Goals for last week week:

1. Work on drinking more water-Still don’t know why it’s so hard and I didn’t do great, but I did drink more.
2. Keep pushing myself at the gym so by the end of the week I can run 10/20 minutes on the treadmill.- Started C25K and went to the gym every day except Friday.
3. Build up enough confidence to go to a class at the gym.-Went to Zumba last week and I’m headed to the gym for Yoga this morning.  I think I’ll do Zumba and Yoga every Monday. Yay!
   
4. STICK TO MY DIET 100%- I did better than last week, maybe 85-90%. I even ordered steamed veggies when we went out for Chinese on Saturday.

And the result? As of yesterday I lost 3lbs last week!

And I am so excited about it. It makes me feel like I’m doing something right.

Weight lost so far: 4lbs

Weight to lose for 1st goal: 11lbs (in 17 days!)

Goals this week:

1. Drink even more water.
2. Do C25K 3x this week (finish “week 1″)
3. Continue to follow diet
4. Work on eating more salads

So since Wednesday I’ve lost…

1 Pound

One single pound.

Not necessarily what I was hoping for but it’s something. And truth be told I was down 3lbs on Friday morning. But the weekend hit, along with an unexpectedly emotional day on Saturday which lead to ice cream and wine that evening. Which lead to cheating on Sunday. Which lead to this horrible result today. I think I’ve stuck to the diet 70% of the time, but that’s obviously not good enough.

I’m trying not to get discouraged by this. In fact I’m trying to get it to motivate me even further. This is the best evidence that it is my food choices and binging that is keeping this weight on.

So I’m back on the diet today with more focus and commitment. And I started exercising again. Really exercising. Usually I just phone it in at the gym, lazily spending 30 minutes on the elliptical or the treadmill while reading or watching TV. But today I worked out. I spent 30 minutes on the elliptical at a pace at which wasn’t conducive to reading. I took my glasses off so I couldn’t watch TV (which I’ve noticed is full of cooking shows and commercials for really yummy food). I challenged myself and for once just paid attention to my body and the music I was playing. Then I headed to the treadmill and actually ran! Maybe it was just for 3 minutes at a time, and only 6 minutes total, but I pushed myself to my limit both times and was on there for a total for 15 minutes and walked/ran a mile in addition to my harder-than-usual elliptical workout. When I left the Y I was sweaty and hot but I felt great!

So here’s the usual run-down:

Weight lost so far: 1lb

Weight to lose for 1st goal: 14lbs (in 24 days! eek. God that’s 4lbs a week…)

Goals this week:

1. Work on drinking more water (I’m still trying to figure out why this is so hard for me)
2. Keep pushing myself at the gym so by the end of the week I can run 10/20 minutes on the treadmill.
3. Build up enough confidence to go to a class at the gym.
4. STICK TO MY DIET 100%

Ingredients (serves 6):

• 1lb extra-firm tofu cut into bite-sized cubes (I used our store brand organic, drained and pressed)
• 2 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch rounds
• 2 medium yellow potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 cup cut up pineapple
• 1 sweet red bell pepper cut into strips
• One medium yellow onion cut into strips
• 1 can light coconut milk
• one cup water
• 2-4 tbs Thai Yellow Curry paste (depending on how spicy you want it)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1 tbs chopped ginger (I used a paste)
• 1 tbs shopped garlic (I used a paste)
• Salt to taste (optional, I didn’t use it and it tasted great)

Directions:

1. I used a small amount of canola oil to coat my wok (about 1 tbsp) and pan-fried the cubed tofu for 6-8 minutes. Remove from pan and place on paper towel to drain.
2. In the same wok, place 1/2 the can of coconut milk (preferably the heavier stuff at the top) + the curry paste+ ginger and garlic in the wok and heat until boiling. Stir frequently.
3. Add the rest of the coconut milk and the water and bring to a boil again. Add in everything else and stir to mix everything together. Add more water if needed to adequately cover the veggies to cook.
4. Bring to a boil. Cook and cover on medium for 25-30 minutes until the veggies are cooked.
5. Serve with your choice of rice. I used brown and it was yummy and healthy. My husband prefers white basmati.

You can add other veggies to this recipe, or you can use a different type of curry paste if you like more spice (red or green). If you’re not on a diet and want a richer version you can use full-fat coconut milk and more oil while frying the tofu.

To say that it’s frustrating is an understatement. For the most part I thought I was doing well. I thought I was eating right. I thought I was doing the right exercises. I thought I should be losing weight. All to no avail.

However recently I read a very interesting and informative book. I’m not going to mention the title here on the blog, because I’m not endorsing it and I’m not affiliated with it at all. However it really educated me on how bad my diet really was. And how drastically changing it was really the only way to lose weight. Because even though I was getting enough exercise, it only made me ravenously hungry and would lead to overeating on stuff I shouldn’t be eating in the first place.

So what’s my plan this time you may ask? Well… I’m going vegan. Sorta. I guess you can say that I’m veganizing my meals most of the time. I’m giving up meat, fish, and eggs completely. And for the most part I’m giving up dairy, with the exception of allowing fat-free yogurt and cheese a few times a week. I’m also giving up most processed foods. So I’m staying away from any foods that come in a package, from the freezer, or restaurant meals. Oh, and no oil (which is harder than I thought it would be).

So what am I eating you may ask. I’m eating a lot of beans, fruits, veggies (both raw and cooked) and nuts. Here is an example of what I ate yesterday:

Breakfast: Large smoothie made with un-sweetened almond milk, frozen berries, 1tbs natural peanut butter, and a squirt of honey

Lunch: Large “taco” salad with lots of greens, a spicy mix of beans, carrots, and tomatoes, 2tbs cheddar cheese, and 1 crushed up corn taco shell with some melon on the side

Snack: Apple with 1tbs almond butter, iced black unsweetened coffee (trying to give this up but I need one cup of coffee/day at the moment)

Dinner: Indian veggie curry (no oil), boiled indian-spiced sprouts with tomatoes and 1 whole wheat tortilla, mango

Dessert: 1oz dark chocolate

I’ve been really good about sticking to the diet this week (ok… so it’s only Wednesday. Still counts!). I’m going to add exercise to the mix next week, but for this week I’m just focusing on my diet. I’m also trying to increase my intake of water.

I’m not going to lie. I’m hungry. Really hungry. I went to bed talking to my husband about how I was craving Mexican and could probably eat a whole pizza. But the thing is, on this diet I can have unlimited fruits and veggies. However my palette is so messed up I don’t want to eat these things even when I’m hungry. Fruit is no longer sweet because of all the sugar I’ve binged on in the past. And veggies are even more unappetizing unless they are dipped in something unhealthy. My hope is that I will slowly start to like and crave these foods so I will only have to put up with this hunger for a week or two.

So here’s the usual numbers and before photos (I’ll add measurements next week after I find my measuring tape):

Before:

Weight: 215

BMI=39.3 (Severely Obese)

Goals:

#1: 200lbs (-15lbs, BMI=36.6) – March 1st, Reward: Manicure

#2: 190 (-25, BMI=34.7, obese) – April 9th, Reward: Hot Tub & Massage night with the Man

#3: 180 (-35, BMI=32.9) – May 25th (friends wedding) Reward: New dress for wedding

#4: 170 (-45, BMI=31.1) – July 1st Reward: New Bathing suit

#5: 160 (-55, BMI=29.3, overweight) – August 4th (Cousin’s wedding) Reward:  All out for black-tie wedding (outfit, hair, nails, etc)

#6: 150 (-65, BMI=27.4) – October 1st Reward: Professional family portraits

#7: 140 (-75, BMI=25.6) – December 1st  Reward: New Wardrobe!

#8: 135 (-80, BMI=24.7, NORMAL WEIGHT!!!)- January 1st, 2013 Reward: Family vacation to somewhere warm

Oh yea, and baby #2!!!!

This means I’m giving myself the next year to lose 80lbs. To be honest, I will be happy when I get down to 150. However going by my height, my ideal weight should be around 130. So I’m going to try to aim for that. And I split it up this way because thinking about 80lbs in total is daunting. But thinking about it in 10-15lb increments makes it more manageable.

And it may seem stupid and counterproductive to lose all this weight in order to get pregnant again. But I want a healthy pregnancy this time. I want a healthy baby. I don’t want the possibility of something going wrong because of my obesity to hang over my head the entire pregnancy. I think that more than anything will keep me motivated, because I’m definitely having moments of babyfever lately.

So keep reading! I’ll post my progress every week. I’ll also be posting what I’m eating and good healthy vegan recipes at least once a week. And pictures once in awhile. Oh, and if you want to know the specific diet I’m following or the book I read that inspired me to do this just leave a comment with your e-mail and I’ll give you that info.

If you are starting this new year with a weight loss goal good luck and stay strong! We can do it!

I’ve decided to return to blogging in 2012. While I left for a variety of reasons, I’m return for just one. I think I’m actually more productive when I’m blogging than when I’m not.

Big shocker right?!? My instincts would say the exact opposite. In fact one of the reasons I stopped in the first place was that I was busy and thought I just didn’t have the time. But over the last few months I’ve noticed I’ve become less organized and more prone to waste time doing nothing in particular if I’m not writing here. Without menu Monday my meal planning went out the window. Without talking about organization projects I just stopped doing them. And without recording my weight I stopped stepping on the scale. So I’ve decided to come back to my tiny little corner of the internet. I’ve got big goals for 2012 and I’m hoping that this blog will help me achieve them!

There is lots more to come in the near future, but for now I’ll leave you with my favorite photo of 2011.

Monday: Tomato soup with grilled cheese and apple panini

Tuesday: Healthy baked chicken nuggets with baked sweet potato fries and spinach salad

Wednesday: Saag paneer with cauliflower fritters and Indian bread

Thursday: Lightened up Shepard’s Pie

Friday: Out

Saturday: Leftovers

As expected, I didn’t lose any weight over that period.  However I was lucky enough to not gain any weight.  I’m sure my weight actually fluctuated a lot during that month, but I wasn’t checking, nor did I really care.  I would go through periods where I would binge eat out of emotional frustration and anger.  And then I would go a few days without eating much of anything.  My activity level also varied a lot.  Some days I would walk everywhere (like when we were on vacation) and other days I spent most of my time in bed.

When I emerged from my emotional fog I was determined to get healthy again.  Not only physically but emotionally.  I started seeing a therapist again and we’ve been working on my issues surrounding my food and my weight.  I’ve also been reading Such a Pretty Fat by Jen Lancaster, which actually has been helping.  And about two weeks ago I re-joined Weight Watchers and have actually made a pretty decent attempt to follow the plan.  I’ve also been trying to walk in the mornings and have started doing my personal training sessions again 2x a week.

The Result?

I’ve lost 3.5 pounds!

Yea, I know it’s not much.  But it’s something.  And I actually was down 5.5 pounds before this weekend.

These past two weeks I’ve learned a few things:

• I can lose weight!  However I cannot just blindly follow any weight loss plan.  I have to take what I know about my body and weight-loss with PCOS and combine that with Weight Watchers in order to lose weight.  Not only do I need to take in less calories, but I also need to watch my sugar and carbs.  Calories-in < calories out does not work for me if most of the calories I take in are made up of carbs..
• I need to get enough sleep.  If I don’t I’m exhausted and will try to eat in order to stay awake.
• I need to plan my meals.  I cannot just record what I eat after the fact.  Each morning I need to plan my meals and my points and stick to it as much as I can.
• I need to figure out how to stick to this diet on the weekends.  The weekends (and my husband) are my downfall.  I know it’s a combination of being prepared and having more self-control.  I just haven’t found it yet.

My first goal is to hit 210lbs by August 1st, which is a week away.  It’s probably too ambitious, but I’m pretty sure I can do it.

Starting weight: 216

Current weight: 212.5

Diet Plan: Weight watchers/diabetic diet combo

Workout Plan: Walk 45 every day, personal trainer 2x a week

Things to work on this week: Not going off-plan on the weekend

Tip of the Week: www.skinnytaste.com is an awesome resource for those on WW.  I’m getting most of my dinner recipes from there.  They are kid and husband approved!

Sunday: We had linner out (lunch & dinner around 3:30).  Then a late evening snack of low-fat zucchini bread.

Monday: Indian spiced cauliflower and potatoes with lentil curry and rice

Tuesday: Grilled veggie quesadillas with avocado and mango salad

Wednesday: Apple and cheddar grilled sandwiches with oven-baked sweet potato fries

Thursday: Low-fat chicken tikka masala with Indian spiced okra and Indian fry-bread

Friday: Organic take-and-bake veggie pizza

Saturday: Out or left-overs