Another Wedding....

This has been a rough couple of weeks for staying on track. This past weekend we went to another wedding. This wedding was in Minneapolis which mean spending time with family and college friends. It also meant it was really hard to stay on track. With delicious options such as fried cheese curds and Juicy Lucys!

A coworker asked me last week how much weight I had loss. She said she was noticing how my face looked thinner recently, compliments like that are a great boost of confidence. Especially when I don't think my weight loss has been that significant.

Before leaving for the wedding, I was carefully tracking my food and was putting in more time at the gym than usual. I made it 3 mornings last week, which can be tricky because I do love my sleep!
Andy and I flew out on Friday and were greeted by my sister and niece. My sister was great and had made soup for dinner, loaded with veggies and chicken, all power foods :). Saturday we ventured to a farmers market and the Stone Arch Bridge to show Andy the Mississippi River. Below are some of the pictures from our morning adventure.

Soon to be Uncle Andy with Adelaide and Theodore!

Showing Andy the Great Mississippi

Enjoying the fall weather

Sisters and Theodore

Saturday night was the wedding, which was a ton of fun! Then Sunday we had another outdoor day watching my brother in law play ultimate frisbee. Sunday night we went to introduce Andy to Jucy Lucy's and then Andy and I met some friends for drinks.

When we got home Monday, I quickly focused on making correct food choices this week. Loaded the fridge up with veggies and fruits. Tuesday was personal trainer day, and boy did he kick my butt!! I had jelly arms by the end of the session.

Wednesday was weigh in day. I wasn't expecting to lose given the trip to MN, so I kept debating if I should use my no weigh in pass this week. I don't think a weight gain will derail my lifestyle change, but it is so hard to tell how I will react emotionally. I decided to weigh in, and face my food choices, but I also decided it is time to take measurements again and did that after my WW meeting...but then couldn't find the tape measure :( Below are the results of my weigh in:

Weight loss after a wedding weekend!

I felt a great sense of accomplishment that the extra effort I put in before and after the wedding paid off. My total weight loss is 5.4 lbs! Ready to tackle another week

Wedding and Korean Barbecue pork

Luckily I wasn't discourage by the pound weight gain from last week. It may have been because work has been crazy busy and I didn't have time to think about it. In the overall view of things, I have still lost weight. Getting healthy is the goal. Over the weekend Andy and I had a wedding to attend in Key Largo. It was a gorgeous outdoor wedding right on the water. Staying on track at weddings is always difficult, but not impossible. Luckily the first thing in the buffet line was salad, so I loaded up on salad. The food was all cuban food which was delicious. I got a little shrimp, black beans, pork and chicken. Just a little bit of everything.

Wedding in Key West!

Sunday was a day of being disappointed by the Bears and Jimmie Johnson, of course when I decide to go to a Nascar race, Jimmie won't even be able to win. Tuesday Andy and I tried a new recipe for lettuce wraps. This was a Paleo recipe, which I attempt to follow in addition to Weight Watchers. We made Korean Barbecue pork lettuce wraps. What I loved about this recipe is that you make the barbecue sauce yourself, so you are controlling the sugar that is going into it. Also it is accompanied by Asian Coleslaw, tons of veggies and a non-mayo dressing.

Korean Barbecue Pork Lettuce Wraps

from userealbutter.com 

korean barbecue pork

from Maangchi.com

2 lbs. pork (I got lean tenderloin, which is a power food)

Korean Barbecue Sauce 

1 medium pear, quartered and cored (power food)

1 small onion, chopped into large pieces (power food)

8 cloves garlic (power food)

1 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and sliced (power food)

2 green onions, chopped (power food)

4 tbsps soy sauce

2 tbsps sugar

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 tbsp sesame oil

6 tbsps chili garlic paste (optional, but good if you like spicy)

korean coleslaw

1 small head of cabbage, shredded (power food)

1 cup red cabbage, shredded (power food)

1 small sweet onion, sliced thin (power food)

4 green onions, chopped (power food)

1 large carrot, julienned (power food)

3 cloves garlic, minced (power food)

2 tbsps soy sauce

2 tbsps rice vinegar

2 tbsps sugar

1 tbsp sesame oil

2 tbsps crushed red pepper flakes

salt and pepper to taste

Marinate the pork: Slice the pork into 1/8-inch thick slices (about 2 inches by 2 inches). Place the pear, onion, garlic, and ginger into the bowl of a food processor or in a blender and purée until it has the consistency of applesauce. Empty the purée into a medium bowl. Add the green onions, soy sauce, sugar, black pepper, sesame oil, and if using, the chili garlic paste into the bowl. Stir to combine. Put the pork slices with the marinade into a large ziploc bag and seal. Mix the pork and marinade together until evenly distributed. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 24 hours.

Make the Korean coleslaw: Place the cabbages, onions, carrot, and garlic into a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, sesame oil, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper. Pour the dressing over the vegetables and toss to coat. Let it sit in the refrigerator for a few hours.

Assemble the lettuce wraps: Skewer the pork slices (don’t pack them too tight) and grill on high flame about 4 minutes a side (8 minutes total) or pan fry the pieces in a skillet with a little vegetable oil over high heat until they are done (5-8 minutes). Serve the pork alongside the Korean coleslaw, lettuce leaves, steamed rice, and kimchi. Wrap a little pork, rice, coleslaw, and kimchi in a lettuce leaf and enjoy. Serves 6.

The recipe was delicious but way too spicy!! I had to cut the spicy with a little bit of hoisin.  When I weighed in on Wednesday, I didn't know what to expect in terms of weight change. I have been trying to avoid weighing myself everyday.  I stayed the exact same as last week. I am okay with that, it just means that I need to be very aware of what I am eating for the next week. Even though the scale isn't moving as much as I want it to....I feel like I am making great progress with my fitness. 

Not Gaining is a win!!! 

Change is Coming!

This past week has been some up and downs. Andy and I had put and offer in on a house and it was not accepted. That is okay then, Real Estate Karma tells me it wasn't the house for us. I wasn't feeling that great last week and found it hard to motivate myself to get to the gym. I did my strength days, because I knew if I didn't my session with the personal trainer would be brutal this week. The weekend was filled with looking at more houses, and running errands. I did a better job of planning food for the week and keeping on track with Power foods.

Sunday I made a 'lets clean out the freezer' dish. I love doing these when I can, especially when the freezer is getting packed. I had frozen beet greens a couple of weeks ago and wanted to use them. I had some Trader Joe's Chicken and apple sausage, onion, and sweet potato. First I sautéed the onions until they started to caramelize, then I added the sweet potato and continued to sauté until they were cooked through. I then added the chicken sausage to warm (it is full cooked when you buy it) and lastly added the beet greens until they were wilted. It was a simple but delicious dinner. I even brought it for lunch the next day!

Monday was my personal training session. As I was getting ready for work I noticed that my pants felt a little looser. Maybe this means it is time to take measurements again, see if I have lost any inches. My personal trainer kicked it into high gear this week. I did so many squats....I wish I had kept count!

Still down overall!

Wednesday's weigh in came around and I was up a pound. Not a huge setback but frustrating since I have been good at not snacking on all the junk food at work! But I am feeling stronger at the gym and feeling better about myself so, kicking into high gear to drop some weight next week!

Huge Life Changes

So even though I gained some weight last week, I went into this new week with a new energy. Ups and downs are part of any life change. I tracked better and tried to make healthier food choices. This journey of getting healthy doesn't go well when I am being lazy and not tracking.

This past weekend was exciting for Andy and I. We went house hunting for our first home purchase! It is a crazy process to go through. There is such a variety in the sizes of the houses and the condition of the houses. Since this can be a stressful process, I tried to be very mindful that I shouldn't be eating because I was stressed. On Saturday night we had a pumpkin carving party. I made some healthy pumpkin themed treats for everyone to enjoy. Neither were strictly weight watchers but one was no bake paleo pumpkin cookies and the other was a healthy pumpkin cheesecake dip.  Below are some of the awesome pumpkins that were carved that night.

Our Friend Christina's pumpkin!

Our Friend Carina's pumpkin!

The pumpkin Andy and I carved together!

Cleaning out the pumpkin!

I have found I have gotten a little tired of salads every week for lunch. So I decided to try something different this week. On Monday I brought a bunch of roasted vegetables and some chicken. Below are the vegetables that I brought for lunch on Monday.

 Roasted Vegetables, 

1/2 large onion cut into 1-inch pieces

1 large zucchini cut into half moons

1 medium sweet potato cut into 1-inch pieces

Heat oven to 400 degree oven. Place veggies on a baking sheet. Spray with olive oil spray (Love my Misto!) and sprinkle with Salt and pepper. Roast for 30 minutes or until veggies are fork tender.

Roasted Beets

4-5 medium sized beets, scrubbed

Using a slow cooker, place the cleaned beets in the slower cooker. Set LOW temperature for 6 hours. When done let beets cool slightly and peel and cut into 1 inch pieces. I would recommend covering your cutting board with parchment paper or wax paper so you do not stain it when cutting the beets.

This week also marked the addition of a family member. My sister had a baby boy on October 7th, John Henry Rogers V.

Happy Birthday John Henry!!

Wednesday was weigh in day. It was a great week being back on track and the scale showed it. I was down 2.6 lbs from last week. This brings my total weight loss to 5.2 lbs!!

Back on Track!!!

Busy Weekend!

New Week has started. It started with something I have never done before and have really be intimated to do...working out with a personal trainer. With my new gym membership I got one personal training session for free. I have never really done any strength training so I was excited but also nervous. I know that I need to strength train to get myself to my goal of healthy by 30, but I need guidance. The session was great and it seems like make this will be a new addition to my workouts. Learning techniques for strength training and gaining muscle while losing fat!

Andy and I had a very busy weekend. We kegged the Vanilla Porter that has been fermenting and decided to brew a fall themed beer. We are still waiting to decide on the name of the fall beer, but right not it is a Pumpkin Spice beer. I did a pretty terrible job of keeping track of what I ate on Saturday because we were going non-stop with cleaning brew equipment and brewing.

Pumpkin spice beer made with real pumpkin!

Sunday of course was football day. Since it was the Bears vs. Packers game, and it wasn't being broadcast on regular tv, we walked over to a bar to watch. I tried to be as good as I can while getting upset about the Bears losing to the Packers. We ordered Peel n Eat shrimp and some wings.

I kept things along the usual lines for food at work. I did have another session with the Personal Trainer on Tuesday. He kicked my butt! It is great to have someone that is going to motivate me to stick with strength training. I didn't have a ton of time to try out new recipes, but I will try and have a new one for you next week! We have begun the house hunting process and it seems to take up a lot more time than I thought it would!

Wednesday night was my meeting. Unfortunately I was up 1.0 pounds, but I am still down overall. This could have been from not tracking very well on the weekend. Time to get back on track and track every day!

Little bump in the Healthy by 30 Journey!