GOAL!!!!!!!!!

My goal to lose 8 pounds was achieved in 1 week.

Goal wight 176

current weight: 175.5

New Goal: To weigh and maintain 171 lbs by July 23, 2010.

My sister likes my blog.......

Finally Saturday. 14 women working in one house. 11 energetic, complaining 5, 6, and 7 year olds, 5 am mornings, a dysfunctional Macbook and 8 new brackets cemented onto my teeth. Oh and did I forget to mention that I was also PMSing?

This week has been busy, but all my weeks are busy. This week was hectic, it began at a fervent pace and ended watching drag queens perform ballads on Friday night. My brakes were not fully engaged until sometime early this afternoon as I watched King of Queens while laying in bed. Wheeeew! One would think that because my week was so busy that my plans of world domination, oops I meant weight loss, would have been squelched, but nay.... :-)

I have lost 8 pounds in the past six days. Several factors helped me out along the way:

1. I exercised 5 out of the six days since I started this challenge,
2. Boredom after work, I barely saw or spoke to any of my friends
3. Work stress - I hit the elliptical HARD this week
4. Eating a vegetarian diet heavy on the fruits and veggies
5. Getting Braces again (My teeth hurt so bad I've pretty much stuck to a liquid diet)
6. My dad, boyfriend and several other friends have started to hit the gym hard.
7. And most important I set a realistic and attainable goal.



Setting a goal of losing just 8 pounds in 5 weeks pounds (a little over a pound and a half per week), exercising only 20 minutes a day ensured I wasn't stressed about losing a crazy amount of weight so that made it easier. I also didn't beat my self up to hard if I messed up, *flashback to the french fries with hot sauce and ranch drizzled on top yum!*, I just did my thing in the gym the next day. I'm super proud of myself.

Anyway, here is a list of some healthy food that I ate this week

- ALOT of H2O
- "Zamu" when I woke up for that early morning boost (check out www.sking.amazonherb.net)
- Almond milk mixed with blackstap mollasses to keep my minerals up
- Fruit: Bananas, mangos, apples, red grapes
- Black beans
- Guacamole
- Salsa ( I made a dip and then burritos with all of the above)
- $ 2.99 pre-package salads at Safeway for lunch - all under 300 calories
- Peanut butter sandwiches
- Soup - Blackbean, butternut squash, and tomato
- "Recovazon" when I went to bed so that I wouldn't be too sore after working out (www.sking.amazonherb.net)
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Current Weight: 176.1
Goal 176. (I'm going to set a new goal once I lose that last .1)
The Wii say that I will be out of the dreaded pink over weight range once I'm below 169 lbs
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Shout out to Danielle for saying that she likes my blog, I really didn't think anyone read it. And a shout out to LA for hooking up my Wifi - I'm writing this in bed :-)

Healthy Eating everyone!

YYYYAAAAAWWWWWNNNN!!!!! 1st day of summer camp.

That had to have been one of the best naps that I've logged in recent weeks. I got home around 4:06 and passed out until about 6:06, by 6:25 I had finished dinner lol. Today was the first day of summer camp and the last day for me to turn in all of my benefits documents into my job - all in all very busy with a lot going on.

I learned 2 things today. #1: Working with little kids is suuuuper challenging #2: If I don't have a healthy snack sitting around, I'm liable to eat just about anything. I can't do anything about the first except make the best of the next 4 weeks and 4 days, but I can DEF do something about the accessibility of the healthy snacks. Here's what I ate today:

1 packet of instant oatmeal - just mediocre, but I had to eat something

1 stale piece of Melba toast that I swiped from cabinets between groups - I was hungry and desperate - that instant oatmeal held me for like 20 minutes.

1 light and fit yogurt. What ever sweetener they put in the yogurt gave me a headache and made my stomach feel funny. The same thing happened this weekend- yet again, I was hungry and desperate :-/

11:30 - Lunch Walnut, cranberry, chicken salad from Safeway. I gave Leshia the chick, but had the rest over field greens. Pretty delish.

6:20 - 6:25 Pesto over 1 cup of whole wheat linguine. Very yummy - here's the recipe. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Easy-Pesto/Detail.aspx But 10 minutes later I'm plotting on 1/2 of a PB and J.

Tonight's exercise - Either Yoga or 20 min on the elliptical.

Wii Weight: 182.2 (-2.2 lbs) Woohoo. Approx 6 more lbs until I hit my goal.

Starting over / Beginning again

Sounds like a melodramatic title huh? Yeah it is. But that's what I'm here to do, no matter how long it takes. Yesterday I resolved to eat better - I got the soup, fresh fruit and veggies until 8pm - when I hit the bowling alley. Uggggh french fries with ranch dressing and hot sause ( damn my stomach is growling right now) and then I washed it down with a beer.

No matter, I'll do better today. My new plan is to exercise for at least 20 minutes a day and to eat a healthy vegan/vegetarian diet each day. The latter shouldn't be a problem b/c I'm really not digging the oil situation in the gulf coast, and I'm REALLY not interested in eating gasoline filled surf and turf.

Anyway here's the plan

Exercise 20 min a day (at least)

Continue with healthy vegetarian diet

Starting for 5 weeks. 5 weeks is the duration of LSW's summer program. The goal is to have healthier skin, and body, as well as to fit into that little dress that LA got me. I'll also set a weight goal.... Hmmm lets shoot for 8 lbs.


Current weight:183.9
Goal Weight: 176.

Biker.... Who? MEEEEE?

Today was a good day. Without a doubt, I attribute most of my current joy to the endorphins pumping through my vein and the shower I took after my ride. A few weeks back, I took the plunge. No that’s not right… I’ve been tiptoeing around getting a bike for years, and I finally just did it.

Damnit, I’m proud of myself J. I was sooooo scared to get this bike. I worried about getting the wrong bike, looking like a fool, falling and getting hit while riding. All relevant and realistic fears, but I did it anyway. My commute to work has been cut from almost an hour to a half hour, and if I don’t make it to the gym-who cares. My half hour bike ride to and from work burns about 345 calories each way. Check out this website to get an approximation of how many calories you are burning during activities: http://www.healthstatus.com/cgi-bin/calc/calculator.cgi AAAANNNND I feel like I’ve joined the cool kids club.

To help balance out all that good exercise, and my budget (haha – or not), I’ve started cooking when I can. Here’s tonight’s recipe: Pasta with Tuna Sauce. It sounds gross, but it’s easy to make, and I won’t have to but a single ingredient (SCORE!!!!!)

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pasta-With-Tuna-Sauce/Detail.aspx

I’ll let y’all know how it goes.

Peace.

Love is....

I was reading my homegirl Dionne's latest blog update (destined82-theworldthrumyeyes.blogspot.com/) and couldn't help but to think of love. That, and the fact that Valentine's day had just passed. I started this blog because I wanted to become healthier, and as a result of being healthier, the fliest me that I can be. I'm just keeping it real. You look good, you feel good.

I've struggled with my weight for most of my life, and I have come to realize that sometimes it takes a community of people to help you to reach your goals. Over the past few weeks, it had become obvious that love has nothing to do with the chocolates and roses that your given one day out of the year, but is shown on a daily basis.

It's your neighbor that never gets offened or discouraged although you have politely declined going to spin class with her for 2 months - Monique. Your sister from another mister - Dionne, who can empathize when you can barely drag your ass into bed after you finally do break down and go to said spin class with your neighbor.

It's you brother who hits up your Facebook wall to let you know that he exercised earlier that day, and is thus keeping up his end of the bargain. It's your sister who signs up for a 5K with you although neigther of you has run in longer than you would like to remember, but when you look to your right she's there, gasping for breath and weazing along side of you with an encouraging smile on her face. Love's there when you are laughing about your fat-scapades and then problem solving how you can start anew tomorrow with your Mom or talking about nutrition and supporting your new and improved "bod" with your dad.

Love is when you are having the shittiest day ever and you check out your blog and you see that you friend from middle school, Cheyenne, has posted up a few encouraging words. Or just saying that she thinks your brave for putting your weight up on the website ~Vernie. Or the fact that I have 11 people who care enough to read my blog, some from down the street ( Monet), hundreds of miles away (Shan) others from across the globe (Farai). Thanks. Love is taking your woman's all time favorite comfort foods ( fried fish and Salmon croquettes) and showing her how to cook it in a healthier, still delicious way~LA.

Lastly, love is also accepting and recognizing that you deserve all the support that you have, and that you have the power to make a positive change in your life.

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always preserves."
-- 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Broccoli vs Cancer

Happy Black History Month!!!! Part of my contribution this month will be to spread the word about healthy eating. As you may know, African Americans have the highest rate of most preventable diseases, including hypertension and diabetes type II. This is pretty bad, but on a good note, many of these diseases are very preventable - including certain types of cancer. I was reading through Success magazine this month when I came across and article written by Drs. Mike Roizen and Mehmet OZ ( gotta give credit when credit is due) on foods that prevent cancer. What better way to spread Black Love than by sharing what I learned? :-)



Foods that Prevent Cancer
Walnuts, Almonds ,Pistachios, Wheat bran and most Legumes ( aka beans and peas) - contain a substance called pentakisposphate. The word alone is a mouthful, but all you need to know is that it may help prevent cancerous tumors. This is a good thing for me because I am ADDICTED to pistachios.... Pass the nuts, hold the cancer :-)


Grains such as quinoa, kasha, millet, chia and spelt: May reduce your risk of cancer of the small intestine. These grains may or may not be in your local grocery store, but you can find them at health food stores,healthier grocery stores such as WholeFoods, Yes! Organic Market, or in the healthy foods section of Giant, Safeway, Stop and Shop, or Pathmark.

Rosemary: according to the article rosemary extract helped to fight both breast cancer and leukemia cells.


Red Chili Peppers help to stop the spread of pancreatic cancer cells.


And now for the moment that you have been waiting for ..... drum roll please.......

BROCCOLI !!!!!

Drs. Rozen and Oz state that if you eat 4 handfuls of broccoli a week or any other cruciferous veggies (Kale, Collards, Cabbage, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, turnips, radishes and many, many others) you will make prostate, breast, and colon cancer less likely. Many of these will also improve memory and decrease you risk of type II diabetes.

To stop the spread of ovarian cancer, try increasing your intake of broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower. You can thank the Phenethyl isothicynate for that.

My hope is that you not only use this information for yourselves, but that you share it with other people as well. Most of us have some control over what food is being served in our households. We cook for our kids, parents, friends, boyfriends/girlfriends, husbands and wives.... so why not show them how much we love them by cooking healthy meals? Below, I have posted the links of a few recipes that include the cancer fighting foods listed above. The blog is called WatchSheEat after all lol..... Enjoy, and remember to spread the word, and spread the love.

I might try this one this week:

Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Broccoli, chickpeas and garlic mmm.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Whole-Wheat-Spaghetti-with-Broccoli-Chickpeas-and-Garlic-231366

Cajun Red Beans and Rice Salad
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Cajun-Red-Beans-and-Rice-Salad-109776


I'm not a fan of the chicken, but I know many of you are.... with this recipe, you get both the Chili and the rosemary....

Chili rubbed Chicken with rosemary
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Broiled-Chicken-with-Rosemary-and-Garlic-235464


If you want to try something, new check out these quinoa recipes:


Quinoa - Stuffed peppers
http://www.recipe.com/quinoa-stuffed-peppers/

Quinoa and Red Bean Burritos
http://www.recipe.com/quinoa-and-red-bean-burritos/

Herbed Quinoa with Shrimp and Zucchini
http://www.recipe.com/herbed-quinoa-with-shrimp-and-zucchini/