My Goals, Progress and My Life…

Story soon to come

I’m trying something different here for next couple weeks. I’m upping my workout routine little bit. I needed something major to get my WL back on track. I have been stuck in the same weight range, losing the same pounds over and over for the few months and it is frustrating the hell out of me. Even though overall I’ve lost 30lbs + since last summer it has been going real sloooow. I dream of losing at least 5 lbs a month. Exercise has always been my weakest point as I don’t like to workout but I know it is very necessary for any WL process and that it is for life. So I asked my hubby to help.

We have decided, after looking and comparing my WL data, that I need to workout more (and be more consistent) than what I’m already doing. My job is 100% sedentary and working out for 45-60 mins every day at my current rate (slow) is not going to cut it. So, now I do my treadmill in the wee hours of the morning (before I go to work) and evenings I’m alternating between strength training, abs and steps on different days. Believe me it’s not a whole lot even though it may seem like it. I’ve never reached or gone past 4 miles on tready. Sunday, I did 3.5 miles for the first time. I was amazed at myself. My goal is to do at least 5 miles on tready few days a week if not every day. I’ll get there eventually but it will take time . For now I’ll settle for 2-3 miles interval and endurance training on tready.

It’s only been 3 days since I started this regimen and I want to give it at least couple weeks to see if all of this makes a difference. The good thing is that I am sleeping better at least I think I am. I don’t seem to wake up in the middle of the night. And I am going to bed at around 10 pm which is new for me. So keep your fingers crossed for me please.

Have a wonderful OP day everyone.

I had to buy new shoes today. I currently own New Balance 859 that I bought last year in Fall. I’m getting blisters with these shoes every time I’m done working out on my treadmill just around where the support area of the shoe touches my feet (close to the arch). Also the insole that came with the shoe had a high side flap inside (I don’t know what the technical term is for it). It was rubbing against my feet. So, I ended up going to the shoe store to get fitted again. This time I went to a different running shoe store cuz I liked the people better here. Mike bought his shoes from this store last Fall. I was also told to wear non-cotton socks as cotton socks are not recommended for running and could make the blisters worse.

The shoe brands they made me try were Saucony, Brooks and Nike. I narrowed it down to Brooks and Nike. Saucony’s were too tight in the front. Finally, I decided to go with the Nike. Every time I put my feet in those shoes it felt so good. I have few days to try and see if these shoes feel better. Of course, I have to wait till my blister goes away. Just my luck…I start my workout routine and I get a blister. It was not fun trying shoes with my blister hurting. I went straight after my workout so my feet were probably still swollen which is good. I also ended up buying new socks - Zulu Performance socks - (For the warrior in us all - That’s what my socks say ).Talk about expensive socks ($15 for 3 pair). They are made in South Africa. I don’t know if they’re wick but the store folks recommended them. Plus they were cheaper than the wick socks which were $10/pair.

Here are the shoes I bought last night - Nike Air Equalon +3 size 8.5 medium width. I hope these don’t give me blisters. I normally wear shoe size 7.5 medium/regular width.

On another note - my elbow and wrist have been bothering me for a while and I finally went for a doc visit yesterday. He told me it’s tendonitis or tennis elbow but not the usual kind apparently as it’s more on my forearm. He wrote a prescription for physical therapy for me. My wrist, he said, nothing is wrong with it and that sometimes it happens. He told me to keep taking anti-inflammatory for a week or so 2-3 times a day and it should get better. And I can go about doing my normal day to day routine. Oh he also gave me a strap for my pain on my forearm.

Everything else is ok I guess

Laser Hair removal appointment: Oh I’m so excited to tell you guys that appointment went well. The treatment is not as horribly expensive as I thought it would be. After talking with Mike I’ve decided to go for it. I haven’t made the appointment yet but am thinking of doing it soon. Apparently, the type of laser used is based on your race, degree of sun burn/tan etc.. On my first day they will do a test spot and see how I react to the laser etc. The cost of treatment is per visit. So for my face (upper lip, chin, partial cheeks and maybe forehead) she said I might need 4-6 visits. She cannot give me a definite number as it depends. But she said my hair is baby fine so I don’t need too many. We shall see.

Weight loss: looking at the very gradual (read slow) weight loss I’ve been going thru since last year I decided to look at what is really going on a little more closely. I re-calculated my BMR and then calories/day I need to eat based on my activity level. It seems I may have been consuming less calories than I should be. It’s very hard to get past the mindset where thinking if I consume more I’ll get fat. I’ve been regularly working out but not consuming enough calories to balance out the workout. Hence, I feel my body might be going into starvation. I am not sure of this of course but I would like to test it out for few weeks.

These are the calculations of calories I came up with different activity levels. I feel I fall between these 2 levels. I normally workout 5-6 days per week.

For me to Lose:

(1) 1 lb/week @ light activity 1-3 days/week
Calories/day - 1598

(2) 1.5 lb/week @ light activity 1-3 days/week
Calories/day - 1348

(3) 1 lb/week @ Moderate activity 3-5 days/week
Calories/day - 1865

(4) 1.5 lb/week @ Moderate activity 3-5 days/week
Calories/day - 1680

So, for now, I’ve decided to stick with 1600 calories at 1 lb/week @ moderate activity level. I’ll be monitoring it for few weeks to see if I’m making better progress. If not, then I don’t know what I’ll be doing.

Tonight’s plan of action: I just finished with my workout. After this, I’m going to go shower and start prepping for my light din din. After I Eat my small dinner of salad and raw veggieswe’ll probably head out around for friend couple’s place for the party. I know there’s going to be cake so I know I’ll eat a small piece of it. I’ll try not to eat too much Mexican food. Drink Water!! TOM hit me today so it figures why I am starving all day despite eating good.

Saturday, we decided to not go out but to just chill and eat at home. I think I’ll enjoy that more.

Rest of the weekend still on course as of now .

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!

Nothing much is happening my side for the moment.

Before I begin I would like to say thank you girls . I’m not going with Nutrisystem. I don’t want this to be a quick fix but a permanent change. I just lose patience and focus. I guess I need reminders to not lose hope and be patient.

Weight loss process still continues and workouts are becoming more consistent. I need to do more cardio. Currently, I’m doing treadmill 3 days a week about 45-50 mins. But I feel I need to do it at least 5 days/week. The days I do my weights if I can at least squeeze in 20-30 mins of cardio I think it would be perfect. I didn’t workout yesterday cuz my foot was bothering me again. I feel better today so will do my workout when I go home. It’s weight training today and will definitely try to get 30 mins of tready done too.

My sensewear device has a hairline crack on the plastic near the metal sensors. I noticed it couple days ago. I was also having some weird issues with the device few weeks ago. It’s all cuz of the crack. I was aware that certain batches of SW developed these cracks on the plastic and if you were within warranty they would replace it free. Luckily for me I am. I called them up yesterday and they said I should get my new one by Thursday and once I do I can send the old one back to them with a prepaid box that they will send it to me. They have replaced the plastic manufacturer they used with earlier devices. Oh and I also renewed my subscription for their software for 1 year (about $10/month).

Thursday, I have a consultation appointment with the laser hair removal folks. They charge $25 just to consult . And if I decide to go for it they will adjust that fee in the cost of the treatment. Right now, I can’t stand to look in the mirror cuz of all the upper lip hair. Not to mention, I’m feeling very self conscious cuz of it. You know the feeling you get that everyone is noticing it even if they are not . I’m holding off on waxing cuz of this appointment. They didn’t say that I couldn’t wax but I thought it would help to get a better consultation. So, after I find out how much it will cost me just to get my upper lip done I will have to start saving money or start buying lottery tickets. Better yet, create a nice website for myself and ask for donations .

As for the weekend…This will be a long weekend for me. I’m off Monday for President’s day. My major task for this weekend is to cook, cook and cook.

Friday, we have to go to friend couple’s house for a party. One of their friend’s (we know them too) hubby’s 40th B’day surprise party. There will be plenty of mexican food which is what they decided to go with. Not a good sign for me. First, the party is past my usual meal time (8:30 pm). Second, its Mexican food which means loaded with calories. Third, I’m afraid I’ll gorge and gain tons of weight. I was talking with Mike and thinking of coming up ways to not gorge at the party. So this is what I came up with - I will feast on plenty of raw veggies at home and water. This way I won’t go hungry to the party and eat everything in sight. I don’t know how successful this plan will be but I’ll try my best.

Saturday is Valentine’s Day. We don’t have much planned for this day. We’ll go out for din din though. That’s about it. We don’t exchange gifts for Valentines except cards.

Sunday and Monday, basically prepping for the following week for breakfast and lunches. I’ll be busy cooking this entire weekend. I bought lots of vegetables yesterday so I could cook this weekend. I make lot of stuff ahead of time, portion it out and then freeze it. It helps me a lot cuz this way I don’t have to cook every day.

Hope you guys have a wonderful OP day

If I die soon please just assume my weight is in the 170s.

Are corpses weighed? Do they do it for the record? I don’t know, but surely, I feel that my current weight is going to be the death of me at some point. I am SO frustrated right now. I have been yo-yo-ing between the 170 - 174 lbs range for about  3 months now. Granted December does not count as I wasn’t really logging much. But January?? I have been really good. I started working out regularly last couple of weeks too. I cannot even lose 5 measly pounds in 1 month. How pathetic is that? What gives??

I broke down with anger, frustration and every freakin’ emotion this morning. I just want to give up! I don’t want to continue looking at numbers, logging meals, wonder if I’ll gain or lose weight if I eat this or that and then get mad or frustrated. I want to be free. I want to lose the fucking weight.

Sometimes, I envy my friend who went through WLS. Of course, I never say anything to her but its always there at the back of my mind. Her constant ‘oh I don’t eat much anymore’ or ‘Oh hubby and I went to eat at x restaurant and spent only $x cuz we only got 1 entree as I can’t eat much’ or something along those lines…gets to me on days like today. I’m not saying she doesn’t have to struggle, of course she has to on her own level but it’s not like me or anyone else constantly. And to top it all I recently found out that she’s getting a tummy tuck from the surgeon once she loses 9 lbs more. I was happy for her definitely but at the same time I could not help feel a little pang of envy. I definitely know part of me would never opt for WLS cuz not only is it invasive but for various reasons but then I know there’s a part of me who would have considered it. Now which part is stronger I don’t know. I don’t have to make the decision as I would have never been qualified even at my heaviest. I know Mike definitely was a big NO. So I guess he would have talked me out of it.

Mike told me not to keep looking at numbers and figure out the changes that happened last few weeks. I think he gets frustrated too as I keep whining about my weight gain. He told me that I need to figure out if I want to lose the weight first or change lifestyle? I’m like what that doesn’t go hand in hand? He thinks maybe I should try to go on NutriSystem or something similar where the food is controlled and easily trackable. So once I lose the weight I can continue with the lifestyle change after that. My Q is though what happens once I stop eating those meals? Will I gain it all back? He thinks I won’t cuz I’ll be more active once the weight comes off and changes can be made accordingly after I go off those meals. I don’t know? I’m not keen on nutrisystem or such cuz I’ve heard food sucks and not to mention the whole idea of losing weight is to also learn and make changes in life accordingly. Gah! why is everything so fucking complicated??

Maybe, I am feeling a bit pressured by my own doing of course. I have couple of trips planned this year and I want to look good dammit!!! And not some fugly fat ass. Ugh!

Oh fuck, let me go workout! I might as well go put this frustration to good use.

Changes in last few weeks that I can remember:
- Started working out regularly 6 days/week (cardio and wt training alternately)
- Switched to sugar in coffee (I am still taking some splenda which is in the syrup I add to coffee)
- Added roasted unsalted nuts to diet
- Switched to eating only B/L/D. Sometimes afternoon snack. Last year I ate B/S/L/S/D.

Sorry I’ve been MIA here. I don’t know what’s going on but it seems I’ve run out of steam. I blame the weather.

Saturday, we had to go to a bingo fund raising event hosted by Mike’s friend. The fund raise was for his basketball team that he coaches. There were lots of parents, kids and their families all playing bingo. Lots of folks it seemed were seasoned bingo players. I’ve never played bingo before. It was an interesting evening. I invited our one and only friend couple . Oh it was fun. And we were all playing for several Vera Bradley purses which were stuffed with some other prizes like books, cosmetics, hair care products etc. IMO Vera Bradley purses are one of the ugliest purses I’ve ever seen .

Lots of cheap, unhealthy food - pizza, nachos, hot dogs, chili, cake, cheap coffee, soda & water. What else did you expect? I had 2 slices of pizza and split a piece of velvet cake with hubby. They also had very small baggies of carrots and celery with dip for sale. I had a bag of that too. Hello, sodium bloat the next day. Despite eating all that I was only a tad over my calories/day. I’d already expected that so I ate well on Sunday i.e., until my hubby dear decided he wanted some cheese/salsa dip with blue corn chips. I’m usually good when he does that, eat few chips (that I put on a plate) and that’s about it. But yesterday I shouldn’t have eaten that cuz I was already suffering from sodium bloat…add to that the bloat from the chips and dip. Not to mention last night’s dinner was soup (Cuban Black Bean Bisque) which was also not low on sodium. So, there’s a sodium festival going on in mah body. I drank lots of water yesterday trying to flush out some of the salt but I guess the water just decided to stay and have its own fun with the salt. Hello, weight gain!!! I did have a WTF moment this morning cuz I wasn’t expecting this much gain .

I’ve been yo yo-ing in this weight range for about 2 months now and I am SO frustrated. I feel defeated for some reason even though it’s silly to think this way. I’m still struggling with cardio due to health issues but I’m doing my strength training. I’m hoping this week brings in the new range for me. Actually, I’m going to make sure it does. And you guys make sure I stay OP.

Have a wonderful and OP day everyone

This is Vegan
And it almost became non vegan. I’m very accident prone in the kitchen. I scratched my finger with the julienne peeler. Luckily there was no blood and the skin was intact phew! I did burn my arm though while frying the tofu.

Total Calories = 1120

Ingredients:
- Extra Firm Tofu = 336 g
- Fresh Ginger = 3 TB
- Minced Garlic = 1 tsp
- Carrots = 84 g
- Broccoli Florets = 340 g
- Baby Bella Mushroom Sliced = 8 oz
- Bell Pepper = 126 g
- Red Onion sliced = 244 g
- Endamame = 1/4 cup
- Lite Soy Sauce = 1 TB (marinade) + 2.5 TB
- Lite Teriyaki Sauce = 1 TB
- Sesame Oil = 1 TB
- Chili peppers in Soybean Sauce = 1/2 tsp (marinade) + 2 tsp
- Whole dry Red Chili Peppers = 2
- EVOO = 1/2 TB
- Smart Balance Butter = 1/2 TB

Method:
- Drain the tofu wrapped in a towel with a heavy object on top of it. I drained mine for about 2 hours. But less works too.
- Cube the tofu and marinate it for about 15-20 mins with soy sauce and chili pepper in soybean oil.
- Heat EVOO in a stir fry pan on medium and pan fry the tofu. Once done take it out of the pan.
- Add the butter to the same pan and add whole chili pepper, garlic and ginger. Stir fry till fragrant (about 30 secs).
- To the pan add onions, stir for few mins and then add carrots and endamame. Stir fry for few mins till translucent. Then add rest of the veggies and stir fry till cooked down. Once the veggies are done add the tofu and mix well.
- Now add all the sauces and stir fry till sauce coats the veggies well. Now add the sesame oil, stir fry for about a minute and you are done .
- I usually let it sit for 15 mins or so before serving.

Marinated tofu

Pan Fried Tofu

Tofu Stir Fry (sorry my veggies got little over cooked)

Ingredients:
- Kai-Lan = 2 bunches (sorry I forgot to weigh it)
- Lite Soy Sauce = 2 TB (or to taste)
- Baking soda = 1/2 tsp (optional)
- Fresh Ginger = 2 TB
- Minced Garlic = 1 TB
- Sesame Oil = 2 tsp
- EVOO = 1 TB
- Crushed Red Pepper = 1/2 tsp
- Lite Teriyaki Sauce = 1 tsp (or to taste)
- Chili Pepper in Soybean oil = 1/2 to 1 tsp (Optional)

Method:

- Wash and blanch the Chinese broccoli. Add baking soda to the water. I blanched them for about 2 mins till crisp tender.
- After the blanch, cut off about 1 inch of the bottom stems that are too thick. Then cut the rest in bite size pieces leaving the leaves whole.
- Heat pan on medium to medium high heat and add EVOO. Add the garlic, ginger, pepper and stir for few mins till fragrant. Add the greens and stir fry for couple mins till all is mixed well.
- Add Soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and Chili Pepper (if using) to the greens and stir again. Stir fry the greens till sauce is lessened. Now would be a good time to taste test to make sure it tastes good.
- Add the sesame oil to the greens, stir for couple mins and serve.

***** Notes *****
I used less crushed red pepper cuz I added the chili pepper in soybean oil. It’s a must if you like any Asian food hot. I found it at a Korean/Asian store and it is worth every penny for me. Chili pepper in soybean oil is Vegan as all it has is - crushed red Chili pepper, garlic and soy bean oil.

I threw away too much stem and I regret it. The stems are really good. I adjusted the recipe accordingly. So 1 inch at the end to chop off is good. I wouldn’t do more.

It tastes sort of like broccoli and asparagus combined.

Baking soda helps keeps the green color intact. Ratio is roughly 1/4 tsp per 4 cups of water.

EVOO - mine is infused with garlic and whole dried red chili pepper. You can use plain too.

Oh once cooked let it sit in a bowl for at least 10 - 15 mins before you eat. It tastes better that way IMO.

My Asian grocery store had it bunched up. So I picked 2 bunches.

We had these greens with veggie stir fried noodles - mushrooms, onion, endamame, green bell pepper and the same rest of the ingredients for these noodles as listed above.

Chili Pepper in Soybean Oil (Vegan)

Raw & Washed Kai-Lan

Blanched Kai-Lan

Cooked…It may not look the greatest but it tastes good

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas and Hanukkah . We had an uneventful but good Christmas this year.

Christmas Eve was spent with Mike’s side of the family. It was a potluck dinner with family and opening presents with niece and nephews and other kids. Despite telling everyone couple years ago we don’t want gifts or no adult gift exchange my SIL still ended up getting us something. I feel very guilty when someone gets us gifts and we did not buy them anything. If somebody tells me no gifts I won’t bring gifts that’s how I am. I guess some people don’t listen. Yes it was nice of her but it kind of puts me or rather us in an awkward position. Granted it wasn’t anything too pricey but the fact that she bought us something just made it weird for us. Oh well, next year we’ll have to repeat - NO GIFTS - to everyone again.

Christmas Day was spent with very good friends who invited us for dinner. As previously mentioned I’m not much of a drinker but I’m always curious to try something new. We bought our host some nice Whiskey (not my fav) and I had to try a shot of it to see how good it was. Well, after 2 mins of taking the shot my whole face was flushed and I was more than a little buzzed for most of the night. (Basically I would have felt no pain). When that wasn’t enough she had a good bottle of Vodka so I had to try a shot of that as well and what do you know I spent most of the night sitting down in one chair feeling mellow . Oh I did drink 1 glass of Whiskey Sour for the entire night. Oh did I mention WS is my new fav drink. Yes, I’m a cheap date!

We opened our presents Christmas Eve night when we got home. I really got nice stuff this year. One of my presents was a nice surprise. We do lists in our house cuz this way you can pick and choose the gifts you want to buy for the other person. I know it takes away the fun but believe me you need lists when it comes to certain folks, otherwise, you’ll get gifts like USB snowman and USB Christmas tree for Christmas . Yes I got those as presents couple years ago. Anyhoo, lists work for us.

I got an iPod Touch, nice watch, wireless headphones (which might be going back as slightly big for me), couple gift cards. I was thinking of getting a pda but wasn’t sure if I would put it to full use. But it seems pda is out the doors now that newer technologies are emerging. I’m a gadget person and this is just perfect. I’m so in love with my iPod Touch. I live by my calendar and this just makes it so convenient. So my iPod Touch was the surprise I wasn’t expecting.

Well, this is my last blog entry for 2008. This year went by too fast for me. Lots of things happened. I made many new friends, Mike and I decided to follow a path of better healthier us which we hope to to follow for the rest of our lives, my cousin got married, we completed 3 married years and have known each other 5 and many more things…

Hope all of you have a wonderful and Happy New Year.

Closeup of the watch:

I’ve been a baaaad blogger and friend and I apologize for that.

I’ve been a little sick for the last few days and it’s just not been fun. I had to take off Friday as I felt horrible and my throat was just killing me. I could not swallow even my spit as it hurt like a mofo to swallow. I guessed it was tonsillitis as I recognized the symptoms. I had it twice as a kid. I wanted to make sure it wasn’t strep as the symptoms are very similar since they’re both caused by the Streptococcus. So had to make a rush phone call to my doctor (I could barely talk cuz my throat was hoarse) and I was hoping she would be able to see me as she’s always busy. After the initial check up she gave me some pills and took a culture. I had a follow up check up with my doctor yesterday and she told me that my culture came back negative and I don’t have strep. Woohoo! While the swallowing part is normal for now I’m just left with a cough and a slight cold.

I’ve also not been counting my calories every single day for little over a week now. I’ve been see-sawing within my current weight. I lost some lbs last week but I haven’t kept it off. I weigh what I was 2 weeks ago. It’s possible the slight weight gain is cuz of TOM but who am I kidding? I can’t blame every weight gain on TOM.

Exercise is also off for now. I did run on my tready 2 weeks ago and felt good but then I stopped again. I can’t pin point what it is but something is off with me and I so desperately want to figure out what. I definitely want to lose all the weight as consistently as possible but somehow I’m having the hardest time at the moment. I know what I have to do but trying to find my mojo is just getting to me.

I hope once these holidays are over I’ll be back on track. I have to. No ifs or buts!!

On an awesome note, I went to see 3 Doors Down concert last Thursday at the Patriot Center in VA. It was so much fun. I love 3DD and to see them perform live for the first time was beyond wonderful. There were 2 other bands who performed before them - American Bang and Switchfoot. American Bang were noisy and I was really hoping they would go away soon. Switchfoot were eh but a whole lot better than AB. I’ve heard Switchfoot songs on the radio. But the star of the night were 3DD of course <3 no question there.

Happy Holidays

Please forgive our grease monkey looks. We went to the concert straight from work

Original Recipe here - By Alton Brown
Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies

Ingredients:
2 sticks unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups Dark brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Hardware:
- Ice cream scooper
- Parchment paper
- Baking sheets
- Mixer

What we used or subbed:
- Real organic large Eggs
- Smart balance butter
- Toll house chocolate chips
- 1% Milk
- Light brown sugar (I didn’t have dark brown)
- King Arthur Unbleached bread flour
- 2 Tablespoon for scooping the cookie dough out
- Kitchen aid Stand Mixer

Method
- Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Melt the butter in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over low heat. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.
- Pour the melted butter in the mixer’s work bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar. Cream the butter and sugars on medium speed. Add the egg, yolk, 2 tablespoons milk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined.
- Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Chill the dough until firm (for about 30 min to 1 hour).
- Then scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets, 6 cookies per sheet. Bake for 14 minutes or until golden brown, checking the cookies after 5 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet for even browning.
- Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

*** Make sure you chill the dough between batches of cookies.***

Chocolate Chip cookies ready to be baked: