A Brief Background

I’m working on a detailed post about me and diets, and food, and exercise and all that good stuff. I actually have a post done, but it’s quite long, and I’m not sure if I should put that much information in it or if I should stick to the main points.

At a high-level, here’s me in a nutshell:

• My parents (especially my dad) are health freaks (my dad has been into organic foods for the last 30 years)
• I grew up eating wheat bread and veggies from my parent’s garden (white bread and junk foods were “no’s” in our house)
• In my childhood and teenage years, I spent 10 years of my life training in figure skating
• The first time I felt self-conscious about my weight was in high school
• In high school, for the last couple years, I thought it was a good idea to not eat breakfast or lunch
• In college, I totally pigged out on junk food
• During my sophomore year, a sushi chef at a restaurant where I worked called me “fat” (even though I was roughly a size 6-8 and not what I’d consider “fat”)
• Post-college, I dropped some serious weight “thanks” to a depression from a bad relationship
• During my second job (post-college), I was traveling for work and worried about gaining weight from being on expenses. I took up tennis to exercise and put serious pressure on myself to not eat too much (note: focus was amount of food, not quality)
• After my traveling project ended, I think I “rebelled” against my too-strict eating habits and fell into an exercise rut

This brings me to last year. Last year, I was in a serious rut. I was still eating pretty healthy foods, but nutrition wasn’t my focus. I was also completely un-motivated to work out. I thought I “didn’t have time.” (You’ve said that before, right?) Lack of time was my excuse. As I gained weight, less and less of my clothes fit. I started staring into my closets in the mornings getting ready for work frustrated that my clothes weren’t fitting but un-motivated nonetheless to do something about it.

Last December, after being fed-up with my clothes not fitting, I decided to try every single pair of bottoms I owned to see what fit. Only a few pairs fit…the bottoms that didn’t fit were stacked up and placed on a shelf in my closet. Sadly, about 16-20 pairs didn’t fit me (see picture of stacked pants).

Call it the straw that broke the camel’s back, but I was ready to take control of my health. I knew I knew how to take better care of myself…I just needed to put some effort into my well-being.

Following a Non-Diet

Fed up with my clothes not fitting and tired of using negative tactics to make myself “skinny”, as part of my New Year’s Resolutions for 2009, I decided to focus on my health. This time, I would pay attention to the positives instead of the negatives. This time, I would not make myself hungry. This time, I would eat till I was full, but I would focus on what I should be eating and not what I shouldn’t eat. This time, I would work on educating myself on nutrition and exercise. This time, I would prioritize good food and exercise at the top of my to-do list. “I don’t have time to work out” was no longer a valid excuse. The truth was I had time, but I was using it for other things. I decided to use more of my time to work out.

In a way, earlier this year, I returned to my roots – to what my parents have been lecturing me on for years (nutrition-wise). I tapped into my athletic nature. I tried to tap into a lifestyle I’d grown up with and apply it to my current lifestyle.

In February 2009, I took on Ellie Krieger’s 12 week program – Small Changes, Big Results . Ellie’s attitude towards a healthy lifestyle meshed well with my focus towards the positive attributes of healthy eating and exercise. I loved following her 12 week program!

Non-Diet Success

After having put major energy and attention into a more healthy lifestyle, I’ve seen some awesome weight loss results. Last week, I decided to try on some of the pants from my stack of bottoms I put in my closet last December. The results…I’ve tried a couple pairs and so far those pants fit again! Yay! I’ve been working on revamping my lifestyle since December and it’s great to see my hard work from the last 7 months pay off!

I’m happy that I’ve been enjoying my exercise (yay zumba!).

I’m happy that I’ve been enjoying my eating.

I’m happy that I’ve been able to lose weight, not by trying to eat less, but by trying to eat better.

I’m happy that my revamped eating habits have merged my parent’s healthy eating habits with my current lifestyle and that I can stay healthy even with a splurge here and there.

I’m happy that I’ve been able to learn so much more about foods and nutrition.

I’m happy that overall I’ve lost weight, but I’m mostly happy that I’ve done it my way and what I consider the right way.

I’m ecstatic with my results! I have more energy and I feel so much better about myself and in general.

Reader question: Have you been in a rut before? What did you do to get out of it?

My Last SCBR Post!!!

10:30 am – Breakfast in Bed – Content (5)

I didn’t have anything too crazy planned for my last day of SCBR, but I guess hubby did because he woke me up with breakfast in bed.

He made scrambled eggs with Mexican blend cheese and a Morningstar “sausage” patty for each of us. Hubby microwaved the patty and I thought it was surprisingly good cooked this way (as opposed to baking them like I usually do).

Hubby even made my coffee just the way I like it – sweet and milky.

12:30 pm – Mini Cinnamon Roll – Content (5)

Hubby and I went to Great Harvest to get one of the bread flavors I’ve been craving lately – Oat Bran.

I couldn’t resist grabbing one of these min cinnamon rolls while we were there.

After our errands, we met up with our realtor to go house-hunting! We just had 1 house to look at for Saturday and a few more scheduled for Sunday. The Saturday house was…uh…interesting. It would be a bit of a gamble buying it IMO, but who knows? No risk, no reward, right? It will be interesting to see how the houses we look at on Sunday compare.

After our house-hunting, I went with my realtor (who is my friend, too) to get a spa pedicure! I couldn’t help but think of Kelsey looking at all those nail polish bottles.

The salon had lots of pretty OPI colors, but I chose a bright orangy-red color. I love to do super bright colors when the weather is warm. Look who came over for my pedi picture…I swear, sometimes he poses himself…what a ham!

We grabbed smoothies afterwards for a quick lunch. I got the Protein Blast which had lots of good flavors, including: Strawberries, bananas, and soy milk. Yum!

After our pedis and smoothies, I went with my realtor friend to go bike shopping! I’ve been toying with the idea of getting a bike lately. I wanted to get one a few years ago, but didn’t want to fork out the cash. I bought this really out of shape bike at a garage sale a couple years ago for a mere $5, but never did anything with it. Now, I’m back in bike mode and would like to get a multi-tasking bike so I can use it for exercise and so I can possibly run local errands with it to be green. I found a nice commuter bike I liked and it was on sale, but I need to wait till I have money to buy one, so we’ll see…my 1 year anniversary is coming up. Is metal for the 1 year anniversary? lol…jk I think it’s paper.

6:30 pm – Quick Dinner – Content (5)

Although we’ve had shrimp the last 2 nights, we decided to go ahead and get more for Saturday’s dinner because it’s just so healthy and quick to cook. We had plans with friends later and the house hunting put us a little more behind than we expected, so a fast dinner was a must. I think this one took about 10 minutes…love that!

I did a dinner similar to Thursday night’s meal: seasoned shrimp sauteed in olive oil, steamed broccoli with a butter drizzle, and a piece of GH Oat Bran toast with butter.

7:30 pm – Dog Bar!

We met up with Kate, Nate , and Kelsey at the local Dog Bar for a fun-filled Saturday.

Bailey had fun wandering around and making new friends.

Gilbert (click for bio) made an appearance, too.

We were happy to see Bailey and Gilbert seemed to get along quite well. I see a new friendship blossoming here.

The dog bar had some cool features, too, like this fire hydrant…

…and this dog treat dispenser.

There was the cutest little puppy there last night – I think he/she was the fave of the group.

Kate played photographer for us so we could get a family shot. I think she did a great job – this picture came out awesome!

We got a family shot for the Gilbert fam, too.

The dog bar was super fun…I hope we get to go back soon.

We stayed till it got dark outside and tried to take more photos, but Bailey was too excited to sit still, so they came out blurry.

As the night went on, everyone started getting hungry. Hubby and I were the only ones who ate before the Dog Bar. So, we all headed over to Revolution Pizza . I was still full from dinner, but hubby got a small red pizza with pepperoni and jalapenos. Everyone’s food looked great, so I’m hoping we come back soon and I can try some of the yummy-looking pizza.

Well, for SCBR, I guess that’s all folks. I’ve had a lot of fun with this 12 week program and I’m hoping to do a book review and summary post in the next couple of days. Till then, happy weekend!

7:30 am – Coffee – Content (5)

I managed to get to bed a little earlier than I have been lately, but felt just as tired as normal in the AM. I started the day with a nice cuppa Fresh Market Breakfast Blend .

9:30 am – Banana Flaxseed Oats – First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

We had one organic banana leftover from this week’s organic produce delivery, and it was looking pretty ripe, so I did a repeat of yesterday’s breakfast today – Banana Flaxseed Oats.

2:30 pm – Heavy Hors D’Ouevres – First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

My company had its quarterly meeting today, so I left the office early and headed over to meet the group. I was so busy at work, I was hoping to grab a quick sub before heading over, but I didn’t even have time for that. Luckily, my company had some faboo heavy hors d’ouevres at the meeting, so I snacked up!

I wanted to take a picture, but the lighting was so dark…darker than normal. We actually had our meeting inside a movie theater. We didn’t watch any movies, but they did put our presentation on the big screen.

Anywho, I loaded up on veggies: carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower – all with a dabble of ranch dressing. I also had about 3 pita chips with some cheesy spinach dip, 1 slice of thin-crust margarita pizza, 1 slider, and some sweet potato chips. For dessert, I filled half a plate with fruit: pineapple, melon, cantaloupe, 1 raspberry, 1 blackberry, and some strawberry pieces.

6:15 pm – 1/2 Zumba! – Happy

My company meeting lasted until 6pm, but I decided to go ahead and try to make the majority of the class, thinking it started at 6pm and I may be able to make the last 45 minutes. Unfortunately, I forgot the class actually started at 5:45pm, so I only did half. Oh well, I figured half a class was better than no class, right?

8:30 pm – Simple Shrimp Pasta – First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

In the fridge, we had some organic cherry tomatoes that were starting to go, so I decided to finish out what I could of the carton in the form of pasta.

We also had some shrimp leftover from yesterday since hubby accidentally picked up too much. Hubby waited till today to peel the shrimp and I cooked them up for tonight’s pasta dinner with some salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes – and towards the end garlic.

I also used some pasta water and chicken broth to make a light sauce for the dish.

For the base, I used linguine pasta. This was a super simple shrimp pasta dish that came together quickly and used up a lot of ingredients we already had on hand. I love those kinds of meals sometimes! I started out with a small portion and waited a bit after finishing my plate to determine if I was truly hungry for seconds. I’m working on trying to eat more intuitively again since I’ve been reaching the “full (7)” state of my Hunger Continuum a lot lately. For tonight, I was a bit hungry still several minutes after eating my first bowl of pasta, so I grabbed just a bit more.

For dessert, I had 2 of those TJ’s Blueberry Shortcake Bites with a wee bit of 2% milk.

I started out with just the 2 bites and decided to get 2 more to round out the evening. They were topped off nicely by the smooth milk.

Wow…can’t believe I only have 1 day left of SCBR!

7:30 am – Coffee – Content (5)

I started today with a nice hot cuppa joe in Fresh Market Breakfast Blend flavor. I ran out of my soy creamer a couple days ago and have been using 2% milk and sugar to finish the mug.

9:00 am – Banana Flaxseed Oats – First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

This morning, I had a nice, cozy bowl of oats with more of that flaxseed stuff (which I’m currently storing in the freezer at work).

Pre-cooking ingredients:

• 1/4 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup water

Microwaved for 60 seconds

Post-cooking ingredients:

• a few tbsp of 2% milk
• about 3/4 sliced banana (I just ate the rest while I made my oats)
• 1 tbsp dry toasted TJ’s almonds
• 1 tsp blueberry-milled flaxseed from TJ’s

1:00 pm – Leftover Spinach Ravioli – First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

I ate the rest of my spinach ravioli from last night’s dinner for lunch. It reheated surprisingly well and I still thoroughly enjoyed the flavor. Just wish I had a nice hunk of foccacia to go with it!

5:00 pm – Organic Fruit Snack – Content (5)

I was getting pretty hungry towards the end of the day, but I didn’t want to eat one of my snack bars, so I just had this TJ’s Apple Strawberry Organic fruit bar.

It wasn’t very filling, but it tasted good and was better than eating nothing.

After work, hubby and I took Bails for a car ride to go house-hunting. Hubby had found a couple houses online and we wanted to see what they looked like in person. I think after house-hunting for the last 4-ish years like we have, I’m pretty apprehensive about actually buying a house, so I hope I’m not putting too much pressure on myself to find the perfect house. I guess we’ll know we want it when we see it right? We’re thinking about booking an appointment to see one. It’s not in the neighborhoods we’re currently eyeing, but we can’t really afford anything where we’re currently looking, so maybe it’s time to expand our search?

8:00 pm – Spicy Shrimp, Steamed Broccoli, and Chips + Queso – First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

I was already hungry when I left work, so after the house-hunting, I was really hungry. As soon as we got home, I got started on a quick dinner. First, I chopped up some organic broccoli and got that going in the steamer.

I did a quick spice mix for the shrimp while hubby peeled them.

In the bowl:

• salt
• pepper
• garlic powder
• onion powder
• cumin
• paprika
• cayenne pepper

I mixed this op and sprinkled it over the raw shrimp.

Then, I drizzled a bit of extra virgin olive oil into the pan and then in went the shrimp, which I sauteed till cooked through.

I drizzled the broccoli with a wee bit of melted butter and served it with the shrimp and some of the tortilla chips we picked up on our way home from house-hunting. We also got some queso, which I had a hard time resisting tonight, but I managed to stop eating before getting “full” so yay!

Dinner was super fast and relatively healthy (more so if I got a better carb), so I’ll have to remember this one for the next time I need a quick meal after a long day of work.

What’s your fave thing to cook after an extra long, hard day of work? Do you prefer to unwind by cooking something slowly or cook something that comes together quickly?

Well, I remembered my camera today, but when I went to take a picture of my breakfast, I discovered the battery was dead. *sad face*

7:30 am – Coffee – Content (5)

I had a nice big mug of Fresh Market Spring Blend to get me going this morning.

9:00 am – Strawberry/Blueberry-Flaxseed Oats – First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

I made a bowl of oatmeal with fresh, organic strawberries, dry-toasted almonds, and a sprinkling of that blueberry flaxseed stuff I got at TJ’s yesterday. The bowl was kinda pretty so I’m sad I didn’t get a photo. Oh well. The camera is charing now, so hopefully, I’ll have some photos for tomorrow.

1:30 pm – Leftover Salmon + Leek Wild Rice + Cherry Tomatoes – First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

I had the rest of the salmon and leek wild rice from yesterday’s lunch. I also brought some organic cherry tomatoes for some veg action. I’m glad I brought the tomatoes – they were very refreshing.

6:30 pm – Fiammas – Full (7)

I met a friend for dinner tonight at a local Italian restaurant – Fiamma . We started dinner with some foccacia and pesto olive oil.

I had a glass of white wine.

We each got the 3-course dinner (currently offered Mon-Wed). I started with the blood orange salad.

My friend started with the vegetable croquettes. We shared a couple bites of each to experience more flavors.

Post app, we got a bite of sorbet.

Then, it was entree time! I got the spinach ravioli prepared with homemade ravioli and red sauce and sage…yum! I definitely prefer fresh pasta whenever I can get it.

For my dessert course, I got the tiramisu…

…with some decaf coffee.

At the end of the meal, we even got a free sample of their house-made limoncello – how cool!?

Dinner was fab and it was great catching up.

Hopefully, I’ll have more photos tomorrow. Till then, g’night!