They say time is the fire in which we burn

The last two days have been busy, really busy, incredibly busy. OK you get the point. Lots to do and no time to get it done.

In the past when I was under a time crunch I'd shut down, go into machine mode and "crunch" until I was done. That normally included eating poorly and mindlessly. Now though, I made time and slowed it down so I could bring focus to what is important. I made the time to fix healthy meals and gave myself time to focus on my body and stop eating when I was full. Wolfing down food and diving back into work typically results in overeating.

What I didn't have time for yesterday, and really not today either, was to blog about the day. Priorities. Setting the important ones means getting healthy :) and gives me back some time.

So I spent the last two days eating left overs for lunch, which works fine, so long as I focus on portion control and what I'm eating.

I made pasta for dinner last night, two separate pots of pasta, my whole wheat pasta from Barilla (higher in fiber) and the family had a pot of Rigatoni (also from Barilla) but not whole wheat. They had a traditional meat sauce while I roasted veggies in the oven with a bit of olive oil. I'm trying to get my family to taste what I make and see if I can win them over. In the meantime, since I am the family cook, I am going to keep finding ways to refine, reduce and make healthier what I make them to eat. Last night that effort involved quite simply not making as much for them, in the past I would dump a whole box of pasta in the water, a whole jar of sauce and Bobs your uncle we had a dinner. Instead I read the serving size on the side of the box/jar reduced it down to the number of people eating (wife, son and daughter = 3) and made only that amount. No going back for seconds, everyone had to portion out an equal amount (divvied into three shares) and they all had three servings of garlic bread as well. I was hoping to encourage them to add some of my roasted veggies :).

Next time I'll cook only my Barilla whole wheat pasta (in my opinion it tastes just as good) I am looking at making a homemade sauce with fresh and roasted tomato's so i can at least deliver a healthier sauce for them. I think if I just don't make the bread (which I partook of) or have some veggie alternative (a salad or side dish) I may eventually get them going down my path, giving me more time :) since I'll only be cooking one meal :)

I wouldn't have done this before, I've always known "how" to read labels I just never did. Now it seems like all I am doing. Hopefully I know this will lead down a path that is better for me and my family.

Menu for the last two days.
Thursday:

Breakfast - Good old Kashi GoLean a banana and half a cup of milk. Calories 345, Fiber 7g, Fat 2.5

Snack - Orange Calories 62, Fiber 4g

Lunch - Sesame Noodle Salad with 1/2 cup of broccoli Calories 368, Fiber 13.8g, Fat 9g

Snack - Zesty Bean and Chips Calories 210, Fiber 4g, Fat 8g

Dinner - A combo of Mediterranean Roasted Broccoli and Tomato's with a serving of Barilla Whole Grain Penne and yes a single serving of garlic bread. Calories 392, Fiber 12g, Fat 9.8

Total: Calories 1379. Fiber 40.8g, Fat 29.3

Friday:

Breakfast - Good old Kashi GoLean a banana and half a cup of milk. Calories 345, Fiber 7g, Fat 2.5

Snack - Orange Calories 62, Fiber 4g

Lunch - Sesame Noodle Salad with 1/2 cup of broccoli and a Cup of Treetop Organic no sugar added Applesauce Calories 468, Fiber 16.8g, Fat 9g

Snack - Zesty Bean and Chips Calories 210, Fiber 4g, Fat 8g

Dinner - Pocket Veggie Sandwich - 1 serving Oroweat Pocket Thin (1/2 a pita bread with 5g fiber and 100 calories so like a slice of bread) with a serving of Cucumber & Black Eye Pea Salad stuffed inside. Calories 261, Fiber 8g, Fat 11.5g

Total: Calories 1348, Fiber 39.8, Fat 31g

Not bad for a day of repeats :)

Changing the pace

One of my Lazy Workout tasks has been to take the stairs rather than ride the elevator. I'm on the third floor at work but the tasks says, start with one flight and then ride the rest of the way, until you can handle two flights. I can handle one flight easy (I do it all the time when I work with the other devs on the second floor) so i thought I'd go for two today. I think I'll just stick to one :) for awhile but if I do it everyday instead of once in awhile I think two flights will come sooner rather than later.

I spent some time tinkering with my intake to make sure I am not overdoing my fat intake (daily recommened allowance hovers between 65g - 70g as far as I can tell) so for now on I'll be adding the fat grams into my calculations each day. This is all about finding that groove where I am slowly stripping away the weight :)

Menu for today

Breakfast - 1 cup of Kashi GoLean, 1 small banana and 1/2 cup of 2% milk. Calories 345, Fiber 7g and Fat 2.5g

Snack - Peanut and Golden Raisin mix Calories 300, Fiber 4g, Fat 14g

Lunch - Baked Potato and single serving of TFPD's Vegetarian Chili (sans the Bulgar, which I was out of, and the yogurt) with a 1/4 cup of grated Monteray Jack (which I know replaces the missing calories from the yogurt and Bulgar). Calories 378, Fiber 17g, Fat 9.2g

Snack - (if I'm hungry) Pink Lady Apple. Calories 100, Fiber 4g, Fat 0

Dinner - 1 cup Spicy Vegetable Soup and 1/2 Sandwich (my bag lunch sandwich recipie in an earlier post) Calories 357, Fiber 12g, Fat 11.3g

Total
Calories = 1480
Fiber = 44
Fat = 37 (Ya! almost half RDA)

Just keep on keepin' on

Did I just date myself? Um. Yep. but that's OK we all have a "fresh by" date and I still believe I am well inside the "fresh" zone.

I've been thinking that losing weight is odd as a goal in and of itself. I think instead the goal is to be healthy, happy and fit, losing weight is just part of the formula to attain my goal. Being overweight is, granted, a sucky thing and losing it is a chore but the real question is, how did I get here and why did I let myself go this far. So if being overweight isn't the cause but instead is a result of some action or inaction on my part what is the cause?

Laziness? Well yes that is part of it, but I am not lazy in all parts of my life, the things I like to do I do well and I am willing to work hard for. I think instead the thing that is killing me, is fear of failure.

I hate to fail, I mean I really hate to lose, fail or make mistakes. A few years back I saw a movie that both my daughter and I LOVE, it was called Meet The Robinson's a great picture from Disney. I won't go into details beyond the theme, failure is a necessary part of advancement, if you want to succeed at something you have to be prepared to fail first. The secret is you try again and again and again. Until you succeed. One of the lines from the movie really stuck with me, "In failure we learn. In success, not so much", I think this theme resonated because it has been something I struggled with all my life.

I'm not risk adverse on the fun things, bungee jumping, hiking, climbing, skateboarding yeesh you name it I was willing to put it all out there. No I am risk adverse on the important things, the hard things, the things I have to really work at, you know, the things that matter. I look for the easy path, is that laziness? maybe instead I think it's because it's easy (meaning a low chance of spectacular failure).

So I named the blog "Keep Moving Forward" taken from a quote by Walt Disney inserted into the credits at the end of Meet The Robinson's, "Around here, however, we don't look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we're curious... and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths. - Walt Disney" and i am going to start practicing a bit of that "not looking backwards" starting today. I will instead focus on my destination and the path I am on here, now.

All of the above was to support this, I weighed myself last night and my progress for the week? Only a little over a pound. I was hoping to hang onto the 3+ pounds a week even though I knew it wasn't reasonable without larger changes in my exercise. So I am upping the ante a bit for this week, walking a bit more, moving often and always. The one thing I'm not changing? My diet. The food I am eating is good for me, the portions are correct and the energy level I have is great, I'm not going backwards it just slowed down a tad and I need to up my game :)

Menu:

Breakfast - 1 cup of Kashi GoLean, 1/2 cup of 2% and a small banana - Calories 345, Fiber 7g

Snack - TFPDs Zesty Bean and Chip recipe Calories 210, Fiber 4g

Lunch - Veggie & Bean Tostada Calories 377, Fiber 18g

Snack - Pink Lady Apple - Calories 100, Fiber 5g

Dinner - Asparagus Szcheuan Stir Fry - 1 cup asparagus, 2 cups broccoli, 1 cup snow peas, 1 cup celery chopped, 1 cup bok choy, 2tbs soy sauce, 2tbs mirin, 2 tbs sesame oil, 1/2 cup tomato sauce, 1tbs peanut butter and 1tbs red pepper flakes. Serves 2 Calories 231, Fiber 12.5

Total:
Calories 1263
Fiber 46.5

Get behind me quick and easy fast food...

Woke up this morning with a plan to make a smoothie for breakfast, a bit of 2% milk, a bit of Fage 2% plain yogurt, some frozen berries, a tsp of honey and away I go. Pretty easy to pull off and tasty to boot.

Not happening. I open the fridge, no milk. I'm looking at the clock and I had set aside enough time to get up, shower, iron my work clothes and make a quick smoothie to take with me. I didn't plan on my plan not being doable. Ugh.

In the past I would have just said "no problem, I'll just stop at McD's" and I almost did that, my lazy old self said "Hey they have Oatmeal bowls with fresh fruit in them, that might work" and my new self said "You have no idea what they add to that or the nutritional value, look in the fridge again". So I looked.

Since I started this diet I have been making sure to load my fridge and counters up with fruit, I have discovered a friend in fruit. No fat, low calorie, high fiber fruit. The safe snack. I have been adding fruit to my breakfast, and my snack options and It has made a huge difference for me. One apple at mid day kills that urge to snack, that urge that had me eating chips, candy and let's just be honest, garbage. And not only was I eating those things, I was mindlessly eating those things, out of the bag, while I am distracted, either by work or entertainment. Eating fruit requires me to interact with my food, peel the orange, slice up the apple, remove pits from a cup full of cherries, what ever the fruit is I have to pay attention to it. No more mindless eating.

Back to my breakfast dilemma in progress, another quick glance and I saw enough fruit to possibly satisfy my morning hunger. I grabbed an apple, an orange and a cup of cherries. Total calories? 266 and Fiber? 10.5g. I decided not to bring the Greek yogurt and just go au naturale and tossed them in my back pack with my lunch (prepped the night before) and boogied to work.

I wasn't sure a few pieces of fruit was going to hold me till lunch. I didn't need to worry, not only was I fine I had tons of energy and knocked out 2 video editing projects before I knew it.

I was curious what McD's oatmeal bowls looked like nutritionally so I looked them up.

McDs Fruit and Maple Oatmeal Bowl: 290 Calories, 5g Fiber, 4.5g Fat, 32g Sugar and 5g Protein.
Ingredients: Oatmeal (Whole grain rolled oats, brown sugar, food starch-modified, salt, natural flavor (plant source), barley malt extract, caramel color) Dices Apples, Cranberry Raisin blend and Cream.

McDs Blueberry Banana Nut Oatmeal: 290 Calories, 5g Fiber, 8g Fat, 21g Sugar and 6g Protein.
Ingredients: Banana Oatmeal (Whole grain rolled oats, brown sugar, dried crushed banana, food starch-modified, natural flavor (wheat and botanical source), salt, spices.) Blueberries, Cream and Walnuts.

Not bad but I definitely get more fiber, less fat and no modified food starch and natural flavors when I make my food at home.

Moral of the story? Fruit is good and real change begins in the brain and the heart. I could have taken the lazy route and instead I took the right path aka "the road less traveled" and I plan am taking this path to its destination, my new health.

Menu for today:

Breakfast - Fruit! Apple, Orange and a cup of cherries Calories = 266, Fiber 10,5g

Snack - None I was not hungry

Lunch - Baked Potato and single serving of TFPD's Vegetarian Chili (sans the Bulgar, which I was out of, and the yogurt) with a 1/4 cup of grated white cheddar (which I know replaces the missing calories from the yogurt and Bulgar). Calories 378, Fiber 17

Snack - Peanut and Raisin Mix - Calories 244 and 4.5

Dinner - Vegetarian Tortilla Soup recipe serves 2, Calories 305 and Fiber 8g:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 large onion

1-3 teaspoons hot paprika

1 32oz Vegetable Broth (I like Wolfgang Pucks Organic)

4 medium plum tomatoes

1 medium yellow summer squash

1 cup of asparagus

2 cups fresh spinach

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (or to taste)

 1tbs red pepper flakes (or to taste)

2 corn tortillas

Heat 1.5tbs oil (reserve 1/2 a tbs) in a pot over medium heat. Add onion, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown, about 6 minutes. Add paprika and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add broth, tomatoes, squash, and asparagus; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are just tender, about 12 minutes. Stir in spinach; continue cooking until heated through, 2 to 4 minutes more.

While soup is cooking brush the tortillas with the reserved EVOO and place under a broiler until browned on both sides (tops 2 minutes).

Once soup is ready crumble the tortillas into the bowls, ladle the soup in as well bowls and top with fresh cilantro.

Total:

Calories = 1193
Fiber = 40

Weekend in a nutshell...

I am finally starting some yoga/Pilate's exercises today, I am going to go slow on this one so I don't short-circuit my desire to begin working out. I also added another Power-up to my SuperBetter routine called Lazy Exercise which, as I have said before, is right up my alley. It turns everyday activities into health choices. Going to the store? Park farther out in the lot than you normally do. Sitting around listening to music? Get up and dance. Sitting down or standing still? Get up and move :) Sounds a lot easier than reserving time in your day to go to a gym hence the name :)

I mentioned SuperBetter awhile back and I'll recommend it again. Turning activities I don't enjoy into a game makes my competitive self strive a little bit harder :).

The game is not just for weight loss the creator of the game came up with the idea after suffering TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) that left her in pain that eventually became depression. As a game designer she both made games for a living but also loved playing them. After a month of crushing depression and constant headaches her sister invited her to play a co-op game online. She joined her sister online and began playing. After a few weeks she noticed some thing had changed with her, even though she still suffered the headaches her depression had receded significantly. It made her TBI issues manageable.

So she began looking into the theory of game play and health and there were tons of studies showing that playing games, any games, was good for you. She began work on SuperBetter and here we are today. If you'd like to hear her thoughts on this (and I highly recommend this) check out her Ted talk from this year,

So weight loss for me is now partly a game :) and that is a good thing because I LOVE games and I love winning almost as much :)

Menu for the weekend:

Breakfast - PB&J Smoothie (I made this one up) Calories 405, Fiber 6g

Snack (if I'm hungry) - 1 Medium Orange Calories 69, Fiber 3g

Lunch - MIke's Bag Lunch (this will be a regular so I named it) 2 slices of Dave's Killer Bread 21 Grain, half a medium avocado, 1/3 English cucumber sliced and slice of thin cut deli ham. Calories 460, Fiber 14g
Snack - Pear Calories 100 , Fiber 5g

Dinner - TFPD Sesame Noodle and a Spinach salad (1cup wilted spinach, 1tsp sesame oil and 1tbs lemon juice) Calories 365, Fiber 14.5g

Total:
Calories = 1399
Fiber = 42.5

Sunday:

Breakfast - TFPD Polenta Scramble Calories 315, Fiber 6g

Snack - Pink Lady Apple Calories 130 , Fiber 5g

Lunch - MIke's Bag Lunch (this will be a regular so I named it) 2 slices of Dave's Killer Bread 21 Grain, half a medium avocado, 1/3 English cucumber sliced and slice of thin cut deli ham. Calories 460, Fiber 14g
Snack - 1 Medium Orange Calories 69, Fiber 3g

Dinner - Grilled chicken ,zucchini, polenta and 1/2 a serving of the Half hour Chili  (BBQ for the fam here is my version) 1 medium chicken breast no skin, dry BBQ rub, 1 large zucchini and one serving of polenta (I cut them into rectangles) 1/2tbs olive oil. Brush the veggie and the polenta with olive oil and place the works on the grill. Calories 564, Fiber 10.5g

Total:
Calories = 1540
Fiber = 38.5

Nearly Vegitarian

Nearly vegitarian, that is how I am describing my diet to my friends. I say nearly because the decision isn't based on some philisophical decision, or moral objection but purely as a way to "control" the pace of my weight loss. Less meat = a more consistent loss of weight.

Nearly vegitarian because when I make a sandwich I occasionally add a few very thin slices of ham or turkey. I'll be manning the BBQ this weekend for my family who has been begging for BBQ chicken, will I partake? Yes. Will it be what I used to do (overeat)? No. I'll have one chicken breast grilled no sauce just seasoning, grilled polenta and veggies to round out the plate. I may swap the polenta and just go with grilled fresh corn on the cob.

Any way you look at it I still love meat, I just understand that to get healthy meat needs to be the side dish, not the main course. So that is what I mean be nearly vegitarian :)

Menu for today:

Breakfast - Kashi GoLean, 1 small banana, 1/2 cup of 2% milk Calories 345, Fiber 7g

Snack - Ants on a Log (I went slimmer today less peanut butter) 4 Stalks of celery, 1tbs of peanut butter and 1/4 cup of raisins. Calories 180, Fiber 4.5g

Lunch - TFPD's Sesame Noodle Salad 1cup of cherries and 1oz (about 10 chips) of Food Should Taste Good Multigrain Chips Calories 554, Fiber 15g

Snack - One Orange Calories 62, Fiber 3g

Dinner - TFPD's Half Hour Chili on a medium baked potato Calories 378, Fiber 17g

Total:
Calories = 1519
Fiber = 46.5


edit: I added baked potato to the dinner chili

Accountability, public and private :)

So I shared with my family a few weeks back my new direction and what it means to me. At first it was just so they could understand why Sunday morning breakfasts (which I always prepared for the family) was going to be significantly different moving forward. With Atkins it was all to easy to plan a big breakfast (so long as it wasn't waffles, french toast or pancakes) I'd make a frittata, omelette's, scrambled eggs, eggs over (what ever you wanted) and more eggs. I would include, breakfast sausage, bacon or whatever was available. It was easy (more or less) and I felt like I was "providing" for the family. In reality I was feeding them what I was eating, and now I think, not such a healthy solution for them.

Back to the accountability thing, I shared with my family, co-workers (who honestly see me more than my family does) and friends what my direction looks like, my goals and the one big goal I have set. We do a yearly walking, running, moving contest centered around creating teams who can log the most distance traveled. Everyone gets pedometers and it is a month of tracking. I've skipped out every year because walking hurts when you weight as much as I do. So my goal is by next July I will be on a team, contributing to a goal. No quitting, complaining or dodging.

I have a few friends I check in with a few times a week, letting them know how I'm doing also so I have group and individual accountability and encouragement.

I haven't been accountable to anyone in a long time, maybe its time I was :)

Menu:

Breakfast - Kashi GoLean, 1 small banana, 1/2 cup of 2% milk Calories 345, Fiber 7g

Snack - 3 stalks of celery, 2tbs Peanut butter and 1/8 cup raisins (yes Ants on a Log) Calories 292 ,Fiber 6g

Lunch - Mikes Bag Lunch (this will be a regular so I named it) 2 slices of Daves Killer Bread 21 Grain, half a medium avacado, 1/3 english cucumber sliced and slice of thin cut deli ham. Calories 460, Fiber 14g

Snack - Red Cherries- Calories 104, Fiber 3.5g

Dinner - Asparagus Szcheuan Stir Fry - 1 cup asparagus, 2 cups brocolli, 1 cup snow peas, 1 cup celery chopped, 1 cup bok choy,  2tbs soy sauce, 2tbs mirin, 2 tbs sesame oil, 1/2 cup tomato sauce, 1tbs peanut butter and 1tbs red pepper flakes. Serves 2 Calories 231, Fiber 12.5

Total:
Calories = 1432
Fiber = 43g