Newest Obsession: The Biggest Loser

So if you know me, you know I can become obsessive about tv shows, books, movies... basically anything pop culture. I know I am a little late coming to the party, but I LOVE the Biggest Loser. Over the long "winter" months I have caught up on the current season, watched last season, then the season before that, and the season before that. All thanks to Hulu Plus. It's just so inspirational, and of course I love Bob and Jillian and now Dolvett. I mean if you're going to be watching tv, you might as well watch something that gives you tips and inspiration on working out and eating well. I love seeing people struggle with some of the same issues that I do, even if I am not at the point that they are.

I also know that often their weight loss isn't realistic, because I definitely don't have time to work out for 8 hours a day. I wish I did. Their diet is also highly controlled. It's good to know that discipline and self-control can be learned. If you look at the contestants when they first start, it's hard to envision that they will all gain control of their health and often become athletes. I know there's a strong person inside of me just waiting to come out.

Any shows that you've become obsessed with lately?

Be well,

Willpower

Eating healthy is so much more difficult than you think it would be. I like fruits and vegetables as much as, if not more than the next person... but it's hard when your options are salad or spaghetti and meatballs. So usually I will try and compromise and have a salad and whatever I really want. It's all about portion control. This is the way that I think I should eat for the rest of my life, however, it's not helping me lose weight right now.

Which is why right now I need to focus on eating completely healthy, and it's difficult. I know that it won't always be like this, and that I will be able to enjoy all my favorites (chocolate, baked goods, pizza) again in moderation. It's just so hard for me to control myself! I'm not bingeing by any means, but it's hard not to have a bite or two. I look at these women, of course mostly in Hollywood, who seem to possess a huge amount of self-control and willpower and I don't know how they do it. I just want to get through one day without craving something sugary and I can't. And I know that I shouldn't restrict myself like this, but in order to cut calories and lose weight it's obviously best to cut down on the non-essential nutrients. I know that losing weight isn't easy and I need to remember that. How do you practice self-control? I need some tips!

So back to my attempt at losing weight. I am at least not gaining any weight right now, but I'm also not losing. I've still been going over my calorie limit and it's just way too difficult to count calories. I've decided to go back to what has worked for me before, which is the Portion Teller Plan... basically you have set numbers of servings for each type of food per day that you eat, and that's it. No counting each little calorie, no giving up carbs or saying no to a slice of pizza if you really want one. I think this will help keep me in check. I will know that I already a sandwich for lunch, so I should lean towards veggies and lean protein for dinner etc.

I'm also stepping up the workouts. This weekend I did some kickboxing and that was crazy hard! But it was also really fun... until I realized I couldn't find my inhaler and I was having some chest tightness. Whoops. I lived obviously. Tomorrow I'm either going to the gym or going ice skating! The boyfriend and I have a pretty exciting little Valentine's Day planned-- grocery shopping, article writing, some kind of workout activity, and then I'm cooking dinner at home. We might also go see Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, which I've been dying to see. Do you have any super exciting plans?

Be well,

Cinnamon M&M Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are delicious. They may not be the most beautiful (thanks to me not pressing them down enough), but I could probably eat them all in one sitting. I won't though :) More on the cookies in a second.

So it's been a few days since my last post, and things have been pretty good. I've renewed my mission to myself, and I haven't had any pop in two days! I have also been better about making food choices at work, which is great. 

As you all know, Sunday was the Super Bowl. The boyfriend's parents and his brother came over and brought dinner, delicious sloppy joes. I made sure I ate a big salad at work for lunch so I could have that and some of the guacamole I made and yummy La Tur cheese. And of course a couple of beers, anything to get me through watching a football game ha. Amstel Light is actually pretty good and only 95 calories!

I also made these cookies from one of my favorite blogs, Picky Palate. They're Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies with Cinnamon M&Ms on top. Super easy to make and delicious. I have my own Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookie recipe that I will post sometime, but this time I decided to stick with her recipe. Just make sure you push the dough balls down, otherwise they'll be kinda thick. 

Everyone deserves a treat every now and then, and I felt like I should make something to thank the boyfriend's parents for dinner. I sent them home with some of the cookies and then took the majority of them to work the next day. That definitely removed a lot of the temptation from the house... but of course I left a few for me and the boyfriend. You can of course use regular M&Ms or a different variety because I think the Cinnamon M&Ms were for the holidays. 

Check out the recipe over at Picky Palate. Enjoy!

Pretty Great Little Saturday

Yep, I started out the day with a delicious chocolate cupcake. I had gotten it at Lund's last night and planned on eating it then to start today out fresh, but then I was too full after dinner. So I thought hey, why not just eat it first thing today? I can if I want to. It looked more delicious than these cupcakes, but I forgot to take a picture. Oh well.

So after a relaxing morning, the boyfriend and I went to the gym. This was his first time back in awhile, and my first time at this particular Snap Fitness. It was nothing exciting, walked on the treadmill at an incline for a half hour, which was enough for me at the time. I always get REALLY red in the face when working out, and sure enough this time was no different. It felt good at least.

I spent the afternoon getting ready to go grocery shopping, which means figuring out coupons of course. It's like I want to stock up on all this healthy food but then I need to think about how much I will actually be home this week... which isn't that much. Working at a restaurant does have its perks, like the shift meal. So then I just have to think about what I will feel like eating before work, or after work depending on the day.

I decided to go to the store in the early evening to avoid the crazy Saturday shoppers... but of course there was still tons of people there thanks to the Super Bowl. I ended up getting some random healthy stuff for the week (bananas, peppers, yogurt, bread, oatmeal, whole wheat waffles), and lean ground beef for bolognese that I will make Monday night and eat the next couple of days.

The boyfriend's parents are coming over for the game tomorrow so I'm making my famous guacamole, plus I will be getting some meat and cheese from work. His mom is making sloppy joes and bringing them over, yes! So I just have to work before that then come home and make cookies and guacamole.

Overall I ate mostly well today, but I did have a couple of cream cheese puffs from Lee Ann Chin. They were totally worth it. Those plus who knows how many calories in the cupcake (my lovely food diary app says about 420 calories, ah!) pushed me over the edge of my "1600 calorie plan." Tomorrow's a new day, and as long as I eat a healthy and balanced breakfast and lunch I should be good for Super Bowl party time.

So far I've walked 7174 steps today, and by the time I go to sleep it will probably be 7500. The average steps per day for women are 5210 so I beat that at least! I work at 10 am tomorrow so I plan on getting up and doing some yoga before showering and heading to work.

Until tomorrow,

Well that was quick

So it turns out I spoke a little bit too soon with that last post... I have fallen off the wagon. I've had a Diet Coke a day for the past few days, I think the temptation at work became too much. But that's okay, it happens. Starting tomorrow I'm back to it, including eating healthy. I haven't been eating all junk, but definitely a lot of carbs and sweets.

I've come to realize that I definitely need to step up working out in combination with eating less. I've tried to cut down calories but I keep going over every day, which just means I need to eat more whole foods and less junk. It's just so hard for me to give up all sweets! Somehow I've trained myself to want something sweet after every meal, which is not necessary. I just need to find smarter picks that won't make me crave more.

I have also tried planning out my meals either the night before or the start of the day... and it doesn't work for me. I usually end up craving different things than I've planned and then I go way off plan. This is why I need to have all different kinds of healthy food around me at all times, so I can always make a good decision. Right now I'm going to focus on getting the correct number of servings of each food group every day. That is something that is achievable and yet has enough spontaneity in it that I won't feel like I'm eating the same thing every day.

I'm going to go cold turkey on Diet Coke again tomorrow and this time it will stick! Soda is everywhere and it's just so tough to avoid it, but I am tougher. I won't put chemicals in my body anymore. I just need to remember that if I need caffeine (which is the main reason I would drink Diet Coke), I can always have a cup of coffee, or a cup of tea.

Now on to the awesome shoes pictured at the top. I just bought those as a motivator and I'm so excited! They're Reebok EasyTone shoes, and I got them for $35 when they're normally priced at $99! If you've never been to 6pm.com you need to check it out now, especially because it's free shipping right now. I also bought a fancy pedometer at Walgreens thanks to their Walk with Walgreens program! You enter in your daily steps and earn coupons (another one of my obsessions), and when you register you get a $5 off pedometer coupon. I combined that with a sale this week for $5 off and I got an awesome pedometer for $21.99!

Anyway enough about saving and coupons. Both the new shoes and the pedometer are going to help me step up my workouts. I'm starting a yoga class next week, and I'm going to at least go for a walk every day to get my steps up to 10,000. I also just got a kickboxing dvd which I'm excited to start.

Most posts won't be this long, sorry! Another goal of mine is to blog something every day, even if it's just a link to a recipe I tried.

Until tomorrow,