Thank God it’s Thursday!  This is Derby week here in the Bluegrass state and we’re off tomorrow so everyone can begin the revelries. 

I weighed in at 189 this morning which feels pretty gray at the moment.  I haven’t lost back to where I was a couple of days ago but I have gotten closer and I haven’t gained.  Everybody here at work loves the strawberry tarts and I was thinking how easy it would be to make peach or lemon.  Maybe I’ll play around with that this weekend. 

It feels weird to have turned down all the Derby parties this year but I really don’t want to be around all the food and booze.  I’d be so mad at myself if I blew it.  Better to stay home and play around in the kitchen with developing some new low fat, low cal recipes.

4:30…Finally home from work but getting depressed.  Why is everyone making it so difficult for me to get to the gym?  Water aerobics starts at 5:30 and the boys have CAP tonight.  I came home to find that Darryl had to go to Canada so he can’t take them.  Then I have Steven call his mother to see if she can take them but she said she has to be at work at 5:00.  Then I thought maybe I could run up to the gym at 5:00 and workout from 5:30 to 6:30, skip the shower and rush home to have the boys at CAP by 7:00.  I mentioned this to Steven and he said, “Mom said she was bringing Holly over for Andrew and I to watch from 5:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.  Tina knows that Andrew and Steven do not watch Holly.  I have to watch Holly.  On top of that, she knows that Andrew and Steven have Civil Air Patrol until 9:00 and they won’t even be here.

I love all my grandkids with all my heart and I will be there to see that they get what they need but I get so tired of wrecking my schedule to accommodate everyone else’s.  Get a babysitter!  Pay for one like the rest of us had to do!  Darryl just picks up and heads out of town whenever work calls and doesn’t even think about what’s going to happen with the boys or Holly when he’s gone, Tina pulls this crap about the boys watching Holly which means she comes to my house (since Andrew and Steven have now lived here for four years) and just drops her off when she knows they’re not the ones who wind up watching her.  Am I ever going to be done with raising kids?

8:33 - Don’t have much time because I have to pick up the boys but I feel so good!  I had the best workout I’ve had in years.  I don’t know what happened but I hit the zone and I haven’t been there in a long, long time.  I could have gone all night.  Had the incline up to 10% for 15 minutes at 3 mph.  I know that doesn’t sound like I’m movin very fast but jogging and running are not options anymore so I have to jazz it up with the incline.  I worked for 45 minutes and the treadmill says I worked off 350 calories.  Not that I trust those computerized jobbies a lot but it does have my height and weight calculated in and keeps track of my pulse while I’m using it.  Gotta go…I’m runnin late!

Breakfast
3/4 cup Kashi Go Lean (150)
1/2 cup Silk Light (40)

Lunch
2 slices Lite Whole Grain Bread (70)
6 slices deli ham (60)
lettuce
1 pkg cheddar flavored rice cakes (90)
2 Strawberry Tarts (120)

Dinner
Roasted Chicken (200)
Roasted Red Pepper with fat free mozzarella (100)
Baked Potato Wedges (100)

Snack
2 slices Lite whole grain bread (70)
6 slices deli turkey (60)

Total 1060