It's the start of a new week!

Good Afternoon everyone!  Happy Tuesday!

Last night at my WW meeting I was up almost everything that I lost last week...whomp whomp.  I mustn't dwell on that though.  It's a new week...time to focus on that.  I also won the weekly raffle again (2nd week in a row.)  I am using that as a sign that I need to get my butt in gear.  I have been having conflicted thoughts on how I want to continue with my WLJ.  I feel like I need the structure of a program like WW but I also don't want to be counting points the rest of my life.  I am halfway through reading Intuitive Eating and feel that it may be a better approach but I also have some big life changes coming up and I am just not sure if I can follow it right now.

So for now I can just focus on doing the best that I can.  I barely exercised last week and that definitely needs to change this week.  Also, at the meeting last night we talked about Good Health Guidelines.  For those reading that haven't been on WW the GHGs are:

Get in daily - 2 tsp of healthy (pourable) oil (olive, canola, safflower, flaxseed or sunflower)
                   - at least 5-9 servings of fruits and veggies
                   - choose whole grains when possible
                   - at least 2 servings of dairy
                   - 1 or 2 servings of lean protein
                   - drink at least 6 (8oz) glasses of water
                   - take a multi-vitamin
                   - limit sugar and alcohol

I feel that these are good general ideas to follow regardless of trying to lose weight or not.  Focusing on hitting these most days will help you achieve a good over-all well-balanced diet.

The challenge this week, is to take the one we find most difficult and aim to get it in 5 of the 7 days this week.  For me, that would be dairy.  I drink chocolate milk most days after spin or the gym and put cheese on whatever I can but I doubt that I hit 2 servings daily.  A serving of cheese is 1.5 oz and quite frankly that adds up point wise and I would rather use those points on something else.  I also am not a huge yogurt fan so that makes it slightly more difficult.  That being said, I did have yogurt with fruit and granola for breakfast today and it wasn't horrible.  Eating it that way may be growing on me but I still don't think it thrills me as a snack.

Question of the Day- In general, do you feel that you hit most of these guidelines?

Formaggio Friday!!!

Hello there!  Welcome to today's edition of Formaggio Friday!

Queso Seco is a type of mexican cheese similar to pot cheese.  It is made when Queso Blanco is pressed and more of the water is removed.

According to the Wisconsin Cheese board it is similar to parmesan.  I felt that it was more similar to feta.  It is a dry, hard, white cheese.  Also, it is very very salty.

The price of this cheese I would say is in the middle range.  I believe this package was $6.99 for slightly less than a pound.

Queso Seco

The first recipe I used it on was a greek-style spaghetti squash (I either couldn't find or didn't buy feta).  It was ok.

We had originally bought it for this Chili-Glazed Shrimp with Tomatillo Cilantro Sauce recipe.  Now, I usually don't put cheese on seafood but we were looking for a recipe for tomatillos and found this on epicurious.  We figured we would give it a try and were very glad that we did.  The saltiness of the Queso Seco balanced out with the tomatillos nicely.

Nate was very proud of this dish...and it was the first time he has ever finished shrimp before I did.

I think that I will probably make a mexican style salad with black beans, corn and salsa to use up the rest of the cheese.  Yum!

-Questions of the day- 

Have you ever tried Queso Seco?

How do you feel about cheese on seafood?

Have a great weekend everyone!

WIAW: What I ate Wednesday!

Good morning!

In case you haven't heard of WIAW, it was started by other bloggers and Jenn over at peas and crayons links up all the blogs participating.  Head on over there to check out all the eats.

I had a pretty good day and actually took pictures of (mostly) everything I ate yesterday.  Going forward you can expect a weekly post participating in this!

I have been trying to eat more fruits and veggies so I started the day with a bowl of fruit parfait.

In the mix: greek yogurt, pineapple, cantaloupe, mango, kiwi and vanilla almond granola.

Truth be told I am not a huge fan of yogurt. Ninety-nine percent of the time we buy it the majority of the tub gets thrown out which is such a waste of food and money.  I can tolerate greek yogurt but I don't usually eat it.  In an effort to eat better (and get more calcium) I decided to give this breakfast a try.  I will do it again but probably would not eat it all week.  I also tried a cold brewed coffee that I picked up at Whole Foods.  It was pretty good and I think its a great way to make iced coffee.  I may have to try to brew my own this summer.

Lunch!

Curried butternut squash soup, 1/2 bacon and tomato sandwich & fruit salad

Monday morning I spent roughly a little more than an hour cutting fruit for the parfaits and also a huge fruit salad.  This mix was watermelon, cantaloupe, pineapple and grapes.  I had some leftover turkey bacon and bread so I decided to make a 1/2 sandwich to go with the soup.

Around 3pm, I decided to get off my butt and go to the gym.  On Saturday I ran my first 5K (38:57 yay.)  Now I am moving on to the training for a 10K I am hoping to run in June.  I completed W9D1 and burned major calories!

When I got home I didn't want to cook so I had a mishmash of stuff from the fridge for dinner.

Turkey pepperoni, 2% cheddar cheese, homemade potato salad, mexican inspired cole slaw and chocolate milk

Probably wasn't the best dinner choice but I had to head out the door to a workshop so I needed something quick.

During the workshop, I had an Argo Tea (Hibiscus flavor) and when I got home I had some air popped popcorn with a drizzle of tuscan herb olive oil.  Unfortunately, I forgot pictures but the tea was pretty good and the popcorn is one of my favorite snacks.

Well that's my eats for the day...Did you have anything good to eat lately and if so what was it?

What I have learned...

...since starting this blog.

There are a few things I have learned.

1)  I am not good at taking pictures of my food before I eat it.  If something is exceptionally delicious and looks fantastic, that happens to be from a restaurant or take out, such as this

(pizza from Otto in Harvard Sq)

or if Nate cooks homemade english muffins or an amazing dinner, such as these

then they usually get pictures.  Every day food that I eat for breakfast or lunch on a regular basis will be half gone before I remember to snap a photo.

2)  Part of the reason that I started this blog was to give me some accountability for my WLJ (weight loss journey.)  It hasn't done so so far and I acknowledge that it is my fault.  I don't track or I fall off the wagon and thats it...I just don't post for awhile.  Maybe I just don't know what to say or maybe I am just too embarrassed to yet again say that I messed up.  I have restarted this journey so many times now and something comes along that throws me off track or I have a day that I just don't really care and eat whatever I want and not track.  I know tracking works.  I've done it before...and yet I just can't quite seem to make it routine.

3)  I really should make my own recipes or concoctions to post on here (or post Nate's seeing as he is the better chef than I.)  Cooking together was something we did quite a lot when we started dating and we have since drifted away from that and I miss it.

And lastly, I should not worry about my writing ability or not having anything to say.  I know that many others are on similar WLJs and if anything I post can help make their journey easier then that is great.  I read others blogs for ideas and inspiration and hopefully what I post can so the same for others.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Formaggio Friday!

Hello all!

Welcome to the first installment of Formaggio Friday!

As you can tell from the title of this blog...I love cheese.  Goat cheese, feta cheese, cheddar cheese, american cheese, mozzarella, parmesan...I have yet to meet a cheese I don't like.  It is my favorite food and I usually eat it in some form every day.

Every Friday I will feature a new cheese.  Today is Red Dragon's Mustard Cheese.

I picked this up at Whole Foods the other week.  Have you ever been to their cheese department?  Yes they have a whole department just for cheese!

After browsing the counter, I decided upon this Welsh cheddar cheese with mustard seeds and Welsh ale and I can tell you that it was indeed a wise choice.  It is smooth, creamy and buttery with a pop of spicy mustard.

Growing up I was never a huge fan of mustard.  I was always one to just use ketchup and skip the mustard.  This cheese was quite delicious though.  Nate and I just ate it by itself but we immediately thought how good it would be on a grilled cheese.  It is soft enough that it would probably melt really well and the buttery taste would be great on grilled bread.  Throw in some deli ham and you would have one hell of a sandwich.  In fact, I think that is exactly what I will be doing when I pick up some more of the cheese (which I certainly will be doing.)

That's all for today...Happy Pi Day!

It's the start of a new week!

Hello hello...

It's Monday and that means its the start of a new week.  Last week I didn't post but I definitely worked my butt off earning activity points.  I got 42 for the week.  42!  I haven't ever earned that many in one week and guess what...It paid off.  I was down 2lbs at my weigh-in tonight!  I am officially in the 160's again.

At the meeting tonight we committed to one activity goal for the month of March and joined a group with others that have the same goal.  My goal is to stay on track with my 5K training.  I signed up for two 5Ks recently.  The first is at the end of April and the second at the end of May.  I have never run a 5K before and am hoping I can make it to the end still running.  We shall see.  I am currently doing the couch to 5K (C25K) program now.  Anyway, our group will check-in with each other and keep each other on track and accountable.

On to today's eats and activity...

The morning started off with a sausage and stuffing brunch bake curtesy of emilybites, blackberries, and a cup of coffee.  I made a few modifications due to lacking some ingredients but it was delicious still.

A bit after breakfast it was time to head to spin.  I go to The Handle Bar in South Boston.  Its a great studio and I am glad I found it.  I had signed up for the 12pm class and when I got there I found out Jess was subbing for Rachel (who normally does the class.)  I haven't taken one of Jess' classes in awhile.  The music, energy, and choreography was great and I burned a good amount of calories.

After spin, I headed to Planet Fitness to knock out week 3 day 1 of C25K.

Not a bad amount of calories burned for the day huh?

When I got home I had some chocolate milk and chicken pot pie soup (courtesy of skinnytaste.com.)

At my meeting they were giving samples of the Weight Watchers Ranch Pretzel crisps.  They were pretty good for a snack in a pinch but I wouldn't eat them all the time.

Dinner was another emilybites recipe, Zucchini Chicken Pasta in Tomato Parmesan Sauce.  It was pretty good.  I would definitely make it again.  For a side, we had collard greens.  Nate picked them up at the farmer's market on Saturday.  I am not sure I have ever eaten them before and wanted to make them a little more healthy than cooking them with a ham hock or bacon.  I stumbled across this article from Men's Health and thought it was not only hilarious but sounded pretty good also.  We were out of white wine so we just added extra veggie broth.  They came out pretty good and I would try them again (with the wine next time.)

I then rounded off dinner with the last two Tagalongs (best Girl Scout cookies...ok maybe they tie with Thin Mints.)

Hope you all had a great day!

Recap: Yesterday & Today

Yesterday I started the day off with a double spin session.  Two 45 minute classes back to back (615am & 715am.)  I cannot lie.  The second class was a little rough.  I'd still do it again though.  I am thinking it might be the norm on Tuesday mornings.  I burned 720 calories!

I ate eggs for breakfast, salad for lunch, and fish for dinner.  Even though I did go over my points, all in all my meals were pretty healthy.  The Godiva chocolates and popcorn weren't necessary but they were delicious.

Today was a rest day.  I woke up and had a big breakfast of eggs with red onion, spinach, tomato, kalamatas, and goat cheese, an english muffin with peanut butter, a half of grapefruit, and coffee with milk and sugar.

I had not eaten breakfast until almost 11am so it was kind of a breakfast and lunch.

Around 3pm I was hungry again so I decided to whip up an easy meal to tide me over until dinner (we usually don't eat until somewhere around 7-8pm.)

I had a veggie burger with ketchup and mustard, a Jarslberg mini cheese, a pink lady apple and some corn with salt and chili powder.  If we had some lime, I would have thrown some lime juice on the corn but it was good without it anyway.  To drink I had some water infused with lemon and blackberries.

Again all in all these meals were not "not healthy" but I will still end up going over my points today too.  Eggplant boats are on the menu for tonight and I believe I only have 3 points left.  I'm ok with it though.  This is a rough week eating wise but I am trying to make decent choices, I am tracking, and I am getting my activity in.  One day at a time.

Re-re-re-re-re-commiting yet again

Hello all...

I am back to re-commiting...yet again.  I know I have said this a few times now but I just keep falling off the wagon.  It's the same cycle over and over again and I am unsure how to stop it.  I get back on track and then something happens and "I'll start again in a few days when my week restarts."  I am pretty embarrassed that I am here posting this now when I haven't even gotten into writing posts regularly.  Each post I write I say I am re-commiting and then nothing.

Am I trying to do too much all at once?  It's possible.  I make all these challenges for my self all at once...maybe I just need to focus on one thing at a time.

This week I will track everything.  That is my focus.

My Weight Watchers leader is no longer doing the Friday morning meeting.  Today was her last day.  She is still doing the Monday night meeting so for as long as I am not working I think I will be switching my weigh-in day to Monday.  I have been doing Friday morning for so long.  Maybe changing to Monday nights will be a good thing.

I was up 1.8 this morning (which I was expecting.)  I am going to track throughout the weekend but intend to re-start my week on Monday.  When I start working again I may have to switch days again but I figure I will try this in the mean time.  Maybe I won't go completely crazy over the weekend because my weeklies have just reset?  We shall see...I mean that's half of the battle isn't it???  Seeing what works for me.

Anyway,  kicking the weekend off with a beer from a local brewery!  Have a good weekend!

Weekend and the start of the week

Sorry I'm a day late here.  Hope you had a great weekend!  I know I did.

Saturday I woke up and went to spin class.  After that I came home and got ready for an early Valentine's date.  I had bought tickets for a comedy show as Nate's gift.

We headed to Davis Sq for dinner first.  We had seen an older episode of Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives and they had featured Boston Burger Co.'s Mac Attack burger.  Mac and Cheese on a burger?!?!?!?!?  I had to try it (and I did.)

I have to be honest though...it was just ok.  Maybe it would have been better if it was cooked medium rare instead of medium?  It was just a little dry.  The cole slaw and homemade potato chips were delicious though.  Nate's burger was quite tasty also.  He got the Bee Hive Burger.  It was definitely not dry with all the bbq sauce (and the onion ring hive on top was pretty cool.)  Yum!

We also started the meal with Bruschetta Fries...greasy but delicious (especially the pesto mayo.)

It was definitely a splurge night for sure.

Then we headed to the theater to see Tim Lee-Scientist turned Comedian.  He was pretty funny and we had a great time.

Sunday, I can't lie, I ate a lot of junky fast food.  It was kind of unavoidable because I wasn't home most of the day.

Monday I went to spin and ate pretty well.  Checking in with my challenges, I am doing the planking challenge everyday but I don't think I will be following what I posted last week exactly as it is.  I have done 30 second planks the past 2 days but it is killing my lower back.  I think I will continue with 30 seconds a few more days to see if the pain goes away.  As far as the 64oz of water goes, I have been drinking water the past few days but didn't measure it.  I probably had at least 50oz each day though.  I also went to spin this morning and will go again tomorrow.  Thursday we are supposed to get snow so that will be a rest day.  I love having my workouts planned out in advance!

Well hello again...

So its been a while since I've last posted anything.  Some life things happened and I fell off track...but today is a new day.  As difficult as it may be, I am focusing on tracking and doing well this week.

I started off the day great and had a very productive morning.  I woke up and made it to a 6AM spin class where I burned roughly 320 calories (according to my UP band.)  I put the strap for my heart rate monitor on but accidentally left the watch @ home...ooops.

After class I stopped at Starbucks for a venti iced skinny mocha and a spinach feta wrap for breakfast.  Then I headed to my weight watchers meeting.  Even though  the past few weeks have been a little rough, I had a slight loss that puts me at 170.2 lbs.  I believe that's only up .2 from when I last posted.  The meeting helped put me in a good frame of mind and I made two small goals for myself:  drink at least 64oz of water a day and to know how I will be active tomorrow (I am signed up for a spin class tomorrow already.)

After the meeting I headed to Whole Foods to pick up a few things.  I went in for hominy and came out with all this.  At least we won't need meat for another month or two now between this and what is in the freezer already.

I will review the recipe with the hominy and also the cheeses in future posts.

When I arrived home I completed Day 2 of the 30-day Plank Challenge.  I am not sure if 5 minutes after 30 days is really realistic for me but we shall see.  If I can straighten my core muscles even a little bit it will be a good thing.

30-day plank challenge

I had delicious creamy chicken and wild rice soup (courtesy of Emilybites.com) for lunch and fish is on the menu for dinner.  I will be within my points range today which is good because dinner tomorrow will be a splurge.

Have a great weekend!

Weight Loss & Recommitting

I started my weight loss journey a few years ago.  I was unhappy with myself and the way none of my clothes fit.  One of my friends told me that she was joining Weight Watchers and asked if I wanted to go with her.  I figured I had nothing to lose (besides the weight that is.)  Stepping on the scale at the meeting center, I weighed in at 174 lbs.  Being only 5'3, that put me quite overweight.  At the time I didn't know much about eating right.  I mean, growing up we had well-balanced meals (protein, carb, veggies) so I did have an idea about eating somewhat healthy but my biggest problem was that my portions were out of control.  I was in college, eating in dining halls, and at odd hours between classes and working part-time.

After about a year or so, I lost 44 lbs reaching my goal weight of 130 lbs.  I made Lifetime with weight watchers and maintained it for a while.  I stopped going to meetings and regained a few pounds but was fine around 140 which was still in the healthy weight range for my height.

After that, I met my fiance and put on what some people call "happy weight."  Weight loss was put on the back burner and little by little the scale crept up.  Three years later I had put back on all the weight that I had lost.  I am very unhappy with this but I know I lost the weight before and I can do it again.

I have been back at Weight Watchers for about a year and a half now.  I haven't been that focused with it though so I have been gaining and losing the same few pounds.  It is time to really focus on this so I am recommitting myself here to staying on track and losing this weight once and for all.

I was unable to attend my meeting Friday morning due to car trouble but I made it to the Saturday meeting.  I was down 3 lbs bringing my current weight to 170 lbs.  I also made it to spin Saturday and Sunday so here's to starting the week off on the right foot!

Hello

I am Jaime, a 31 year old from Boston, and this is my blog.  The past year or so I decided I wanted to live a more healthy and active life.  I have had some ups and downs but need to be more accountable.  I want to start this blog to document my journey, write about health and fitness, and share my struggles and successes with others.

I am ready to make the necessary changes to improve my health and fitness but at the same time I strongly believe that this needs to be a lifestyle change.  Anything I incorporate, during this journey, I need to do for the rest of my life in order to maintain my healthy lifestyle.  I will be embracing change while keeping the cheese (and the other things I love.)