On the weight front, I'm down to 318.8 now. This puts me at a total of 81.2 pounds gone off of me and getting closer to breaking my 2nd major goal of 300 (the first was 350, which had been my lower limit for several years now). For weight tracking and consistency, I like having shifted to Saturday for my weigh in. Now I just really need to start getting to the gym. One of the big things stopping me right now is the simple fact that none of my gym shorts/pants really fit at this point, and I don't really have the money to be buying new outfits for the gym. I'll work out something, though, and get my ass back in there to trim some more off of it.
On the recipe front, I gave a shot at making fish tacos the other night. As my base, I used what I had picked up eating the ones at Marlow's. I used tilapia for the fish, and since I didn't have the time or inclination to make a roumalade sauce, I used Kraft's hot and spicy mayo in place of it. All in all, it turned out rather well and it's something I'll be working on refining as time goes on. I baked the tilapia this time and I think it would have had a better texture to it had I pan seared it like I'd originally planned.
Marlow's Style Fish Tacos:
Ingredients:
3 Tilapia Filets (separated into two pieces each)
Emeril's Fish Rub
Ground Red Pepper
Kraft Hot & Spicy Mayo
Black Bean and Corn Salsa
Chopped Hearts of Romaine Lettuce
Whole Wheat Tortillas
Directions:
- Coat the Tilapia filets to taste with the fish rub and ground red pepper*. Place in a baking dish, cover with aluminum foil, and refrigirate for an hour.
- Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the filets (still covered) in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Turn the filets after 20 minutes and cook for another 5-10.**
- Remove the filets from the oven, separate them into halves.
- Spread the mayo on the tortillas, lay down half filet, then add hearts of romaine and salsa to taste.
* The taste of the fish rub was good, but it surprisingly had no red pepper in it, hence the inclusion here.
** As noted above, I will likely pan sear the filets next time just to get a bit of crunch on them rather than the texture from baking them.
All in all, I was happy with how it turned out. There are minor tweak I'll make to it the next time I make them, but it's definitely something I'm going to keep in my recipe file.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
The Process marches on...
Another week and another couple of pounds dropped. As of the last weigh-in, I'm at 321.4, putting me down a total of 78.6 pounds from when I started.
One thing I did do this week, though, was shift when I was weighing myself. Since day one, I'd been doing it on Mondays, primarily because, like most Americans, I started this process on a Monday. One thing I'd noticed, however, was a good amount of variance between weighing myself on Saturday morning (when I had more time to get up, get moving, and weigh myself after I'd been awake for a little bit) and Monday morning (when I was rushing more, had usually blown most of my flex points on Sunday, etc). So after thinking about it, I moved to Saturdays for my weigh-in, since that would mean I would use most of my flex points (which usually get used on weekends) at the beginning of my week rather than right before weigh-in and hopefully avoid some of that variance.
One thing I have to do this week is get back to the gym. I need to do this if, for no other reason, I'm paying for it and it galls me that I'm not using it. My goal is to hit the gym Tu/Th/Sat each week, eventually getting to the point I'm in the gym five, if not seven, days a week. Right now, my schedule is fairly packed. I work my main job 5 days a week, including working 2nd shift on Wednesdays. I have a 2nd job that I work on Friday and Saturday nights. I then play poker 3 days a week (Sat afternoon, Sunday evening, and Monday evening), one of which is a money making night at it. This means my time is rather cramped, and I may just end up going to the gym by work on my lunch break again in order to fit it in as well as to be able to avoid eating out as much as I do right now.
I've started following the 100pounds2lose community on LJ, which is a community solely for those with 100+ pounds to drop and is closed only to those who fill out the survey and are in that same boat. So far, it's been good to read posts from other people in the same boat I'm in, including one today from a woman who has gone from 300+ to 180, and is now within spitting distance of her goal of 160. That gives me definite hope that it can be done from a source that isn't media driven (Jared, mmm-kay?).
As the old adage goes, slow and steady wins the race, and my goal is simply to keep chipping away at it until I get to where I need to be. Having to wear a pair of my slacks this morning, though, has shown me I need to buy some interrum pants, though, so they don't look like crap when I wear them--not to mention I already need to replace the jeans I bought back at the first of the year. Good thing my birthday is coming up.
One thing I did do this week, though, was shift when I was weighing myself. Since day one, I'd been doing it on Mondays, primarily because, like most Americans, I started this process on a Monday. One thing I'd noticed, however, was a good amount of variance between weighing myself on Saturday morning (when I had more time to get up, get moving, and weigh myself after I'd been awake for a little bit) and Monday morning (when I was rushing more, had usually blown most of my flex points on Sunday, etc). So after thinking about it, I moved to Saturdays for my weigh-in, since that would mean I would use most of my flex points (which usually get used on weekends) at the beginning of my week rather than right before weigh-in and hopefully avoid some of that variance.
One thing I have to do this week is get back to the gym. I need to do this if, for no other reason, I'm paying for it and it galls me that I'm not using it. My goal is to hit the gym Tu/Th/Sat each week, eventually getting to the point I'm in the gym five, if not seven, days a week. Right now, my schedule is fairly packed. I work my main job 5 days a week, including working 2nd shift on Wednesdays. I have a 2nd job that I work on Friday and Saturday nights. I then play poker 3 days a week (Sat afternoon, Sunday evening, and Monday evening), one of which is a money making night at it. This means my time is rather cramped, and I may just end up going to the gym by work on my lunch break again in order to fit it in as well as to be able to avoid eating out as much as I do right now.
I've started following the 100pounds2lose community on LJ, which is a community solely for those with 100+ pounds to drop and is closed only to those who fill out the survey and are in that same boat. So far, it's been good to read posts from other people in the same boat I'm in, including one today from a woman who has gone from 300+ to 180, and is now within spitting distance of her goal of 160. That gives me definite hope that it can be done from a source that isn't media driven (Jared, mmm-kay?).
As the old adage goes, slow and steady wins the race, and my goal is simply to keep chipping away at it until I get to where I need to be. Having to wear a pair of my slacks this morning, though, has shown me I need to buy some interrum pants, though, so they don't look like crap when I wear them--not to mention I already need to replace the jeans I bought back at the first of the year. Good thing my birthday is coming up.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Recipes and Food Finds
First off, since I don't think I mentioned it, I'm down to 323 at this point. The last couple of weeks have been slow, mainly because I wasn't watching what I was eating as much as I should have. I really need to find the time to start making the gym again, and may make a point of doing that starting tomorrow. Working two jobs right now plus a paying avocation on the side makes time a little tight.
Now, on to the recipes and food finds. I have two things to put out here right now. The first is a food find. Skinny Cow now has a line of single serve ice cream cups. To this point, I've tried three of the varieties: Dulce de Leche (2 pts), Strawberry Cheesecake (2 pts), and Caramel Cone (3 pts). Each of them has been very tasty, doesn't have the aftertaste that annoys me so much with the Weight Watchers brand ice creams, and was a good does of satisfaction for my sweet tooth. This also means I'm not going to be hording points anymore to make room for a pint of Ben and Jerry's Froyo Cherry Garcia on any sort of semi-regular basis. Kroger has been running these on special with four of them for $5, which was part of what prompted me to try them.
On the recipe front, I made the following for dinner last night: Cream of Mushroom baked Chicken w/ herbs and spices, Roasted Asparagus, and Red Potatoes with Green Beans. All total? 7.5 points. I will admit that I short cutted on the potatoes and green beans, using one of the Green Giant steamer packs. It had 2.5 servings in the bag, which was perfect for myself, my wife, and our son, and it weighs in at 1 pt a serving. The asparagus, roasted with black pepper, kosher salt, and olive oil weighted in at the wonderful amount of 0 pts, and the chicken came in at 6.5 pts for a whole breast.
To give you a brief rundown of preparation, here are the ingredients for the two prepared dishes:
Cream of Mushroom Baked Chicken:
Ingredients:
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 cans cream of mushroom soup (condensed)
Mixture of spices and herbs (the ones I used last night were cracked black pepper, kosher salt, and thyme)
The Asparagus is 0 points for a cup, so this covers a good bit and provides you with your free dash of good oils for the day as well.
I will also note this was just as good reheated the next day as I had the left overs for lunch today.
Now, on to the recipes and food finds. I have two things to put out here right now. The first is a food find. Skinny Cow now has a line of single serve ice cream cups. To this point, I've tried three of the varieties: Dulce de Leche (2 pts), Strawberry Cheesecake (2 pts), and Caramel Cone (3 pts). Each of them has been very tasty, doesn't have the aftertaste that annoys me so much with the Weight Watchers brand ice creams, and was a good does of satisfaction for my sweet tooth. This also means I'm not going to be hording points anymore to make room for a pint of Ben and Jerry's Froyo Cherry Garcia on any sort of semi-regular basis. Kroger has been running these on special with four of them for $5, which was part of what prompted me to try them.
On the recipe front, I made the following for dinner last night: Cream of Mushroom baked Chicken w/ herbs and spices, Roasted Asparagus, and Red Potatoes with Green Beans. All total? 7.5 points. I will admit that I short cutted on the potatoes and green beans, using one of the Green Giant steamer packs. It had 2.5 servings in the bag, which was perfect for myself, my wife, and our son, and it weighs in at 1 pt a serving. The asparagus, roasted with black pepper, kosher salt, and olive oil weighted in at the wonderful amount of 0 pts, and the chicken came in at 6.5 pts for a whole breast.
To give you a brief rundown of preparation, here are the ingredients for the two prepared dishes:
Cream of Mushroom Baked Chicken:
Ingredients:
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 cans cream of mushroom soup (condensed)
Mixture of spices and herbs (the ones I used last night were cracked black pepper, kosher salt, and thyme)
- In a bowl, mix the two cans of soup with one can of water until smooth.
- Pour approximately 1/4 cup of the soup into the bottom of a baking dish and spread to cover the bottom of the dish
- Rinse each of the chicken breasts and coat to taste on both sides with the spice/herb mixture before placing them in the baking dish
- Cover the chicken breasts with the remainder of the cream of mushroom soup
- Pre-heat over to 375 degrees and cook for 40 minutes
Roasted Asparagus:
Ingredients:
1.5-2 pounds of fresh asparagus
1/4 cup of Olive Oil Mixture of cracked black pepper and kosher salt (I reused the mixture I used to rub the chicken breasts, so there was thyme mixed in as well last night)
- Pour the olive oil on a baking pan
- After rinsing the asparagus and breaking off the stems, place it on the baking pan
- Sprinkle liberally with the salt/pepper mixture
- Using your hands, rolling the asparagus through the olive oil and the spices until it is appropriately covered.
- Pre-heat the oven to 375 and cook the asparagus for 15 minutes, rolling the asparagus once during the cooking period.
The Asparagus is 0 points for a cup, so this covers a good bit and provides you with your free dash of good oils for the day as well.
I will also note this was just as good reheated the next day as I had the left overs for lunch today.
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