Saturday, September 14, 2013

Now on Tumblr

Just FYI I will now be posting on tumblr as well
Tummy Training on Tumbr

You Scream. I Scream.

Making progress.
The gym I was taking classes at is super expensive now so I'm just going to Planet Fitness and using the treadmill and weights. It is better than nothing and is also open 24 hours a day which rocks but I work harder in the classes. I need to find a class that keeps my attention and motivates me. I will let you know what I find. I like Zumba a lot but it's a little too repetitious to old my attention every week.

I went grocery shopping and got a lot of stuff to try some new low carb recipes. Last night I made Schmorgurken. Schmorgurken is a german dish with cucumbers and beef. It was good.
It felt like it was missing something then I read about it an found out it's usually served with rice or potatoes. It has creme freishe in it (which is kind of like a mild sour cream) and I could see the starch being good to balance the sour notes but being low carb that is not an option. My roommate loved it as is and my boyfriend that it tasted great with Parmesan. I enjoyed it but thought maybe some garlic would enhance it. If you want to try it I'll link the recipe I used bellow and let me know if you try any variations.

While on my quest for low carb meals to make I kept in mind that I am a busy person who doesn't always take the time to  cook especially if prep time is more than 30 minutes. I also know what kind of sweet tooth I have and in order to stay on track I knew I needed some easy things to keep on hand. Celery and a Low carb peanut butter is good. I also found some low carb ice cream choices that I'm excited to try.

 Where as they aren't void of sugar they are better than going to Cold Stone's for some Birthday Cake Batter. I am human and after a quarter of a century eating ice cream I'm going to be hard pressed to turn the habit off. Rather than saying to myself, "No more ice cream ever. Never again!" I will try keeping the low carb options on hand to help sooth the ice cream beast within.


Schmorgurken: My Kitchen in the Rockies: Schmogurken

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Dear Gym...

I am sure I am not the first person to discover this but I found the best time to go to the gym is during a show I really like.
 
My gym has a field of elliptical and tread mills that face a series of TV's you can only hear the audio on the TV if you plug your headphones into a machine and keep moving. If you stop moving- the sound stops.
I am addicted to this show Master Chef. Hey, I'm a fat girl inside and out.  If I can't eat all the foods I want I can at least watch someone else make delicious food I would want to eat. Doesn't hurt that Gordon Ramsey is the best soccer player turned chef ever and he is one of the hosts.
The show is an hour along so even though I usually only do 30 minutes of cardio and then weights I stayed on the machine for over an hour because I wanted to see who would get eliminated from the competition. Not only did I double my time it felt like less work because I was distracted watching something I enjoyed. On top of that whenever it went to commercial I would go as hard and fast as I could for that three to four minute break so it was a pretty good work out and then I still did the weights.

I like to mix it up. I have a cheap gym I go to for just machines and then another one I take classes at. I think it is important to keep it interesting and not let it get stale because when it gets boring is when it becomes hard to do. Of course the hardest part for me has always been getting the motivation to go I just have to keep reminding myself I know I will feel good once I'm there and feel even better when I'm done.


So lets hope soon there will be less of this...

Thursday, September 5, 2013

If You Are What You Eat, I'm a Big-Fro'd Broccoli

I just want to take a moment for salad. Once you've eaten salad for lunch everyday for a week you can start feeling like your nose is twitching like a rabbit. I have found I sometimes need to take a break, come back to salad after a few days, and reset my mind. Another thing I've found is not all salads are created equally.

The salad I make myself is always the best salad.

When I've bought the veggies, cut them, tossed them, and then immediately eaten them it tastes wonderful! Grill some chicken on my George Foreman's and it's perfect. More often than not I don't have time for all that though.

I am a big fan of Farm Fresh's salad bar. In the middle of the day it's nice to get away from the office or I can get it on my way to work. All the veggies and toppings are pre-prepared and you get to be choosy of what you want on your salad. The only downside is none of their salad dressings are particularly low carb and therefore not the best on my diet. They have oil and vinegar which works but that gets old after a while. They do almost always have shredding rotisserie chicken that is very yummy.

Nothing kills my diet faster than being in a hurry. The area I live in is speckled with fast food places every few blocks so in that "I have 10 minutes to get where I'm going I needs something I can eat in the car NOW" feeling can easily be silenced by a burger and fries but I have found Wendy's has an awesome salad I can get down with.
The Chicken BLT Cobb Salad

Chicken, eggs and bacon? Hello, Protein! I'm a big fan of blue cheese, and then it has mixed greens and tomatoes. It comes with an avocado ranch dressing that is the real star. The dressing only has 3 carbs (2 from sugars) which makes it superb for me. The salad in total has 6 sugars and 14 carbs. My guess is the other sugars probably come from the tomatoes. Even though tomatoes have sugar they have so many other awesome benefits I think they are the super hero of the salad world.
A few other stats on this salad if anyone is interested: 590 calories, 24g protein, and 4g of fiber.

Salad's I don't like...

Chik-Fil-A and Tropical Smoothie. The chicken Cesar salad from Tropical Smoothie is not bad health wise just a little bland. Most salads from Tropical Smoothie have a lot of carbs and specifically a lot of sugar. Chik-Fil-A is the same way but they are also pretty high in sodium probably due to the breading on their chicken.

If you have other quick to-go salad suggestions please comment. I am open for trying more to keep the salad game interesting.


Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Back in Style

I'm still here!!!
I know it seems I disappeared just as things got started.
I did but that doesn't mean I am off track. Things got a little crazy with work, I had surgery, I moved, and went out of town to watch a Muay Thai tournament my boyfriend was coaching.

So first a confession: The gym and I had a falling out. Entirely my fault. In addition to crazy work I had an unpleasant demotivating medical issue. I had surgery Thursday and then got back in the gym last night. I can tell I am behind, Not lifting as much as I have before on the weights, but no matter because I'll be back up to speed in no time!
Basically, I've just been dieting and here is where we are at as of now...



Waiste 42"
Hips 49"
Thighs 29"
15.5 "
So, that is 6.4lbs down from where we started. Measurements have all gone down but not enough to be note worthy. Not the greatest progress but considering life's setbacks the real winning is 1. Not losing motivation and 2. Not giving into fast food fries. Considering I work a desk job, been laid out for surgery, and have only really been dieting (sort of) I will take it! I am going to set a goal to get that other .6lbs by this time next week.

And a recap of today so far...
Breakfast was a handful of almonds and black coffee (I was running late. Sue me)
Lunch was Tuna salad in lettuce

Still trying to decide on dinner...

Monday, July 8, 2013

Rubber Legs

Dear Sweet Jesus, what have I gotten myself into?

I went to Zumba class after work. If you don't know what Zumba is, it is a dance fitness class created by a spanish devil in the 90s that is high energy and sexy.




I like dancing and high energy music so this will be fun, I tell myself. The first 20 minutes I was really into it enjoying jumping up and down and I was doing alright keeping up with the instructor. I could tell my enthusiasm was starting to come down by the first half hour but I was determined to push as hard as I can. Then the squats came... So many squats... I was pouring sweat too and then came the jumping jacks. You didn't have to do just jumping jacks either. It was dance in a circle slap the floor then jump high in the air, repeat. Repeat over and over again. My body was screaming "fuck you" at me. My legs feel like rubber and on top of that I can tell I don't look sexy I look more like...


 Nonetheless, I had fun listening to the music and being down right uncoordinated. I owned my clumsiness and when I got lost in the complicated foot work I just did my own thing. I sweated a lot and though I am sore all over I know ultimately that is a good thing. Had some grilled chicken and green beans after my work out for a healthy dinner. Tomorrow I probably wont go to the gym but on Wednesday I am going to be taking a sexy chair work out. I'm not sure exactly what that means. Regardless, I'm sure it will include me doing some ridiculously exaggerated version of what the instructor wants me to do and I'll end up on the wrong end of the chair.

Sunday, July 7, 2013

The Starting Point

So here is our starting point...

Measurements are as follows...
Waiste 44"
Hips 50"
Thighs 30.5"
Biceps 17"



Now let the work begin.

Pizza's Not for Breakfast!

It's Sunday Funday! That means sleeping in, cartoons, and big brunches, right?
Well, something like that. I did do the sleep in part but when I woke up I hadn't forgotten about the main task for today: buy a scale and get some measurements. First I needed fuel so it was off to the grocery store to figure out what delectable brunch I could make for myself.
 
 My boyfriend is working early and my roommate is out of town so it is just me to cook for. Now I know there is countless diets out there that claim to be fastest, healthiest, easiest, better, best, and so on... I can't say for certainty any of them are better than the other. My theory is this: We are all unique snowflakes. What works for one person may not work for another. What worked when you were 18 may not work when you are 28. I think the best thing is to be open mind and try to stay educated. Part if this blog will be an educational journey. Some of my ideas about food will surely change as I learn more. Right now I think I am going to try and stick with a low carb, high protein diet. I am choosing a low carb high protein diet because 1. I have seen it work for people. 2. I have had it work for me in the past and 3. there is a plethora of studies that show that low carb dieters tend to lose weight faster than people on a low fat diet. There are so many articles out there and some with conflicting information so it's hard to pin down the truth but one source I have found that I trust is NPR's Low-Carb vs. Low-Fat. I will do a blog another day expanding on my ideas behind choosing this path but for now what is important is having a game plan prior to going to the grocery store. Here is what my bounty looked like
 
 A bag of boneless skinless chicken breasts
 A carton of eggs
Some cooked ham slices
BabyBel cheese snacks
 Canned Tuna
 Canned vegetables
Pickles
 Almonds
Mozzarella slices
 Smoked Salmon
 Celery
 One Beautiful Tomato.
 Obviously this isn't a structured weeks of groceries by any means. My lifestyle is busy and not very structured so I know I won't commit to a weekly menu. It is great if you can, I envy you, but I'm going to be realistic here. I don't always cook and when I cook it isn't always at my own house. The idea behind this shopping trip is to get things that are very easy to grab and go. If I am in a hurry and there is nothing quick in the house I am more likely to make a trip through the drive-thru of Grease-R-Us. Chicken breasts are easy to grill up on the George Forman's Grill in no time. The majority of the eggs I will hard boil so they are an easy grab in the morning for breakfast along with some snack cheese and almonds (yay for protein). I love pickles and they are very low carb. Celery is one of the healthiest foods according to this article on Celery . I have heard celery described as an anti-food because you burn more calories digesting it than you get from consuming it. I prefer to by my meats and vegetables the day I am going to cook them for freshness but for the sake of having low carb options on hand I bought the celery. The tomato I used for breakfast this morning..
.
 A slice of tomato, a few of the ham slices, an over medium egg with melted mozzarella on top with a dash of Italian seasoning. It was delicious. So all fueled up it was time to go get supplies.

Saturday, July 6, 2013

The Journey Begins..




I would like to invite the people of the internet world to take a journey with me. I don't know if we will reach the intended destination but like Emerson said, "Life is a journey, not a destination." This journey is to take my tummy to rehab.
I want us to start at the very beginning with this. Right now I couldn't tell you how much I weigh exactly because I don't own a scale. I could guess but we will get "down and dirty" with that later. I will say I am no skinny girl trying to lose five pounds to look extra good next to my best friend in her wedding photos. I've always been a big girl, from a family of big girls, and that has never bothered me.
Please do not mistake my desire for this body transformation adventure as a sign of low self-esteem. I think I am beautiful. I grew up with a beautiful mother and beautiful sisters and have been fortunate enough to always have people in my life to remind me of this. I currently have a man in my life who is not shy to tell me he thinks I'm sexy and I adore that about him. I do think what it means to be "fat" is being re-defined in our generation. I think big women have the capacity to be equal, or even more, sexy than their model skinny counterparts and I am not alone in this. The growing business for plus size clothes, plus size models, and plus size porn stars means there are a lot of men out there to love women like me. This is not about that though.
This tummy training is about being healthy, learning something new, and proving to myself I am in control of my own body and destiny. 
During this blog I want to share progress and setbacks on trying to get in shape and lose weight. I will also share information I've learned, articles I've found that I find helpful or interesting on topics of weight loss and fitness. I want to share not only the physical transformation but the emotional ones as well as I know there will be times this will take an emotional toll.
I look forward tomorrow to starting with a bass weight and measurements to post.