Since I'm working from home today (2nd shift, have to watch the Doomling, so here I am), I went to the gym this morning after running some errands. It got off to a somewhat shaky start as the heart rate grips on the treadmill I was using were flaky at best. By the time I realized it (because, really, my heart rate isn't going to be 100 when I'm at 3.3 mph on a 9.6 incline), I had been going for five minutes. I stopped it, switched to manual (3.3 mph/2.5 incline, increased by .2 mph every 10 minutes), and it showed my heart rate near to 150, not the 125 target I'd set. I ended up doing about 30 minutes on the treadmill between the abortive Fat Burn cycle and my manual settings.
I switched over to weights afterwards and did the following (all 2 sets of 15 reps):
Back extension (200 lbs)
Abdominal Extension (150 lbs)
Bicep Curl (50 lbs)
Tricep Extension (50 lbs)
Fly/Rear Delt (70 lbs)
Delt Pull (90 lbs)
Yes, it's a far cry from when I was benching close to 250 in high school, but you have to start somewhere and my upper body doesn't keep near the muscle mass of my lower body (I can still push 600-700 lbs with my legs).
Regardless, day two accomplished. Day three is Saturday, and I will not skip it just because it's my birthday.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Recipe: Shepherd's Pie
I made Shepherd's Pie for dinner tonight and for a meal in one dish item, the point value really wasn't that bad (~10 pts per serving as I dished it up). The instructions are below along with notes regarding calories/points.
Shepherd's Pie
Ingredients:
- 2.5 pounds of 90%/10% Ground Sirloin
- 2 packages of Betty Crocker 80 cal Instant Red Mashed Potato's
- 1 package of brown gravy
- 1 Package of steam in bag mixed vegetables (corn, carrots, peas, and green beans)
- 7/8s of a package of Kroger brand 2% Milk Shredded Sharp Cheddar
Instructions:
- Somewhere in here, pre-heat your oven to Broil
- Brown the ground beef in a large skillet, seasoning to taste (I'm a big fan of ground black pepper, so that's what I used).
- Make the gravy in a separate pan, allowing it to simmer while you're cooking
- Prep the mashed potatoes (I've had really good luck boiling the water in the microwave and then adding it to the potato mix, as per the "stove top" directions)
- Cook the Mixed Vegetables
- Drain off the excess fat from the ground beef, leaving at least a little bit in the mix
- Mix in the gravy and then the mixed vegetables to the beef in the skillet
- Pour the mixture into a 9x13 baking dish.
- Cover the ground beef mixture with the mashed potatoes
- Cover the potatoes with the shredded cheddar cheese
- Place the pan in the oven for 3 minutes
- Remove from the oven and serve
Serves approximately 8
Calories per serving: 436
Fat per serving: 21g
Fiber per serving: 5g
WW Points per serving: 10
Notes:
- I used 90/10 Ground Sirloin. You can go with a 93/7, but given the nature of Shepherd's Pie, the extra moisture is a good thing. Plus, you end up draining off a lot of the fat before actually putting it in the oven.
- The amount of fat per serving is based off the packaging for the ground beef and not off of the finished amount. Therefore, the actual amount is probably closer to 5-6g, but I had no real way to calculate that. Given this, the point value is actually closer to 8 rather than 10, but I would rather err on the side of recording too many than too few.
- In a 9x13 baking dish, you could likely make 9 servings out of it rather than 8, which would bring the point value down a bit more, but that's entirely up to the person eating it and what they want to do. Eight servings still leaves plenty for left overs after the entire family eats. This will likely be my lunch on Thursday while I'm working from home.
As far as total for cost, it was about $15 or so for all the ingredients, which to feed a full family plus have left overs really isn't a bad deal.
Shepherd's Pie
Ingredients:
- 2.5 pounds of 90%/10% Ground Sirloin
- 2 packages of Betty Crocker 80 cal Instant Red Mashed Potato's
- 1 package of brown gravy
- 1 Package of steam in bag mixed vegetables (corn, carrots, peas, and green beans)
- 7/8s of a package of Kroger brand 2% Milk Shredded Sharp Cheddar
Instructions:
- Somewhere in here, pre-heat your oven to Broil
- Brown the ground beef in a large skillet, seasoning to taste (I'm a big fan of ground black pepper, so that's what I used).
- Make the gravy in a separate pan, allowing it to simmer while you're cooking
- Prep the mashed potatoes (I've had really good luck boiling the water in the microwave and then adding it to the potato mix, as per the "stove top" directions)
- Cook the Mixed Vegetables
- Drain off the excess fat from the ground beef, leaving at least a little bit in the mix
- Mix in the gravy and then the mixed vegetables to the beef in the skillet
- Pour the mixture into a 9x13 baking dish.
- Cover the ground beef mixture with the mashed potatoes
- Cover the potatoes with the shredded cheddar cheese
- Place the pan in the oven for 3 minutes
- Remove from the oven and serve
Serves approximately 8
Calories per serving: 436
Fat per serving: 21g
Fiber per serving: 5g
WW Points per serving: 10
Notes:
- I used 90/10 Ground Sirloin. You can go with a 93/7, but given the nature of Shepherd's Pie, the extra moisture is a good thing. Plus, you end up draining off a lot of the fat before actually putting it in the oven.
- The amount of fat per serving is based off the packaging for the ground beef and not off of the finished amount. Therefore, the actual amount is probably closer to 5-6g, but I had no real way to calculate that. Given this, the point value is actually closer to 8 rather than 10, but I would rather err on the side of recording too many than too few.
- In a 9x13 baking dish, you could likely make 9 servings out of it rather than 8, which would bring the point value down a bit more, but that's entirely up to the person eating it and what they want to do. Eight servings still leaves plenty for left overs after the entire family eats. This will likely be my lunch on Thursday while I'm working from home.
As far as total for cost, it was about $15 or so for all the ingredients, which to feed a full family plus have left overs really isn't a bad deal.
Gym - Day One
For the past couple of weeks, I've been plateaued right around 320. Stress is building up, which means I'm falling back into the old habit of stress eating, and this means I'm using up more of my points, so I'm not losing weight the way I was. In part to combat this and in part because I needed to do it anyway, I hit the gym today for the first time in a long while.
My routine for today was the following:
- Walking (3.3 mph, average incline of 2.0) - 25 minutes
- Abdominal Press (150 lbs, 15 reps) - 2 sets
- Back Extension (200 lbs, 15 reps) - 2 sets
- Tri-cep Extension (50 lbs, 15 reps) - 2 sets
The walking was actually a very good experience. A year ago, I would have been wiped out from that portion of things. Instead, when the 25 minute mark hit, my first thought was 'damn, I should have set it for longer.' Of course, the fact I'm going on my lunch break limits how much time I can commit to it, but still.
The weights were picked for two reasons and will expand a bit as time goes on. First, I wanted to work on my mid-section, hence the ab press and back extension. The other is my legs have plenty of muscle, but my arms are seriously lacking. So much of what I'll be pursuing in that arena is going to be purely based on my upper body. Walking will keep the musculature on my legs, but I don't want to add anything to it simply because I'm going to have to shed some of that muscle mass as I lose the weight it was built up to support.
The current schedule is going to be Tu/Th/Sat. The eventual goal will be 5-6 days a week, but I have to build up the habit first. Journey of a thousand miles and all that jazz.
My routine for today was the following:
- Walking (3.3 mph, average incline of 2.0) - 25 minutes
- Abdominal Press (150 lbs, 15 reps) - 2 sets
- Back Extension (200 lbs, 15 reps) - 2 sets
- Tri-cep Extension (50 lbs, 15 reps) - 2 sets
The walking was actually a very good experience. A year ago, I would have been wiped out from that portion of things. Instead, when the 25 minute mark hit, my first thought was 'damn, I should have set it for longer.' Of course, the fact I'm going on my lunch break limits how much time I can commit to it, but still.
The weights were picked for two reasons and will expand a bit as time goes on. First, I wanted to work on my mid-section, hence the ab press and back extension. The other is my legs have plenty of muscle, but my arms are seriously lacking. So much of what I'll be pursuing in that arena is going to be purely based on my upper body. Walking will keep the musculature on my legs, but I don't want to add anything to it simply because I'm going to have to shed some of that muscle mass as I lose the weight it was built up to support.
The current schedule is going to be Tu/Th/Sat. The eventual goal will be 5-6 days a week, but I have to build up the habit first. Journey of a thousand miles and all that jazz.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
One year done
As of yesterday, I've been on Weight Watchers for one year. As of Monday, I was just over 320 (bad week, not going to dwell on it), which puts me at approximately 80 pounds lost in the last year.
One year. 80 pounds. Approximately 10 inches off my waist (maybe more, I'm estimating based on my belt where I've had to cut new holes). Approximately 4-6 inches off each of my thighs.
I bought new pants in January, going from a size 60 waist to a size 56 waist. Those pants now fall off me without a belt, no unbuttoning required.
If I keep to this pace, this will put me at 240 pounds this time next year. I haven't weighed that little in over 20 years, and though it means I won't have made my goal of two hundred pounds in two years, I think I can deal with the short fall. I do know that provided I keep to what I've been doing, I will get to where I want to be within the next two years.
One year. 80 pounds. Approximately 10 inches off my waist (maybe more, I'm estimating based on my belt where I've had to cut new holes). Approximately 4-6 inches off each of my thighs.
I bought new pants in January, going from a size 60 waist to a size 56 waist. Those pants now fall off me without a belt, no unbuttoning required.
If I keep to this pace, this will put me at 240 pounds this time next year. I haven't weighed that little in over 20 years, and though it means I won't have made my goal of two hundred pounds in two years, I think I can deal with the short fall. I do know that provided I keep to what I've been doing, I will get to where I want to be within the next two years.
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