Focusing on the positives.

I went to look at my calender and noticed that I've pretty much been maintaining the low 150's for 2 months now. That would be good if that was my goal.  I am making a new determination to get to my goal of 140 lbs. I have some hard habits that I need to break...

• Food binges- I have a few cookies here or some candy there and don't count it in my calories. Those little snacks I don't log can really add up.
• Skipping strength training- I have been skipping way too much lately. I need to tone and tighten this extra skin!
• Sleeping In- The snooze button is my worst enemy! Some days I need to get my workout in early or else it's just not going to happen.

What I need to do is just realize where I am at and what I can do to fix it. Move on instead of beating myself up over stupid little negatives. I'm trying to focus on positives and just enjoy what I'm doing instead of over analyzing everything. Some of the positives lately...

• New workout buddies- I've been making a few new workout buddies a lately. Some from work and some just out and about. This one girl in particular has been calling me up mornings when I feel like sleeping in and meeting me at my gym! 
• Supportive Boyfriend- My boyfriend Todd has always been very helpful during my journey. One day recently he knew that I did not burn my full goal of calories so he was like " Lets go for a bike ride". We rode from the U-district  to The Ballard locks and back that day. Almost 10 miles! 
• Stronger- My 8 mile bike rides to and from work have been getting easier and easier lately. The hills aren't as bad and dare I say that I actually look forward to my commute??!! 
• Tighter Skin- I think the biking has been helping with my extra skin. I have noticed that it is much less loose lately.

I can't wait until I get a new computer!! All I have right now is a broken laptop that can't download pictures correctly. That is partly why I have not been blogging because I like to show pictures of whats going on. O' well I decided that it is more important to blog then to not.

Before I mentioned binge eating as a bad habit of mine lately. It is something that I will have to deal with everyday and will forever be in the back of my mind. A few days ago I found a great podcast that talked about how to deal with binge eating and also guest starred one of my fav bloggers Katie from runsforcookies.com. Katie's weight loss journey is so inspirational! If you are looking for a boost check out the link to the podcast I heard a few days ago....
 http://www.halfsizeme.com/040-the-half-size-me-show-katie-runs-for-cookies/

Pushing Myself

Pushing Myself
I really have not been posting blogs as much as I want to lately. Anyways recently I bought a new Sansa Fuze Mp3 player. This mp3 player came with a disc that makes every song on Rhapsody free to download to it! Since I already have Rapsody this is an amazing deal. Free music for me! I realized that reading a magazine while on the elliptical just wasn't cutting it for my steps per minute (SPM). Now that I have my new snazzy mp3 player along with some new loaded workout playlists, I have been killing it on my workouts! My SPM went from 120 to 160. I didn't realize that  I wasn't pushing myself. Now I'm sweating like I have never sweat before! Because of this my weigh in's the past few weeks have been great!

Sunday morning weigh in and inches lost 
Yesterday was my usual weigh in and I lost 3 lbs from last week! The week before I lost 4 lbs. I know that it seems like a little too much of a wieght loss but also I just started amping up my workout. My body will adjust and my wieght in's soon will not be as dramatic. I was excited about my inches too! My co-worker recently gave me some size 8 pants that fit and my old size 10's are feeling loose. So I knew that I had lost some. My co-worker also gave me some size 4 and 5 shorts. I might fit them next summer but definitely not this summer!

Starting weight: 258lbs
Currant weight: 151 lbs
Weight lost: 107 lbs


Before               Now                       Lost
Arms: 15''            Arms: 11+1/2''    (-3.5")
Bust: 48''             Bust: 34"             (-14")
Waist: 52''          Waist: 36"            (-16")
Hips: 51''             Hips: 37"             (-14")


Recent eats
I think I have been spending way too much money on tofurky lunch meat lately. Plus the stuff from the store more processed an high in sodium. So I decided to make my own to last the week. I found this vegan hot pastrami recipe from http://twoveganboys.wordpress.com/2012/06/09/hot-pastrami-2/. It turned out so good! This is now my favorite seitan recipe! I made enough for the whole week. In this recipe it has you steam and bake it. I have tried baking and then another time I tried boiling. Both times it turned out a little too chewy. But now I find that steaming and then baking is the perfect method. Though, next time I might do a little less black pepper. When you eat a slice by itself it's a little too peppery. On a sandwich with all the fixings you can't tell it's that spicy. Only 108 calories for 2 slices. Here's how it turned out...

Fresh vegan hot pastrami

Hot pastrami ciabatta sandwich

Vegan Cake Batter White Chocolate Fudge

                        Vegan Cake Batter 
                      White Chocolate Fudge
             Makes 36 pieces of fudge (123 calories per piece)

Ok I'm pretty proud of this one because this is my first successful veganaization of a non-vegan recipe. Todd came home from work telling me his co-worker made cake batter fudge and I was like "What! I have to make this!". What can I say the big girl in me still loves cake batter anything! I went online and did some research on how to veganize this recipe. I simply just substituted earth balance buttery baking sticks instead of butter and soy milk instead of dairy milk. I also did some research and found out that most Duncan Hines cakes mixes are vegan. I used Duncan Hines Classic Yellow can mix instead of the Betty Crocker mix. I had to go to a local vegan store to get the soy white chocolate chips but you can also find them online or at a local specialty market. I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out because I have never made fudge before let alone vegan fudge. Todd tried it and said it tasted like the dairy version. So try this version out and let me know what you think.

2 Cups + 2 Tablespoons Duncan Hines Classic Yellow cake mix (white works too).
2 Cups Powdered Sugar ( I used O Organics brand)
1/2 Cup (1 Stick) Earth Balance Butter
1/4 Cup Soymilk
2/3 Cup Soy White Chocolate Chips 
1/2 Cup Rainbow Sprinkles

1. Spray 8×8 baking pan with nonstick spray or lightly grease with canola oil. Set aside.
2. Mix together cake mix + powdered sugar in a large bowl. Add soymilk + earth balance butter (do not stir them in) and microwave for 2 minutes. Once done, immediately begin mixing everything together. The batter will be very thick. Fold in white chocolate + sprinkles. Stir gently. You do not want the sprinkles to leak their color too much!
3. Spoon into prepared baking pan, making sure it is level and smooth at the top. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. Cut into squares and enjoy. *Store in fridge just before serving.

Back from vacation and feeling good!

Yesterday morning was my weigh in. I am 155.2. I pretty much lost the weight I gained before I went on vacation. Weird you think I would gain weight after vacation not before lol! It did help that I biked alot during my vacation with Todd and his son Max. His son stayed with us for a week. One day we biked 4 times around Greenlake. Well Max and I did anyway. Todd went around 5 times. We couldn't keep up with Todd the speed demon. It has been so muggy hot in Seattle lately. A few times last week we biked to Mathew beach just so we could cool off in the water. 

Here are some pictures of us chillin' @ Mathews Beach.

My gym was closed for maintenance during part of my vacation. Once they re-opened I managed to make it 4 times to the gym. Even though we ate out a lot I think I managed to make some good decisions.

Vegan Eats
Today's dinner was Tofu scramble with seasoned baby potatoes. One of my fav dinners to make! It's a really fast meal.

A few days ago Todd and I went to Hillside Quickie in the University District. Their food is so good and filling! I could only eat half of my spicy jamaican burger then I saved the rest for dinner. The only complaint I have is that my peanut butter banana milkshake was more like a smoothie. But it too was delicious! Anyways I noticed that they have a sign that said "Protein by the pound". Today I purchased a pound of their tofu pastrami. The dude at the counter gave me 3 frozen blocks of the stuff. I thawed one of the blocks and sliced it. I'm going to try it in a wrap tomorrow and see how it goes.

Tofustrami frozen

Tofustrami thawed and sliced.

My workouts this week

Sunday- Bike 12 miles.
Monday- Elliptical trainer 65 minutes + upper body strength training.
Tuesday- Elliptical trainer 65 minutes + lower body strength training.
Wednesday- Elliptical trainer 65 minutes + upper body strength training.
Thursday- Elliptical trainer 65 minutes + lower body strength training.
Friday- Bike 30 miles
Saturday- Rest.


Current weight: 155.2.
Lost this week: 2.4 lbs.
Total lost since January 2011: 102.8 lbs.

Me in a bathing suit...say what!!!??

Yesterday Todd and I actually got to spend most of the day together. Our schedules don't usually match up so we don't get to hang out as much as we would like to. Yesterday was his last day off for the next 2 weeks!! He's gotta work overtime because his co-worker is on vacation. It was nice to actually hang out.

Me with Todd and his new stache.

I think this dress fits less tightly now.

Our 1st task was to buy a Japanese rice paper screen for our studio. I like out it feels like we have a bedroom now. Like we have 2 rooms in our studio. We also thought it would come in handy for next month when his son is going to visit for a week. I think it will create a sense of privacy.

Cherry blossom Japanese screen.


When we went to Sidecar for Pigs Peace to pick up a few vegan items I also noticed that they had a lending library! You can only check out one book at a time. I almost picked out a vegan cookie book but then I found this. 

I love zombies and I could not resist. Lets see if it lives up to it's gory comedic bizarroness.

As for my calories yesterday. Lets just say I lost track. I didn't count my calories because I had way too many treats including ...a heaping bowl of ice cream, a coconut thai tea frozen blended drink and a vietnamese tofu sandwich. I kinda felt uncomfortable with how out of control I was though. So I made a last ditch effort to go to the gym 30 minutes before they closed. Plus I rode my bike to and from work (7.8 miles). All in all I think I had a pretty good deficit even if I went over my calories.

Last and not least I also went to the Red Light Vintage shop and purchased a swimming suit. I can't swim but I think I would like to conquir my fear of drowning and finally learn how. In the mean time I can at least cool off in the water. I honestly have never liked how I look in a swimming suit before. But I have to say I really love how I look now in one. Even if it is just a one piece. I have way too much extra skin to rock a two piece. 

My success story on caloriecount.com

Success Story

A couple of days ago I submitted my success story to caloriecount.com. Yesterday I got an email from one of the sites moderators telling me that my success story will be live on the 16th! I have to say I am pretty excited! One of my goals from the beginning was to lose 100 lbs and be in the success story blog of their site.

This website has helped me through my whole weight loss. I am really thankful that Todd found this website for me. I have been using it every single day since I started my weight loss journey.  It did take me a few weeks at first but I figured out the site pretty fast. I realize that since this is a lifestyle change that I will most likely always count my calories to stay on track. To me it's not a chore I have really come to love all the features of the site!

Here is a little list of my fav things about the site.

• It's pretty easy to click and calculate your calories and post your physical activities (calories burned).
• If you hit the "Analysis" button after you have logged your calories it can break down your nutrition.
• You can use the Tools button to figure out your BMI and how many calories you need to eat to lose weight.
• You can find out how many calories are in your favorite recipes and save the information.
• There are thousands of foods in the database to choose from (even store brands).
• The blog page has really helpful articles about health, weight loss, success story's and even recipes.
• My most recent fav thing about calorie count is calorie camp. I love how you can post a blurb about your day and even comment on someone's day. You can use points you earn to get $$ towards different websites. ( I have over 2000 points. Mmmm maybe I should actually use some of them.)
• After saving your weigh ins on your "weight log" you can see a graph of your weight loss.

Recap of this week and my Sunday morning weigh in.

I went to the gym 6 days this week. I made sure I went even if I didn't have time to do my full workout. Because a partial workout is better then no workout. I only went over my calories 1 day by 100. When I stepped on the scale it said 154.6.  That is my all time low!103.4 lbs lost so far. If I keep this up I will be at my second goal of a middle range BMI in a few weeks! 

From size 24 to size 10. 100 lbs gone.

100 lbs gone!

Mind the muffin top. It's a combo of too tight pants with extra skin.

You read that right 3 whole digits gone! I lost .8 lbs this week I am now 157.4. Total lost 100.6 lbs. It took 1 year and 7 months (7 months off from my original goal) but I made it!

I was a little surprised by any loss this week because I have been slacking on my workouts (okay on calories  though). My back has been out this week ever since I bent wrong earlier in the week. I only went to the gym twice and didn't do much cardio this week. Mostly due to that and also due to the fact that my bike has been in the shop for fine tuning. My back feels better now though and I got my bike back from the shop yesterday. Which mean I finally was able to ride it to work again! I have really grown to love my bike commute to work. Greenlake is really nice to ride by (especially on a sunny day). 

1st goal accomplished...now for goal #2
My next goal is to be in the middle range BMI for my height which is about 140lbs. Who knows I might actually use my free personal trainer sessions at the YMCA.

Last nights feast

Vegan old fashioned chocolate pudding pie with soy whipped cream.

Chickpea cutlet, garlic mashed potatoes, gravy and steamed brussel sprouts. 

 I was really in the mood for chocolate last night so I made some old fashioned chocolate pudding pie from the cookbook Vegan Pie in the Sky .I made the mixture on the stove top and poured it into a ready made Keebler graham cracker crust. It turned out so good! The hard part is letting it chill for 3 hours before serving. It's really refreshing on a hot summer day. For dinner I had some homemade chickpea cutlets, mashed potatoes, gravy, and buttery steamed brussel sprouts. I haven't had brussel sprouts since I was little. I just remember hating them but now I love them. I'm gonna have them on the dinner menu more often.