Gain, Lose and Gnaw

Special K touts the slogan, “What will you gain when you lose.” When I think about the things I've gained, I immediately think of the hashtag that I've noticed lately that makes me giggle: #firstworldproblems. There's tons of positive stuff I've gained since I've dropped the weight and gotten into better shape... there's also a few things that I've had to get used to which are ridiculous to complain about, but I want to anyway.

Good Gains:

Not sure if I've shared this before (probably have, since it's one of my staple “motivational” statements) but the first thing I ever noticed about my body when I finally dropped below 200 pounds was that I could tie my shoes without hurting myself and being out of breath. Can you imagine being out of breath when you tie your shoes? Unnecessary.

I can shave my legs in the shower. You wouldn't think, from all of the razor and shaving cream commercials, that this is something that someone couldn't do. But think about it. You have to stand on one leg for how long? Reach down, pull up, over and over. You need balance. You need flexibility. And I'm so thankful for this gain because when I bought my condo I didn't realize that the tub was broken. And I'm poor, so after nearly 2 years of living here, I've not fixed it. So I haven't had a bath in 2 years (haha).

I can clasp my bra behind my back. This is a big deal. I've NEVER been able to do this. But now that I've dropped down to the 34s in the bra size, I've had to do it. No more spinning it around from the front because it's so snug I can't. It's pretty awesome.

More good gains? I sleep better. My skin is better. Size 6 pants. Small and Xtra Small shirts. I don't see distance the same way.

Annoying Gains? #firstworldproblems:

I can't do sit ups. I can't sit for very long in one position. It's because my tail bone and spine have no more padding. Doing boat pose is harder on my butt than it is on my abs.

Shaving your legs might be easier in some ways, but having those bony knees and shins and cut contours has lead to more cuts than I've ever had. There will be blood.

I have trouble eating some of the things I like. So maybe I want a donut. Sounds fine, right? I'm going to run it off anyway. Oh, except I don't have the chance... because my stomach screams WTF and ejects that donut like I just took a box of exlax. Yea. Eww. That goes for a lot of things.

Those are my gains. What are my losses this week? Well, if my week doesn't motivate you then honestly, I got nothing. My food diary was impressive and my fitness diary was impressive, just an overall impressive week. Add the changes of mother nature and we've got ourselves a low this week of 134.4. Wow. That's below 135. I'm just going to list below my food diary for the week and then I'll show you my fitness diary. Keeping a fitness diary really has motivated me. I want to see each day filled in with something. My birthday was Tuesday (I'm 28 now... whoo hoo!) and that was my rest day. Here we go...

Monday:

1^st Breakfast: Protein Shake

2^nd Breakfast: Peanut Butter and Banana Oatmeal

Lunch: Spinach Salad with Lite Ranch and Yogurt

Snacks: Nuts, apple and colby jack cheese stick

Dinner: Bourbon-Glazed Salmon with Garlic Pasta and Peas

Tuesday (Birthday!):

1^st Breakfast: Protein Shake

2^nd Breakfast: Peanut Butter and Banana Oatmeal

Lunch: Blackened Chicken Macaroni and Cheese (Was taken out for birthday lunch!)

Snacks: n/a

Dinner: Baked Haddock with Rice and Green Beans (handsome gentleman special ;))

Wednesday:

1^st Breakfast: Protein Shake

2^nd Breakfast: Triple Chocolate Vitatop with Banana and Peanut Butter

Lunch: Salmon and Avocado in a Spinach Salad

Snacks: Yogurt

Dinner: Frosted Mini-Wheats with Milk (yea, I know... shut up)

Thursday:

1^st Breakfast: Protein Shake

2^nd Breakfast: Peanut Butter and Banana Oatmeal

Lunch: Buffalo Chicken Caesar Salad

Snacks: Yogurt

Dinner: Fried Egg over a Portabello Mushroom Cap with Bacon

Friday:

1^st Breakfast: Protein Shake

2^nd Breakfast: Peanut Butter and Banana Oatmeal

Lunch: Avocado, Cucumber and Spinach Salad and a Colby Jack Cheese Stick

Snacks: Yogurt

Dinner: Baked Pesto Chicken over Linguine and Broccoli

Saturday:

1^st Breakfast: Protein Shake

2^nd Breakfast: Vitatop with Peanut Butter

Lunch: Macaroni and Cheese Smart Ones (This was my ONLY frozen item all week!)

Snack: Chocolate Milk (post-run), apple and cheese stick

Dinner: Crock Pot Sesame Chicken over Spaghetti Squash and a glass of milk

Dessert: White Chocolate Covered Strawberries (oh yum)

That was my food this week. I haven't eaten much yet today, oh, except for my protein shake and some FABULOUS Nutella Oatmeal with Chia Seeds. Before I show my fitness diary for the week, let's talk about some of this food up there. I have pictures. I have recipes. I know what you come here for.

I really enjoy salmon. In an attempt to mix it up a little, I decided to pick up some fresh salmon at the seafood counter rather than getting frozen. Wow. There's totally a difference. I used a modification of the Cooking Light Bourbon-Glazed Salmon. Modified because I just didn't have all of the ingredients for the marinade. But what I did have was pretty tasty.

So just for 1, 6oz piece of salmon I combined, in a ziploc bag:

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp bourbon

1 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce

sprinkle of garlic powder

Let the fish marinate for 30 minutes... or, you know, while you do Ripped in 30, like I did. After the 30 minutes, just drain off the remaining marinade and discard that. You can cook salmon several different ways just be careful to not overcook it. I use a Foreman Grill because it's just easier. You only need to cook the fish for 3 to 3 ½ minutes. I do flip it just to give it even color because the top griddle always seems to make a better char than the bottom one. You can also bake it or pan sear it. Just experiment and find out what you like.

I ate half of the portion for dinner and then I ate the other half in a salad for lunch. That salad had so much healthy fat it was insane, which is why I chose the cereal for dinner. I wasn't terribly hungry but just wanted a little something after my workout that evening.

What's next? The portabello with eggs? This was post-run laziness that turned out to actually be pretty tasty. Sort of a spinoff to a breakfast I had at a local cafe. Simple enough, I prepared my mushroom as if I were making a burger, baking it at 450 for 15 minutes. Drained off the moisture. Then I prepared my egg over-medium. I split open the yolk just to make it look nice, but this was so freaking good. I'm sure it'd be good with some cheese on it too.

I made the Baked Pesto Chicken because I found it on Pinterest and it looked easy. I was making dinner for my handsome gentleman and myself after doing my workout in his basement. It felt really good to do my Ripped in 30 in front of the mirror because it told me that my form was on. I'm always afraid of not lunging right or squatting right, but the mirror really helps. Also enjoy that there's light between my thighs now, so that's exciting.

The Baked Pesto Chicken is a South Beach Diet recipe, which I know nothing about, but this tasted pretty good and pretty clean. Simple enough, you'll need:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

½ cup pesto (any kind, I used store bought)

½ cup mozzarella cheese

Preheat the oven to 375. In a shallow baking dish, line the bottom with ¼ of a cup of the pesto. Line up the chicken breasts then top it with the remaining pesto. Cover the baking dish in foil and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven and uncover, sprinkling your cheese on top and baking again, uncovered, for at least 5 minutes. Keep it a little longer if your chicken needs it or to brown your cheese.

I made some broccoli and linguine to go with it. Was pretty good and it was nice to have something easy after the workout.

Crock Pot Sesame Chicken!! Found this on Pinterest and the original recipe is here. It's one of those things that really doesn't need to occur in a slow cooker, but it was nice to have it cook by itself while I did laundry on a Saturday afternoon. I made a couple alterations. You'll need:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3/4 cup honey
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 diced onion
1/4 cup ketchup
2 cloves garlic, peeled and whole
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
4 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 6 Tbsp water
Sesame seeds

I didn't mix any of it up the way the said to in the directions. That's because I didn't realize it until half way through throwing stuff in the crock pot. Not much of a difference, so after you pop your chicken into the crock pot, either mix up the honey through the red pepper flakes in a bowl and pour it over the chicken or just throw it in there with the chicken.

Let this cook on high for at least 1 ½ hours. If you have more time, feel free to cook it on low for a longer period of time. After your chicken is cooked through, remove it from the sauce and cut it up. Mix in your cornstarch in water and let that cook for 10 minutes on high. Place your chicken back in and mix up well.

I served it over spaghetti squash and then sprinkled with sesame seeds. Now the original recipe called for vegetable oil but I completely forgot it, you know, since I wasn't paying very close attention (I don't feel like you should have to pay such close attention to a crock pot recipe). I wouldn't have minded maybe a tsp of sesame oil to really give it that sesame chicken flavor.

I've bombarded you with food. I'm sorry.

Just one more. Mainly because I told you I'd try chia seeds this week and I hadn't yet. So this morning I decided to throw 1 Tbsp of them in my morning oatmeal. Also decided that my store brand Nutella needed time to shine in some oatmeal. Supposedly chia seeds make you feel more full? Second breakfast did last longer than it usually does on the weekend (since I don't have a set “lunch hour” and since I ate it 30 minutes earlier than I usually have second breakfast). I was more excited about the extra fiber. Not much to this. Just made my oatmeal and mixed everything together. Could barely tell that they were even in there other than picking a few of them out of my teeth afterward.

Breathe.

Food data dump complete.

How off to my fitness log! Here's what I did this week.

Monday: Ripped in 30, Week 1 Day 4

Tuesday: REST!

Wednesday: Ripped in 30, Week 1, Day 5

Thursday: B210K Week 2, Day 1 (5.03 miles)

Friday: Ripped in 30, Week 2, Day 1

Saturday: B210K Week 2, Day 2 (5.17 miles)

Sunday: Ripped in 30, Week 2, Day 2

Didn't get much running in because we had some snow happening up here in New Hampshire. I try to stay safe and putting myself on icy sidewalks isn't the way to get that done. Tuesday night into Wednesday morning we had the snow, so that meant no running Wednesday. Thursday I felt like I HAD to so I even drove past the high school to see if the track was cleared. It wasn't. So I had to think of a route close to my office that would allow me to run up the center of the road (even that was covered in black ice). I picked a route that seemed well enough. Until all the street lights faded. And the houses disappeared. And I worried that someone might roll up in their beat up Cutlass and take me away. I seriously considered stopping and having someone come get me. Adrenaline rush scared.

But having an iPhone helped... I could check out the map to see how much farther I had to go for civilization. I texted my “running buddy” (the person I always tell that I'm running and what I'm wearing) a few times and that made it better.

Yesterday's run was just fine and out in the sunlight and I even got a little bit of sunburn on my cheeks. I'm so happy when I go further every time. I'm a little off, but so far I haven't found a 10k to run, so being “on target” with my training isn't really that important. There's one I'd love to do in May but that's the day of one of those obstacle races and I'm really considering signing up for that.

That, though, is the day before the Tough Mudder that the handsome gentleman is currently training for. I'm loving that we're both getting in so much fitness. It feels good to have something that we can do separately but then talk about when we're together. We spent some time Saturday morning doing random yoga poses in his living room. He makes me smile.

I've got 3 runs scheduled for the week, but the weather is supposed to get brutal as far as coldness this week. Highs in the teens. It's not so bad when the sun is up... but not a fan when it's dark out. The guys at work are out all week, so maybe I can take a long lunch to run my 5 miles and then just work late. It'd be nice to not have to run with the headlamp during the week. Passersbys have mistaken me for a Transformer.

Momentum is high and today I'm feeling so good. Goal this week is to keep that momentum up. Starts with a day off from work tomorrow (thanks fed government for the annual birthday present!) so I can have one more run in the sun before the freeze sets in.