Back in the Saddle

Hello everyone! Where do I begin? First by admitting that I disappeared for a bit. I took the summer off from blogging. I tried to maintain eating PINK but will fully admit that I strayed some, it certainly is hard to stay PINK while out vacationing and camping but I didn't do awful. I was pretty darn good until August and then a couple of silly things happened that sent my emotions into a tail spin. I am an emotional eater, always have been. The result of the poor eating and exercising choices made due to my emotional termoil was a weight gain of 6 pounds. I was surprised to find out just how powerful emotions can be in determining the food and exercise choices I make.
                                      

                                      

First, right around the beginning of August I had to go to the DMV to get my license replaced because I lost it while running in the Spartan Race. (Boy was that a fun experience, and yes that is me.) While waiting for 2+ hours at the DMV another gentleman there hit on me. Long story short he handed me a piece of paper with his phone number on it and said he thought I was nice and cute and that he would like to see me again. Yes, it was flattering. I had not been hit on in a very very long time. While it was flattering and did wonders for my self esteem, it made me feel uncomfortable. How is that for an oxymoron? I hate getting attention from men due to previous experiences in life. Subconsciously, I believe I ate myself fat as a way of protecting myself from all the bad things that "could" happen to me if people found me attractive. My  fat is/was my shield of protection. So to get this unwanted attention made me feel uncomfortable and fear that I could be in danger of getting hurt again which I believe attributed to me making bad food and exercise choices this summer. (Does that make sense to anyone else? If not that is okay, it makes sense to me.)

Secondly, in the middle of August, my husband and I celebrated our anniversary with a few days away in Las Vegas. This was a much anticipated trip because we hardly ever get  away without our 3 children. When we arrived in Vegas, we went to pick up a rental car and as we stepped up to the counter, the woman who worked there said to me, "How far along are you?" I knew that I must have heard her wrong because I had just spend the last six months working hard to lose 50 pounds, surely she wasn't asking me if I was pregnant, was she? I replied, "Excuse me?" and she said, "When are you due?" I told her, "Oh, no, I am not pregnant" and maintained my composure. The woman was mortified and wasn't trying to be mean, but man oh, man did those words hurt. We got to our rental car and I burst into tears. I thought to myself why in the world am I working so hard to lose weight if I am still going to look pregnant. Let's just say the eating went down hill right with my emotions. Wow, do words have a ton of power if you allow them to.

I allowed those words to have more power than they ever deserved. I dwelt on that one comment for weeks to come. That comment took my self esteem from sky high to right back where it was before I started PINK which was rock bottom. Now, looking back I can see this, but in that moment all of my old habits and thought processes flood back and slapped me in the face.

So here I am today...I started reset again this past Monday and lost the 6 pounds I gained back this summer. I have another week to go on reset and then I plan to start phase 1 all over again. I am not going to allow the fear of being hurt by words or actions have power over my weight and ultimately my health anymore. So if you gave up on yourself this summer for some silly reasons like I did, I have one question for you, will you join me again in trying to find your healthy self?    

Cauliflower and White Bean Hummus

Did you watch the Academy Awards last night? Me, kind of...when my kids would allow me to. All you mama's out there know how that goes. I was thumbing through the Everyday Food magazine the other day while waiting in line at the check stand and came across a recipe for a cauliflower and white bean dip that looked a lot like hummus. I quickly took a mental not of the ingredients and knew that it would be a perfect snack/dinner to have while watching the Oscars tonight.

Cauliflower and White Bean Hummus
1 head cauliflower
6 cloves garlic
1 can white beans
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup almond milk
Mrs. Dash Original

Method
Start by cutting up your head of cauliflower into bit size pieces.

Lay out on a cookie sheet along with your garlic, spray with a mist of olive oil and sprinkle cauliflower with Mrs. Dash or you seasoning of choice.

Roast at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until cauliflower has softened.

While it cauliflower is roasting, open the can of white beans drain the beans and rinse with water.

Add beans, roasted cauliflower, garlic, Dijon mustard, lemon juice and olive oil to your blender.


Blend until the dip is smooth, adding almond milk by the tablespoonful until it reaches the desired consistency, you may not need the entire 1/4 cup.

This will make about 2 cups of dip, I counted 1/2 cup as a serving because 1 serving of protein in PINK is  half a cup of beans.

Would you like a bite?

Serve with cut up vegetables.

I also made some vegetable stuffed mushrooms to complete the meal. A great little snack/dinner to have while  watching the Oscars. This would also be a great dish to take to a party so that you know that something there will be PINK approved.

Enjoy!

Finished with Phase 1 on to Phase 2

Well, I am now finished with phase 1 of the PINK method including the 4 day reset and I am starting phase 2 today. I took my after phase 1 pictures this morning and measured and let me say, I am SO pleased. This program is working for me like no other program has before. I have an excitement about it, it doesn't feel like a punishment like many other diets I have done, not sure if it is the program or simply a change in my attitude, either way I will take it.

I have not posted my weight loss totals or measurements before...stating that  didn't want others to compare to me, yet follow their own path and celebrate their own loses. I still feel that way but I got lots of emails asking how much weight I lost, what my height is, what my measurements are etc. So I have changed my view slightly on the subject, one because of the desire of people wanting to know and two because I have decided it is okay to celebrate my success, I worked hard for it and I want other's to know what is possible with the PINK method. So here you go!

Now for my measurements

	Before Reset	After Reset	After Phase 1	Total loss
Waist	48 inches	45 inches	41.5 inches	6.5 inches
Bust	47 inches	45 inches	42 inches	5 inches
Hips	45 inches	44 inches	41.5 inches	3.5 inches
Thigh	27 inches	26 inches	25 inches	2 inches

For a grand total of 17 inches lost of my entire body. I wish I had measured my arm also because I am sure I have lost there also. I may add that as a new measurement this time around.

On a side note, thank you to all of you who have been commenting and giving me your feedback. You will never know how much it means to me. 

My First Post

I have been a stay at home mom for a long time, my oldest is 13. I am guilty of putting everyone else's needs above my own and there fore I have ended up over weight, okay let's be honest, obese. Well, not any more. My youngest went off to school full time this year giving me a lot of free time. I decided that with that time, I was going to finally focus a little more on me and getting healthy. I have tried diet and exercise over the years but quickly became overwhelmed. For this weight loss journey I chose to break up the two and first focus on exercise and then add in the diet part when I felt I was able.

Me running the race!!

I am happy to report that on Thanksgiving day (2011) I ran in my first 5K. I completed the run with a finishing time of just under 45 minutes which was my goal. I was elated and overjoyed to reach my goal of running a 5k. I finally felt like I had exercising down, it was becoming enjoyable,and it didn't hurt all the time so I decided I needed to add in the diet portion to a healthy lifestyle. I have chosen to do the P.I.N.K. Method for my diet plan and am currently on my 4th day or reset. I am down 4 pounds and feel great! I have found that eating on this plan can be tricky just because it is a new diet plan and there are not a lot of resources out there. So I thought blogging one of my meals that I came up with might be fun and help encourage others.

Turkey Meatballs with Marinara Sauce over a Bed of Roasted Vegetables

Marinara Sauce (made enough to serve 6

1 28 ounce can of crushed tomatos (I used Hunt's 100% natural)

1/2 onion diced

2 cloves of garlic crushed

1 1/2 TBSP Italian seasoning

Dash of Balsamic Vinegar

To make sauce, saute onions and garlic until they soften, add can of tomatos and Mrs. Dash and let simmer for 30 minutes or so. Near the end add a dash of balsamic and stir. Add your cooked turkey meatalls and  let simmer about 5-10 more minutes.

Turkey Meatballs (made enough for 5, 4 ounce sevings)

1 package 97% fat free ground Turkey (20 ounces)

Few Shakes of Mrs. Dash Garlic and Herb seasoning

Dash of Balsamic Vinegar

Dash of pepper

To make meatballs, mix everything together and form into little meatballs. Saute in a pan with a little spray of canola oil until cooked through or mostly cooked through. They will cook in the sauce a little more so they don't have to be completely cooked.

Roasted Vegis (I ate the entrie amount, but eat what you want.)

1 small zuchini

1/4 red onion

1 cup brocolli

Mrs. Dash any flavor you like

To make the vegis, heat overn to 375, spread vegis on a cookie sheet, mist with olive oil or canola oil, whatever you have and sprinkle with Mrs. Dash. Roast about 20 minutes or until vegi's are tender.

To serve, lay roasted vegis on your plate and divide up the meatballs into five equal portions that way you know you are getting about 4 ounces since we used a 20 ounce package. Spoon sauce over meatballs and vegi's and Enjoy!

Edit: I should add that this is another family friendly meal if you add a tweak.  My family ate this also except instead of having it over roasted vegis, they ate it over whole wheat spaghetti noodles.