The Monday after...

A weekend full of work, frustration and lots of food.

The good thing is, I worked for 5 straight hours both days without slowing down so I could log that as "exercise". I ate cole slaw, sushi (yes sushi... I like crunchy rolls now, go figure), veggie straws (the organic brand sucks, definitely not as good as my normal brand, cake, ice cream (both small quantities), one chicken finger, a peach mango smoothy (sooo good), and corn bread.


Yummy Kroger Shrimp & Crab Crunchy Role!

Let's talk Hoggy's for a minute. I know you all know I loved that place, and yes, I use past tense. Hoggy's is dead to me. Not only because they've closed down all but one of their locations, but because the one they left running is the worst one! My father, sister and I wanted some BBQ and because we kinda loved Hoggy's we logically set out to indulge in some pulled pork, baked potatoes and mac and cheese.

We were greeted nicely at the door and sat by the server who would be taking care of us. His name was Bill. While Bill was seemingly pleasant, I had to admit his service definitely was not top notch. I'm allowed to comment on his service because I'm a server. I'm allowed to judge, because no matter the restaurant that you work at, you should provide excellent service. I always do unless the table has started treating me like crap, at which point I just stop pushing my extra happy self and instead just give them happy.

Bill got our drink order out to us and then we proceeded to order, the conversation went as follows:

Dad - "I'd like the pulled pork wrap with fries."
Bill - "Well... we ran out of fries, (pause) and baked potatoes."
Dad - insert slight grunt noise here.
Me - " Well that sucks cause all I wanted for dinner was a baked potato."
Bill - "Yeah... what other side would you like?"

Needless to say, I was not happy. I just wanted to get a baked potato with butter, bbq pulled pork and some cheese. They don't really have anything else besides the mac and cheese that is worthy of eating. So instead I ordered chicken fingers and mac and cheese :) You'd think that would be easy enough right? Nope... they fried my fingers to a crisp. Bill brought out my sister and dad's entrees explaining that mine were over done and he was having them remade. 20 minutes later I finally got my fingers but my mac and cheese was cold, so were my dad's sweet potatoes. Bill kinda sucked at refilling our drinks, but that was because he had some important texting to get in while on the clock. Hey Bill? Next time I would suggest hiding somewhere a little better before you spend 5 minutes straight texting.

The meal essentially sucked. Again, Hoggy's is dead to me... City BBQ here I come.

On a side note, I bought yet another DVD player when mine went on strike... as soon as I got it, the old one started working again. Soo I need to return it to the store, again! My dad was able to reattach my cupboard door that randomly fell off, and my sister was able to put my keyboard stand together.

Squash & Snow

First off, my friend Sam told me that Jym Ganahl is having some issues with his live weather tweets... he told us no snow in the forecast for at least 6 hours... less than two hours after he published that we had an inch... Jym boy, let's work on those cloud reading skills shall we? Sooo, the first real snow of the season is on the ground and the wind is blowing my friends. But let's take a journey into the warm kitchen where I will be teaching you about Spaghetti Squash.

I've heard of this mystical veggie before in passing but recently an old high school friend has been sharing her love of it on facebook. Obviously since it's on facebook it has to be worthy of a taste test! It is a veggie that, when cooked, comes apart in long strands. Both the texture and color resemble spaghetti noodles. It took me visiting two Kroger's before I was able to actually buy the squash, but I stuck to my guns and found it.


It's pretty boring looking if you ask me. I was also worried about the dents and bruises indicating that there would be badness on the inside but no worries, it was just fine. Google and I decided the best and easiest way to cook the squash is to cut it into halves length wise, so the "noodles" are as long as possible. Once you've got it open, you need to scrape out the seeds and guts just like you would a pumpkin. You should end up with something like this...


Place the halves, rind up, on a greased cookie sheet and cook at 350 degrees for 30 minutes... voila!



Now you can just take a fork and start combing the squash from the rind. It comes off super easy and in fact, looks exactly like spaghetti!




I just sauteed some peppers and onions, added some light Prego sauce (totally disgusting and water and not worth the 60 calories) and topped with 2% mozzarella cheese.


Over all, I would say it was a 5 out of 10. I really think if I added steamed broccoli, cauliflower and carrots, fat free ranch and chicken that this could have potential as a pasta craving substitute... or maybe the basil pesto with spinach, tomatoes and feta. I guess it wasn't horrible if I'm already thinking about experimenting again :)

Also, for your information... I went to the gym and did both cardio and weights tonight. I also decided that as much as I like paying off my CCs, I like losing weight more. I will be texting my trainer tomorrow so I can start up sessions next week.

Turbulence

Yesterday was a bust. I appreciate all the support and words of encouragement and advice :) It made me feel better and ready to take the bull by the horns... after I ate ice cream.

I did, I ate one of those horribly small looking pints of ice cream(that they somehow pack 4 servings into), I even put some chocolate sauce on it. I do blame the social that I was at earlier in the evening. I ate my lean cuisine before heading out to the event,I had one glass of red wine, steered clear of the goopy yumminess of the spinach artichoke dip and fried pita chips. I declined a free drink. I mean, I was on a role! I mean really, who turns down a free drink!?

And then the bar started getting packed. It was worse than a game of sardines. I love being around people, I'm a gorgeous social butterfly, but last night was pure cray cray. I was overwhelmed and needed to decompress... with ice cream. I was at the gas station emptying my wallet by filling the gas tank when the freezer section started singing a siren's song. And let me tell you, Snicker's ice cream is really not that great. It lacked the full snickers experience, hence having to add the chocolate sauce.

I should have stopped at the half cup serving size, but I kept on going. I deserved it after a random russian man walked away from our conversation quite abruptly... and then a nice, shorter than I'm attracted to, guy chatted me up for over a half hour and then asked for my number. I don't know how to say no very well, so I gave it to him. Womp womp. He said he'd call me, I said I had to go sell tickets and we parted ways. He resembled a boomerang because at the end of the social he found his way back to my side and stood there, silently... slightly awkward in my opinion. Then he hugged me again, forgot to mention that first hug, sorry.

Can I say I earned my ice cream? I feel like I did. I wish making polite conversation burned calories, because that was quite the workout.

Weigh In Disaster

Well, today is gonna be fun. I just had a morning that every person who is trying to lose weight dreads. Let's set the stage for the morning starting with setting an alarm to actually weigh in. In previous weeks, I've forgotten that Wednesday was weigh in day. In an effort to remember, and because I was super excited about weighing in, I made a reoccurring calendar reminder for Wednesday mornings at 7:10.

I should have known that the alarm not going off was the first sign to how horribly it was going to go. I stepped on the scale and saw... that nothing had changed. Now, before you say, 'Lindsay, that's not bad. You didn't gain any weight!' Let me tell you that I secretly checked myself on Saturday before heading to work and the scale said the same damn thing. Not one change the entire week. This leads me to believe that the scale is broke!

The only good news out of this is that I was forced to open the new one I got for Christmas. It's all high tech and checked your body fat percentage with water weight, blah blah. I hadn't opened it yet because to get the battery to work you needed to unscrew the lid and pull off this plastic tab. I'd tried pulling it without unscrewing it and also unscrewing it. Both attempts failed as I didn't have a screw driver small enough. Since I was freaking out about the old scale I went apeshit on that little tab. I stood on the scale and pulled til my fingers were bright red, but I got it.

Boy do I wish I hadn't.

It told me I was at 205. 205! WTF!?! Not only did I not lose weight, I gained three more pounds??? This can not be happening. Seriously? I'm still in shock, but I'm pretty sure I want to cry, but I can't because my make up looks really good today (at least I think so).

I don't understand how this happened. Not only have I logged my food and only ate enough so that I would lose 2 pounds per week according to LiveStrong MyPlate, but I've worked out every day and burned an additional 400-600 calories a day! I should have lost at least three pounds!

I'm so disheartened. I don't think I've ever wanted to admit wanting to give up, but I feel like crawling into a hole and sleeping forever. Sorry for the downer, but what a crappy Wednesday :(

Fire Up!

Well, it's January 10th and it's going to be 49 degrees out. JANUARY and 50 degrees! I feel like mother nature is going to be sending us a doozy... while we're sleeping and totally unprepared. It's gonna suck. OR as Katy and I were discussing at lunch today, it's going to be a dismal spring full of rain, rain, rain, rain and the tiniest bit of thunder.

Since yesterday was so warm, I had convinced myself that running outside was an option. It wasn't, by the time the sun had set, the tiniest breeze was just too much for me to handle. I hit up that gym with my running shoes, and run I did... on and off :) I tried to go five minutes running and one walking. I finished with 15 minutes on the elliptical and some weight work and core exercises.

I have to be completely honest, the entire time I was working out, I was planning out dinner in my head. Since it was "so warm" I grilled out :) Turkey burger baby! Pair that with steamed broccoli, reduced fat basil petso pasta with reduced fat feta crumbles.


It was delicious and just the change I needed from my Lean Cuisines.

I made a great meal a few days ago and completely forgot to share it with you. I needed to use up some cherry tomatoes and fresh spinach. So I paired that with angel hair, Kraft light balsamic vinaigrette dressing and a little reduced fat feta crumbles.


And finally, I tried out a recipe I came across on my newest obsession, Pinterest. I made a altered version of Strawberry Cream Cheese Croissants. I used fat free cream cheese, sugar free strawberry jam, reduced fat Pillsbury crescent rolls, vanilla extract and a little powdered sugar. For 110 calories, it's a delicious way to enjoy a fruity dessert!

A Study of Snacks

Please say hi to Ber, Fred and Katy, my three co-workers who so graciously posed with their snack of the day. Ber had a 100 calorie Bob Evan's Breakfast Sandwich, Katy was enjoying her seasonal clementine, and Fred so charmingly showed off his oatmeal. Let's check in with them to see what they had to say about their snacks.

Fred wasn't available for comment, but if he was, I'm pretty sure he would say that his oatmeal was boring, just like him.

"I hadn't had a clementine for years and then I saw those "Cuties" commercials http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY8i5ulFz7I&feature=related so I bought a box of them. When I first had one, I ate it as I ate all citrus fruit, peeling off every last piece of white stuff until only the fruit was left; about a 20 minute snack. Now, a whole 1/2 of the box later, I can eat them like a normal person AND they are delicious!"

Wow Katy, that's amazing. I'm so glad that you are able to enjoy the fruit of babes. I'm also so very thankful that you are magician and able to conjure the related video for us to enjoy.

I spoke with Ber in regards to her snack and she felt underwhelmed with it's rubbery texture and bland taste. She regrets her purchase and recommends to everyone "Stay away from Bob Evan's 100 Calorie Snacks... they suck!"

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On a side note... I'm feeling fat today. My clothes are not sitting right, I just feel ugly. I felt so cute in this skirt four months ago. Amazing what 6 pounds will do to you. I'm hoping that my financial situation improves a bit so I can start working out with my trainer again. If she'll have me that is!

I have done everything right since Monday of last week. I've worked out every day, I've ate waaaaay less than my allotted calorie amount and I've chugged more than the required amount of water. I need to have a good weigh in this week so I know that I can still do this!! My positivity can only last so long!

Portion Control is KEY!

I really enjoy veggie straws. They're salty, crunchy, delicious, and keep me from going on a spree of indulgence with other bad things... like Cool Ranch Doritos or those awesome chips from Panera that go so perfectly in their Broccoli Cheddar Soup.

One of my fellow coworkers has been munching on veggie chips, which is the Aldi version of Veggie Straws. Aldi is my BFF. We're sweet on each other. Aldi is so very kind to my "pocket book". I will sing Aldi's praises for years to come. I think the only downfall Aldi's has is not selling Lean Cuisine, Diet Coke or Fat Free Ranch Dressing. It's alright though, nothing is perfect, God didn't make us or things that way. Except for Chris Pine... and maybe Orlando Bloom. Scratch that, he's married, let's add Vinny D/The Rock :) Cover a wide range of men.

Back to the veggie chips. I had to get some. Every time she opened her bag and crunched on another chip, my mouth watered. I get distracted quite easily by the thought of those tasty little buggers, and it was effecting my work. (Affect or Effect? I can never remember! Damn you 8th grade english class! If you hadn't been so boring then I would know the answer to this question!) I also had to get something chocolate oriented because I've been stealing her peppermint bark dove dark chocolate after lunch for the past three days. So a box of 100 calorie snack packs and a bag of rice cakes are now sitting next to my chips. You might think this is the end of this mundane and completely irrelevant post, but it isn't.

Observe:


Portion Control baby. I'm not gonna lie, once the bag is open and in front of me, I can be a machine. I get that from my dad. So the solution to that is making sure each and every little treat I eat is portioned out to stop the over eating.

I hit the gym for the third day in a row and got in my cardio and some weights. I was so hungry that I immediately boiled some noodles, steamed some broccoli, sauteed some chicken and combined that all with some spinach and fat free ranch dressing. I would have taken a picture but it was gone before I could sit down... I'm sorry!!

I'll leave you with one last image. One that my words can't describe but that you need to see for yourself.

Enjoy.