Brie Fit

…bringing the Month 1 total lost to (drumroll please)…

5.2 pounds!

(cymbal crash)

I’m very happy with that.  For awhile, I was getting a little frustrated because nothing moved, but I had a decent drop this weekend and feel great about that.

I’m starting to see teeny changes already, mostly with my work pants.  They were pretty tight around the waist at the end of the year, but are now fitting properly with a little bit of room!  I won’t be sorry when I lose out of these pants, largely because they are cheap and in terrible shape.  New pants, here I come!

Breakfast was the same.  My boss and I got a huge K-Cup shipment in today.  I think we have enough to last us for quite awhile.

(iPhone photos today.  I forgot my camera!)

Lunch:

Baby carrots and hummus, a giant grapefruit, some cheddar, and a yogurt bowl.

I realized last week that I don’t think I’ve ever actually eaten a whole grapefruit.   So I bought one.  It was good, but I could only eat half!

The taste of grapefruits reminds me of my grandmother.  She moved in next door when I was in high school, and was an early riser, so every morning before school we’d have breakfast together.  For some reason or another, her doctor wanted her to drink lots of grapefruit juice, so we would have a glass of grapefruit juice and Eggo waffles every morning.  I miss her.  She was kind of a cranky old broad, but we had a good relationship—she didn’t drive, so I got to use her car as much as I wanted provided I took her to the grocery store and on errands when she needed me to.  Sigh.

/tangent

I wanted something sweet after lunch so I sucked down 1/2 T. of peanut butter. 

My afternoon snack was  the banana and PB I’d been craving all last week.  It was a little green, but still good!

We had freezing rain all day.  Lucille Two was contained in a thin sheet of ice when I peaced out at 4:45.

We’re supposed to get 14 inches of snow starting overnight and going through tomorrow.  I’m hoping for a snow day!  (Like, a real one.  Not one that I have to use a personal day for.  Ahem.)

Since I heard the roads were slick already, I headed straight home instead of going to the gym.  I did the 30 Day Shred and then heated up some leftovers and frozen green beans.

Leftover chicken tetrazzini is about as delicious as it looks.  I’m dying for a really delicious dinner…the last few meals I’ve made haven’t really done it for me.    If we have tomorrow off, I plan to bake some homemade bread and make something good!  (If not, it’s leftovers again.)

Speaking of which, my thoughts on Eat In Month will be up tomorrow morning.

The deets:

I’m going to go pack my lunch in hopes I won’t need it tomorrow.  Come on, snow!

Do certain foods remind you of certain people?  Which ones?

You know…I am really ready for Eat In Month to be over. 

Breakfast before church was cereal and coffee.  We went to 9:30 services this morning and there was a potluck after.  We didn’t stay because a) what exactly does one have at a potluck at 10:30? and b) potluck food squicks me out.  I’m not a germophobe by any means, but…the thought of dishes prepared by strangers and questionably kept hot/cold bothers me.  I am okay when I know the potluck hosts, but…if I don’t know or trust you, I’m not gonna eat your Jell-O salad.

So, I went home, did some laundry, and then had my own breakfast for lunch: yogurt bowl, open faced egg sandwich (using my new egg ring!), and an orange.

I realized today that I always eat my meals in order of least desirable item to most desirable item.  Today, for example, I ate the egg half of the sandwich first, then the second half of the bread, then the orange, then the cheese, then the yogurt. 

Also, I do eat a lot of eggs at lunch, I know, but I really think they are a great substitute for deli meat.  They are high in protein, low in sodium, easy to prepare, and inexpensive.

Tim had Ramen noodles for lunch and I had a bite.

I still think they’re delicious.

For my snack, I wanted a banana with peanut butter, but the bananas aren’t ripe yet.  So I had to have a sandwich thin.  I’ve been seriously craving peanut butter lately.  Maybe it’s because I’ve been exclusively eating almond butter for the last few weeks?

Unpopular opinion: I still think peanut butter > almond butter.

Also, I have a lot of trouble buying “natural” peanut butters.  They all have tons of sodium in them, and I really don’t like any salt in my peanut butter.  Lately we’ve been buying the Skippy Natural, which isn’t REALLY natural, but doesn’t taste salty, either.  Oh well.

I also made this vintage cake recipe Tim’s mom gave me.  I think it’s his great-aunt’s.

I’m a sucker for recipes that call for oleo.  Haven’t tried it yet, but we’ll see!  (This will go to work with Tim tomorrow.)

Making dinner was like pulling teeth.  Eat In Month has me really tired of cooking.  I was planning on making a pork roast and roasted veggies and rice tonight, but I did NOT feel like doing any of that.  I finally dragged my butt up to make the pork roast (just covered it in garlic and rosemary and thyme), and decided to be lazy and try this side  dish thing I bought at the store last week.

It was terrible.  I don’t know how else to put it, but the pasta was just…funny tasting.  It didn’t taste like red pepper, and was just kind of bland and not good.

I ate the pork and threw the pasta out and had a small bowl of Kashi instead.

Pork and Kashi.  Dinner of champions.  (And now I’m kind of fantasizing about a Kashi-crusted pork chop.  Is that wrong?)

I’ll have a wee bit of ice cream later and maybe a bite or two of Aunt Norma’s cake.

Our forecast for the next few days looks pretty scary…tomorrow will supposedly involve a thin coating of ice over everything and huge temp drops, and Tuesday?  10 to 13 inches of snow.  Holy cow!  (I can’t say I’d be sad about a snow day this week, since I’m supposed to work Saturday anyway.)

What was your last kitchen disaster?

(tiny squeal)

167 is kind of a milestone weight for me.  I found my entry physical for my freshman year in high school a few years back, and the weight on it was 167.  So,  in .3 pounds, I can officially say “I weigh less than I did my freshman year in high school!”  (again)

Errr…it’ll be 17.2 pounds until I can say “I weigh what my driver’s license says I do,” though. 

There was no breakfast today because I accidentally slept until noon.  I guess my body liked the new bedding!

I had breakfast for lunch, though: eggs, toast, cheese, yogurt bowl and sparkling water.

So, remember how I was bitching about the low quality of our Macy’s expensive bedding and towels last night?

On a whim, I sent an e-mail to the bridal consultant we worked with to set up our registry, explaining to her that we were unhappy with the quality of the items for the cost our guests paid for them, and this morning I received an e-mail back from her saying she was so sorry we were unhappy and to bring everything back for store credit (plus 20% off for the trouble).

So, this afternoon, we brought back our towels and bedding to Macy’s, and they acknowledged that everything was in terrible shape like we said it was and took everything back without batting an eye.

With the store credit, we got a new sheet and fitted sheet and towels (in white, so they don’t bleach out), new pillows, and a new blanket.  We are going to keep the Target comforter and bedskirt, though—it was such a good deal, we might as well, and we really like it. 
All in all, I’m thrilled with how they handled this.  Three cheers for Macy’s!

So now we have $160 in store credit we’re not sure how to spend.  Any ideas? 

Tim wanted a candy bar at checkout, so we got one of those, too.  I had a piece—it was the good stuff, Godiva with caramel!

For dinner, I made Cooking Light’s chicken tetrazzini and roasted some carrots and sweet potatoes. 

The chicken tetrazzini was so-so.  Tim really liked it.  I like that the recipe made double—we have one in the freezer now that we can thaw and bake whenever!

On the low end today:

  (Oh yeah, there was a chocolate Vitatop as a snack in there.  Today was chocolatey snack day, I suppose.)

Do you have any weight loss milestones or numbers that are significant to you? 

…cautiously optimistic?  Yes?

(Edited to add:  I wrote this Friday night but just discovered it didn’t post until now.  So…pretend it’s Friday.)

Today’s eats were kind of of the “it’s a lazy Friday and we’re not eating out all month so I’m going to not focus too hard on nutrition as a consolation prize.”  In other words, my snacks and dinner were far from ideal (veggies?  what are those?) but hey, they were enjoyable and still not giant calorie bombs like a meal out would be.

Lunch was egg whites, an orange, toasted sandwich thin, cheese, and a yogurt parfait.

We were out of all fruit, unless I wanted another orange, so I brought a Vitatop and a jar of Nutella for my afternoon snack.  Yes, I measured out the Nutella.

I gave myself the option of working out today, since I’ve exercised the last five days in a row anyway.  The idea of lifting sounded appealing…but at 3 o’clock, I totally zonked out and it was all I could do to stay awake for the rest of the work day.  I took my body’s hint and went home for some homemade (light on the cheese, whole wheat crust) pizza.

Pizza is our default Friday night meal.  It’s not perfect, but we enjoy it and it’s much healthier than carry-out pizza.

After dinner, I hit Target for grocery shopping.  While I did some cool coupon stuff, I didn’t really have the energy to photograph everything tonight.  We ended up spending $160…also known as way more than usual.  But there’s a reason:

I found bedding on super clearance and couldn’t resist.  We got a new comforter, bed skirt, pillow shams, and pillow cases for $45 (originally $195).  Here’s why.

We got brand new bedding and towels for our wedding in May.  Ludicrously expensive, Macy’s Hotel Collection and Martha Stewart Collection stuff.   And now, less than 9 months later…

• The blue sheets are bleached orange.
• The blue pillowcases are bleached orange.
• The towels and washcloths are bleached orange.
• The down duvet is too small for our bed*, despite being listed as a queen size.
• The mattress pad fell apart in the wash, and has a giant hole in the side.
• The cats tore up the bedskirt, which, yes, is their fault, but seriously this thing snagged if you just looked at it funny.*
• The duvet cover was annoyingly slippery and not large enough for our aggressive sleeping natures.*
• The fitted sheet is not deep enough and pops off regularly.

*=not Macy’s fault, but still irritating.

Note: we don’t use harsh cleansers or anything, and followed washing instructions, but everything still changed colors horribly.

It’s been 8 months, and these problems started after about 2.  I finally had a serious bedding-related breakdown a few days ago because I’m embarrassed at how awful everything looks.  Macy’s return policy is 180 days, which we’re past, but I’ve e-mailed their bridal consultant with our complaints and maybe they’ll do something.  If nothing else, our complaint has been registered.

Bottom line: I would absolutely NOT recommend registering for Macy’s Hotel Collection or Martha Stuart bedding.  It is way, way expensive for the very poor quality.

So.  We got new bedding for $45 total (we’re still in the market for replacement sheets, but at least those can be covered up) and if it turns orange or gets destroyed, we can replace it without guilt.

Anyway, calories were about 1600 today but I don’t feel like copy pasting.  You get it.

Happy Friday!

Thanks for all your advice for Danielle!  If you haven’t read my post below, add your two cents here. 

I am feeling a bit discouraged with my own weight loss lately, as it seems like I’ve been pretty stagnant for the last week or so…but I  know my changes will pay off eventually.  But still.  Harumph.

Quickie post, since I didn’t get home until 7:45 or so tonight and I’m tired and still have stuff to do.

Breakfast was the usual.

Lunchtime:

Clockwise: orange, sandwich thin with almond butter, hummus, string cheese (that is terrible and tastes like plastic, blech), carrots, yogurt, Kashi crunchies.

Afternoon snack was my old standby.

I decided to get my long run this week done tonight so I could enjoy my Friday night tomorrow.  So, I hit the gym for 8 miles.  I did the first 3.75 miles on the indoor track, and, like clockwork, had to run to the bathroom with awful stomach issues.  I felt much better afterwards, so I hopped on the treadmill for the remaining 4.25.  It was slow, and I took a few short walk breaks, but I finished 8 miles in about 1:27:00 or so.  At least it’s done!

Dinner was ugly leftovers. 

And a Girl Scout cookie.  I bought two boxes to support a friend’s daughter, and have only eaten one.  Go me!

There may or may not be a bit of ice cream in my future, too, but I burned over 1,000 calories today, so….I feel pretty okay with that.

And:

I may or may not lift after work tomorrow…since I did the Shred Sunday, I’ve worked out 5 days in a row, but I think a quick heavy weights session would feel pretty good.  We’ll see!

What’s your favorite kind of Girl Scout Cookie?  (Or cookie in general?)  I LOVE Samoas…I hear Edy’s has a Samoas flavor of ice cream that I can’t wait to try!

I got this e-mail yesterday and wanted to share it (with permission) because I get a lot of e-mails like these:

Brie,

I have been reading your blog since you were the fit bride and since then you have been such an inspiration to me.

I have always struggled with my weight but recently have hit my all time high of 214. My lowest has been 160. Last night I finally broke down to my husband about how much I struggle with my weight and he was so supportive with me wanting to not just lose the weight but to be healthier and lose the weight in a healthy way.

I’ve read other food blogs, but to me you have a more realistic approach. I want to be able to make a lifestyle change and if I "slip" and eat something unhealthy I don’t want to feel guilty.

My problems are that I over eat, I’m an emotional eater, I want to eat when I read a book or watch a t.v. Show. I feel as though I’m in a downward spiral. I work as a manager in a restaurant which makes things even more complicated.

I’m tired of making excuses and ready to make a change. Do you have any advice on how to start?

Thank you for any advice you can give and thank you so much for being an inspiration. You have helped me see that I can do this and do it the healthy way.  Thanks again Brie, and congrats on all your milestones with your exercise and with food.

Danielle

So…I have a few words of advice for Danielle:

• First of all…don’t feel guilty about food.  I’m generally a pretty balls-out person, so if I do something, I’m going to own it.  As in, “you’re damn right I ate a cheeseburger, what’s it to ya?”  And I encourage you to do the same!  It’s easy to categorize food as “good” and “bad,” but from experience…that leads down a dangerous road.  I don’t make any foods off-limits and I don’t subscribe to any diets that tell me I can’t or shouldn’t eat something.  Live by the 80% healthy, 20% fun rule: I try to make 80% of my choices in any given day good, healthy food, and leave 20% for “fun”—flavored coffee creamer, a scoop of ice cream for dessert, cheese on my sandwich.  Life is too short to try to be perfect.
• What really helped stop my overeating was a food scale.  It’s hard to measure out a half a cup of this, a teaspoon of that and use 500 different measuring cups, and often, those aren’t even accurate.  Weight is a much more accurate measure, anyway, and I find it much easier.  If I’m making a yogurt bowl, for example, I’ll put the bowl on the scale, zero it out, add 70g of fruit, zero it out, add 150g of yogurt, zero it out, and at 12g of Kashi…rather than dirty up my 1/4 cup, 1/2 cup, and 3/4 cup measuring cups all at once.
• Eating while bored was a big problem of mine, too.  I used to snack all the time when I lived alone because there was nothing to do, and even last year I got in the habit of nabbing pretzels from my boss’ jar a little too often.  It really helps me to lay out my food choices the day before so I have a roadmap and I know when and what my next meal will be.
• Also, re: bored eating…trick yourself.  I drink water and hot herbal tea at work like it’s my job.  I also chew lots of gum.  If your trigger is watching TV…paint your nails.  I dare you to try to snack with a wet manicure!    Or take up knitting or another craft that will occupy your hands in another way.
• Someone once told me, “You don’t quit brushing your teeth forever if you forget to one morning.  Healthy eating is the same concept.”  If you forget to brush, well, next time you’re in your bathroom you do it.  If you eat something you don’t think is healthy, well, next time…choose something you think is better.  Don’t let one unhealthy decision turn into, “well, this whole effort is shot, might as well go have some cheesecake.”  Make your next decision a healthy (or, well, healthier) one. 
• Reward yourself (with things that aren’t food)!  I bought myself something every ten pounds—new workout clothes, a heart rate monitor, songs from iTunes, a massage, new pants.  So many women just don’t think they’re worth it, but you are!   It’s important to learn to celebrate with things other than food.
• Tell people.  It’s great that your husband is on board…I could not do what I do without Tim.  But let others know, too.  You shouldn’t be ashamed of losing weight.   My boss told me yesterday, “There’s cupcakes in the break room!” and I said, “Thanks, but I’m trying to behave these days!”  I mean, don’t post every calorie on Facebook, but…tell your friends and identify allies.  It’s crucial to have a good support system.
• Start small.  I didn’t even exercise for the first month of my weight loss adventure!  I focused on tracking my food, and that was it.  Eventually I added exercise in.  Small changes add up—I started out running on the treadmill for a minute at a time, and just challenged myself to go a little bit further or longer than I had the day before…and before I knew it, I was running 6 miles at a time!
• Be kind to yourself.  So many people I know trying to lose weight constantly talk about how angry they are that they let themselves gain weight, or how they’re slaving over the treadmill to punish themselves for eating dessert the night before.  Respect your body, respect your decisions as an adult, and remind yourself every day that you didn’t put it on overnight, so it’s not going to come off that way, either.

What are your best tips for Danielle?

I’ve been hovering around this weight for the last week or so and it’s getting a wee bit frustrating.  Come on, body.  Get with the program!

Breakfast was the usual.

I attempted to make a slightly more interesting lunch today, and photographed it really shittily because I was starving come noon.

I nuked 3 egg whites in the microwave for a little over a minute and had them wrapped in a tortilla with some cheddar.  I LOVE breakfast for lunch, and this was a good one!  Also, yogurt, Kashi, and an orange.

For my snack, I tried a new flavor of Luna bar (to me, anyway): I’d been hesitant to try this one because I’m not a big fan of white chocolate, but it was very subtle.  I liked it!  And it kept me much fuller than my apple and almond butter the other day.

Apparently the January Joiners are on a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule at the gym.  Yesterday wasn’t bad, but today was packed again!  Ugh.  The treadmills were already full and there were two people in line ahead of me, so I decided to brave the indoor track.  It’s 8 laps to a mile, and has an annoying pitch, so it’s not my favorite to use.  I get dizzy!  But, I pounded out a solid four miles (increased my speed each mile thankyouverymuch) and felt great.

In fact, on my way home, I thought to myself, “Man, I wish I’d run another mile!”

Dinner was enchiladas I made last night…

…and a handful of Food Should Taste Good chips.

Summary:

So…remember how yesterday I listed my food cravings?

Today…here are all the things I’ve wanted to buy lately but haven’t (or have forced Tim to talk me out of) for the sake of our “beef up savings/establish house and/or baby fund” goal:

• new bedding.  We got bedding for our wedding, but…it kind of sucks.  We have a queen pillowtop mattress, and the fitted sheet is too small, and the sides of the duvet/comforter don’t really cover both of us very well, and one of us winds up cold every morning.  I desperately want a King comforter, at the very least.  (Oh, and the pillowcases and sheets are bleached out already, even though we don’t use harsh cleansers or anything.  Ugh.)
• a canvas print of one of our wedding pictures.  I’m dying to get one of our gorgeous wedding pictures blown up so we can display it somehow.
• wrap dresses.  I love them and want to buy a million.
• a Bears and/or Chiefs shirt.
• a cute new lunch bag.
• new pants for work.   The cuffs of mine have come unhemmed and are now haphazardly patched up with Stitch Witchery.  I am also putting this off in hopes I’ll be able to get into a smaller size soon.
• new running shoes.  Mine are five months old and starting to feel not-so-great.
• casual, non-running shoes to wear around Disney next month.
• Goat cheese and fancy almond butter at the grocery store.

I will be strong, I will be strong…

What are you dying to buy right now?

I’m going with minimalist photos today.  Breakfast and my afternoon snack (and cup of coffee, and tea, and million bottles of water) were the same as yesterday.

Lunch: soup, an orange, yogurt and berries and Kashi.

I don’t want to be one of THOSE assholes, but…our Door to Door Organics produce blows regular produce out of the water.  This orange was from Target and it sucks.  Coincidence?  Maybe.  But still.

I had an apple and almond butter for lunch and was hungry about 5 minutes later.  I don’t think this is a great snack for me…they aren’t really all that satisfying.  Plus, I was craving a banana and peanut butter.

I went to the gym and even though I got a treadmill, I forgot my water bottle, and I can’t run (pleasantly) without water.  I made it 2 miles, then ran for the water fountain, and then grabbed the only cardio machine still available when I was done drinking. 

This thing.

Whatever it is.  It was oddly called the “Cardio WAVE” machine, and was kind of like a Stairmaster, but your legs also went out to the sides while you stepped?  It was very weird, and a really unnatural movement, but I stuck with it for 20 minutes in the name of experimentation.  I doubt I’ll do it again.  Anyway, 450 calories burned.  Holla.

Dinner was leftover beef stew and noodles.

Today:

I’m pretty proud that I didn’t dive headfirst into the leftover pasta and brownies from a meeting around 2 o’clock.  It looked really good and I could smell the garlic bread taunting me, but I stayed strong and had tea instead.  Woo.

Speaking of which…let’s talk about cravings.

Specifically, let me list all the intense cravings I’ve had in the last week.  Eat In Month has really started to become a true challenge, and combined with my new calorie counting regime…it ain’t easy.  So, maybe if I write them down and put them out into the universe, they’ll go away.   Anyway, I’m craving…

• peanut butter on bananas (except we don’t have any bananas!)
• Culver’s chicken tenders and cheese curds and custard (still)
• Chipotle.  Always.
• The delicious new pizza place we discovered on New Year’s Eve
• Cheesecake Factory cheesecake
• greasy fried chicken, potato wedges, and biscuits
• KC BBQ
• crusty warm Italian bread with fancy dipping oil

And I’m sure a million other things I’m not thinking of right now.  See?  This is another reason I wish we could have a baby right now.  So I can demand these things (nicely) and blame it on the fetus.  (Except, you know, I won’t do it all the time, because moderation and whatnot.  But still, best excuse ever.)

Also, the randomly selected winner of my Door to Door Organics giveaway is Steph!  Steph, please email me at thefitbride at gmail and we’ll hook you up.

What are YOU craving right now?

I woke up late this morning and took my breakfast to work with me again.  Displayed, for your pleasure, on my attractive new placemat.

Lunch was a conglomeration of miscellany—carrots and hummus, yogurt bowl, cheese, and an orange.

For my afternoon snack, I had an apple with almond butter…

…and then had a Dum-Dum.

I don’t know what’s going on today, really, but I have been starving since I woke up.  I vaguely remember this happening in Weight Loss Round One when my body was gearing up to make a sudden weight drop, so that would be kind of nice.  But…we’ll see.

And yeah, the sucker didn’t make me any less hungry, but it distracted me from nose-diving into my boss’ giant vat of delicious pretzels.  So…that’s good, I guess.

After work, went to the gym and every damn treadmill was taken (and two are broken).  I…am happy that there are lots of people trying to get healthy this time of year, but, man, I don’t like change or deviating from my plan.   I was in running clothes, ready to run…and I couldn’t.  So I ellipticaled for 45 minutes, annoyed most of the time, because if I’d KNOWN there wouldn’t be any treadmills available, I would have brought my gloves and printed up a weights workout to get that done.

Yes.  I’m inflexible.  Welcome to my life.

Dinner was a carb-fest of leftovers.

Leftover lasagna is better than straight out of the oven, seriously. 

And…

In other news?  I’m still wearing glasses because my eyes are still dry as sandpaper and now they’re a lovely shade of pink.  I look like I’m aboard the Pineapple Express.  Any ideas?

How are the January crowds at your gym?

Hi everyone!  I have a fun Monday giveaway for my Kansas City area readers!

Tim and I started out the new year right by signing up for Door to Door Organics produce delivery.  We’ve been trying to incorporate more veggies and fruits in our diet, and really, having them show up, pre-paid, on your doorstep, is the way to get us to eat them.

We’ve gotten two awesome boxes already and I’ve been totally impressed with the quality of the goodies.  Everything has been ten times more flavorful than store-bought and we anxiously await our box every other week!

Since getting our boxes, we’ve even ventured into the awesome world of fresh salads…

  …and roasted veggies!

I admit, I didn’t know much about organics before venturing into this new concept, but after browsing D2D’s learning section, I am pretty well sold on the benefits of organic produce.

D2D service is available in several locations across the country, but this giveaway is just for the Kansas Citians! 

One lucky winner will receive a gift certificate for a FREE Bitty Mixed Produce box.  This is what Tim and I get, and it’s great for two!

To enter…

1. Make sure that delivery service is available in your area of KC by going here and entering your zip code.
2. If they do deliver to you, visit the D2D Organics shop and leave a comment listing the five fruits and veggies you’d love to try in your very own delivery box!
3. Tweet about this giveaway, then come back here and leave a comment letting me know.

This giveaway will run from 6 am today, Monday, to 6 pm tomorrow, Tuesday.

Enter away!