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!