My New Ending

Friday’s Dinner:

Tonight’s meal was grilled by my own wonderful husband. He took care of it from beginning to end. I simply made more of the rice I made on Monday night and made sure the table was set and plates were made up. He is an awesome grill chef and loves to do it.

Loss/Gain: -1.5

Total Loss So Far: – 50.0 lbs !!!

I weigh myself daily and had a feeling I would see this today. I was a bit nervous (because of my double helpings of dinner last night), but excited too.

Since I hit fifty pounds lost I decided it was a good time to update my progress pictures. The entire album of progression pictures is at the bottom of this post. Here are some pictures to compare 0 to -50. I’m wearing the same t-shirt, but different bottoms.

Beginning weight: 231.0 lbs. – May 2009

Today’s weight: 181.0 lbs.

I am 5′ 4″.

I’m very happy to be down so close to 180. The last five pounds have been a real breakthrough for me. It’s funny, because it’s not this very excited, thrilled that I’m sticking to a diet feeling. It’s more like I’m noticing my desires towards food are changing and I haven’t felt deprived at all in the process. I’m finding myself more in control of food and it’s a wonderful feeling.

I know I’ve had a great breakthrough in my life and while I still have to take it a day at a time I have greater confidence now more than ever that I will reach my weight loss goal.

Weight Loss Progression Pics

Dinner Thursday night was, for lack of a better name…

My plate held one cup of shrimp ceviche and one serving of tortilla chips…twice. Um, yea… I was hungry and this stuff is addicting. I could’ve done without the second serving of tortilla chips since I had some frozen yogurt earlier in the day, but I didn’t.

One cup of the ceviche is about 175 calories and one serving of tortilla chips (Yes, I actually weigh mine to be exact) is 140 calores, so a single (and usually plenty) serving is about 315 calories.

Ceviche is a mexican dish that is usually made with raw fish that has been marinating in lime or lemon juice until the acids from the juice “cook” it. However, I made this up once a couple of years ago using cooked shrimp to go along with some tacos when we were having people over. It has basically everything in regular ceviche, but it’s not authentic, because I use cooked meat.

by me. 🙂

• 1 pound large cooked shrimp, shelled and cut into smaller pieces ( if you use small or tiny shrimp you don’t have to cut it up – I’ve done that before) *
• 2 large tomatoes, diced
• 2 cucumbers, diced
• 1 medium – large white onion, diced
• 3 small avocados, cubed ( or 2 large)
• 1 bunch (maybe about 1-2 cups) cilantro, cut up
• 1 serrano pepper, minced *optional*
• Juice from 3-5 large limes (to taste)
• approx. 1 Tbsp. garlic powder, to taste
• approx 2 tsp. dried oregano, to taste
• salt to taste, some like more some less. I use more, because I think anything is good with lime and salt on it!! 🙂

This is a great make-ahead dish that tastes even better when it’s had some time to sit and marinate.

Everyone that’s tried this dish has loved it – even the lady who is allergic to shrimp and was wondering why her throat was getting scratchy all of the sudden…she hadn’t seen the pieces in it, nor did I know she had an allergy so I didn’t warn her..oops. So, if you don’t like shrimp, feel free to try other fish or none at all is really good too! 🙂

This is something I already make regularly and so I will continue to do so. I love it mostly during warmer weather. It’s so fresh and light!

I don’t think I’ll serve it as a main meal again for the sake of the two family members that really don’t like it. 🙂 We make our kids eat whatever is served to them and last night they made it through that, but I’ll continue serving it alongside something else like normal from now on. 🙂

Dinner Wednesday night was:

My plate held two corn tortillas with 2 oz. of fish in each, less than 1 oz. of shredded cabbage, approx 2 tsp. crema (one on each) and the juice from two key limes. This is a salad plate, so it looks fuller. It was approximately 275-300 calories for both. And so good (and low-cal) I ended up having just one more…

by Alton Brown on The Food Network

I followed the recipe exactly with the exception of two things:

1. I used some Swai fish fillets we already had on hand (out of a bag of frozen fillets we bought at Wal-Mart) instead of tilapia.
2. I used corn tortillas instead of flour. My husband is mexican and they don’t serve fish tacos on flour tortillas. Plus, corn is always less calories than flour, so I was very happy to substitute.

On the menu tonight for Fish Week was:

My plate held 4 oz. pasta (we splurged on regular, white pasta), 2 oz. shrimp and 3 oz. broccoli for approximately 320 calories. Again, not too bad and left me feeling plenty satisfied. Now on to my comments about the meal.

I omitted the butter from this recipe and I think it left the pasta a bit dry. I’ll have to figure out what to do to rectify that, or decide if 4 tablespoons of butter is worth the calories when splitting it up so much.

Also, the pasta to shrimp ratio was a little much for us. As in (in case I got this wrong) too much pasta for the amount of shrimp. My family is not big on pasta. Personally, I could eat it daily and lots of it, but I even added more shrimp than one serving was probably supposed to have. The pasta drowned out the meat a bit. I’ll end up tossing some of the leftover pasta and keeping only enough for the amount of shrimp left.

Will I make this again? You bet!! It was nice to have a tasty dish that was low in calories, high in flavor!

Done myself at home. No extra spices, just water and fresh broccoli.

My husband got this brilliant idea to do a “Fish Week” where we eat fish every night for a week. I asked him today if there was a specific point behind it, to which he replied, “Not really. It’s just that we always say we’re going to eat fish and we never do.”

I also think it was an attempt to try some healthier dishes, because on top of eating fish we agreed that nothing would be breaded or fried. We both enjoying cooking and trying new recipes, so this should be fun.

I also thought it would be fun to share our fish-week adventure with you. So, I will take a picture of each meal we eat and share the recipes and the family’s opinion of the meal. The recipe name will be the link unless other directions follow.

Slow-Roasted Salmon – Taken from the Food Network Kitchens

I’m excited to try our other new recipes. There will be mexican flavors, some grilling and a few other things.

How about you? Do you ever branch out and try new recipes? If so, what new things have you tried in the kitchen since you’ve been on your weight loss journey?

Short Story: I ran outside on a beautiful, albeit WINDY day though I was very nervous and scared to.

Long Story: It was a dark and stormy night… NOT… 🙂

A friend of mine in Arizona texts me in the morning that she was headed out for her run and I got this idea, “Since the kids are home today I should take them to the park and go run outside for my workout.”

Then I got nervous and tried to talk myself out of it. I even had a good chat with a friend in the afternoon and told her about my fears with regards to running outside. I told her I might still go to the park, but I really doubted I’d run.

It’s the wind that scares me. And the use of different muscles. And the wind. And some smoky air we had from grass fires nearby that day. And the wind.

Yea, so in the gym the only wind is the huge fans and I love that kind of breeze. Outside, here where the “winds go blowing down the plains..” it’s a whole different story. It really can be tough to run. I know it’s only tough for half the track, because it’s an oval, but still. It scares me.

I think it’s also a great mind battle for me. When I’m running on the treadmill my feet have to keep up with it, or I can slow it down. Usually I can psyche myself up to keep up the pace for however many more minutes, but outside I don’t have that ability. I get a little winded, or am running against a strong gust of wind and feel like I can’t do it.

Or… I see other people running and realize just how slow I really am. On the treadmills everyone is in the same row as me, no matter how fast they run. Outside I’m faced with the stark reality that I’m a very slow beginner “runner”.

All of this makes me nervous to run outside. So, I went to the park with the intentions of walking, unless I couldn’t stand it and decided to try and run. This has happened before in the past.

Well, of course, I couldn’t stand it. I stretched really good, and started out at a good jog. I allowed myself to be a little slower than the 12:00 min mile I can do on the treadmill, but not too slow. Thanks to my new Garmin I got for Christmas I was able to keep track of my pace – that’s another story for another time.

I finished up two miles in 25:49 – slower by just under 2 minutes from my treadmill time. Not too shabby for a windy afternoon, and my first outdoor run in almost six months. I then proceeded to speed walk another 2 miles (yea, about 4.0 mph speed and passed the other walking people, like you, Diane!!!).

It was a great workout and I’m so glad I faced my fears and did the run outside. It was a nice feeling and having my little “coach” in the shape of my Garmin really helped me realize I could do this.

There just might be more outside runs in the future. If I can keep this up I might someday just be able to run like the wind instead of solely in the wind. 🙂

Loss/Gain: – 2.0

Total Loss So Far: – 48.5 lbs.

Last week I said that you get what you pay for. It goes both ways, doesn’t it? This week I was focused and got what I paid for. I feel a sort of contented happiness today. I’m learning to be content with the food my body needs and I’m happy to see a lighter weight Leah emerge.

I’ve taken some time over the past couple of weeks to take my food issues before God in prayer once again. Some day I’ll post more about that part of the journey, but for today suffice it to say today I know he has heard my prayers.

I’m so grateful to God for his mercy that endures forever. My weight loss journey is about so much more than losing a few pounds, it’s about a deliverance from a food addiction. It’s a slower journey, but it’s a life changing one that I know will only lead to a more disciplined and emotionally strong Leah. Being thin and fit will simply be the icing on the cake! (pardon the phrase. LOL )

• Dumb wispy hairs – I need to get one of those larger headbands that stays put.

• New music…hey..(BIG SMILE while jogging) when I first bought this workout track of Bubbly I was barely using the elliptical and not jogging. Now I jog..at a 12:00 min mile pace for almost 30 minutes!! Go me!!

• I’m going to walk for two minutes now to catch my breath and then finish up this jogging.

• Hey, this song has good drums! (Playing drums with hands while speed walking) Makes the time go by fast too. Funny how concentrating on the drums took my mind off the pace of my exercise.

• You’re almost done…(finishing up jogging)

• I love the bike in the gym…I can close my eyes and ride and not crash into anything!

• Oh my! Going to have to remind [husband] to please NEVER wear shortie running shorts when he gets old and gray…no matter how fit he is and no matter how much I think he looks hot. ew…didn’t need that visual. (yes, I texted him later to please promise me this…it wasn’t a pleasant site to behold. Glad the guy is fit, but longer shorts would’ve been nice. BIG LOL)

• I am so tired now, but I feel so good!!! (Stretching)

I had an extremely long post about how my plans to be home doing laundry today were changed late Saturday. I had written about how it almost threw me into a stressed out-what-am-I-going-to-do mode, and then how I took a deep breath and relaxed.

But I deleted the lengthy, laborious post and I’ll just suffice it to say that before getting too stressed out on Saturday night I reminded myself that everything will be fine.

The laundry can and will get done. The planned trip to the gym can and will be done another day. I knew I could still get up to exercise before work and that would be enough for the day.

Part of making this a lifestyle change is learning to go with the flow when plans change. I did this and it has gone fine.

I got up this morning at 5:45 to do a 30-minute Walk At Home DVD before getting on with my morning before work. I’ve also done two loads of laundry this evening.

Tomorrow I work half a day, so I should be able to get to the gym or at least get a full hour DVD workout in at home while getting more laundry washed before going in to work.

I guess this is another one of those non-scale victories. Moments when I realize life is happening and I’m doing good. Hooray! 🙂