Busy weekend with family

This weekend Andy's dad and his girlfriend Claudia were in town for visit and to go to the Nascar Championship race.

Again since I knew were were going to be busy and not eating the best, I was really focused on eating well on Thursday, Friday and Saturday during the day. Saturday night we made dinner for them. I made some slow cooker pork with apples and onions, roasted sweet potatoes and grilled broccoli. It was a delicious dinner that was also full of power foods! Saturday night we went to see James Taylor. I am not super familiar with James Taylor but know a number of songs. It was a great show! He told some stories  and played for almost 3 hours.

Sunday I got to go to my first Nascar race. It was super exciting. First we stopped at the farmers market to show Mike and Claudia where we got engaged. We also introduced them to out new favorite coffee spot Kay Rico Coffee. They roast the beans the night before and grind them fresh. It is such good coffee, I have made it one of my weekly treats. Again, I planned the food. We had burgers, turkey burgers, pineapple salsa, hummus, crackers cheese and a kale salad. I tried to stick with foods that everyone would enjoy but were also healthy choices. I chose to eat a turkey burger with no bun, topped with jalapeno pepper jack cheese and pineapple salsa. I also munched on some kale salad and hummus with crackers. After we ate, we walked over to the race track. We had parked basically as far away from our seats as possible. It felt great to walk after eating lunch.  Then we got to climb up all the steps to our seats.  This was the first time that Nascar did a tournament style championship. Everyone was curious how this race would go. It was really exciting because the 4 drivers that could win all raced hard. They stayed in the top 10 for the majority of the race.

Andy and I at Homestead Nascar race!

Myself, Andy, Mike Short and Claudia!

We were all pretty beat after the race so we called it a day. On Monday I went to work and Andy showed Mike and Claudia the house we are buying. For dinner we went to a seafood restaurant on the intercostal. I got some peel and eat shrimp and grilled asparagus. It was perfect for dinner. The rest of the week was pretty run of the mill. Although I did get my jawbone and started playing around with that on Wednesday. My weigh in was Wednesday and I was anxious to see if I made progress towards getting to my goal by Thanksgiving week. I couldn't make it to my normal Wednesday night meeting, so I went Thursday night instead.  I lost 0.4lbs, which brings my total weight loss to 6.6 pounds. Small steps are better than nothing!!!

Still in the downward path!!!

Big exciting news coming next week....... Stay tuned!!

Plateau already? Setting a short term Goal!

    So I am bound and determined to get away from 170 since I seem to have plateaued here. It is frustrating to have plateaued so quickly in my journey. I kept positive and decided to track everything this week, even though you don't have to with simply filling. I focused on getting myself back in the gym after being sick for a couple of weeks.

   This week has also been filled with planning. I planned my meals during the week and on the weekend. The tricky part is I participate in meetings over lunch occasionally. For these meetings lunch is ordered and it isn't always the best choice. I was in one of these meetings last Thursday. I planned on grabbing a salad before the meeting started and then just eating that instead. Luckily the person that ordered lunch ordered Jimmy John's and ordered some Un-wichs (turkey, tomato and cheese wrapped in lettuce) I love when there are options like that.

Giant Pummelo

   I love some of the unusual fruit that we can get in Florida, such as a pummelo. It is basically sweet and mild grapefruit. It is awesome! You can only get them during the winter here. Andy and I ate one for dessert on Thursday night.

   I was also thrilled to get back in the gym this week. The combination of gym and tracking my food paid off. I am going to keep tracking diligently and get my butt to the gym. My total weight loss is 6.2 lbs and I am setting a mini goal of getting to my 5% weight loss goal by thanksgiving! Hold me accountable!

Back on track to be Healthy by 30!!

Finally Fall!!

My cousin Colin is in to visit because he is moving to Miami for a job opportunity. He came at the best time of the year. We finally had our first cold weather! With the cold weather also came my first cold of the year. Since I wasn't feeling great I didn't get to work out a ton last week. Since I knew I wouldn't be working out, I made sure to stick only to power foods. On Saturday, Andy, Colin and I went to the Farmers Market in Hollywood. We got lots of fruits and vegetables. When I got home I decided to make chili in the slow cooker.

 Slow Cooker Turkey Chili from Two Peas and their Pod

Yield: Serves 8-10

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 4-6 hours

This slow cooker recipe is easy to make and feeds a crowd! Plus, it's healthy too!

ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 lb 99% lean ground turkey (power food)
1 medium onion, diced (power food)
1 red pepper, chopped (power food)
1 yellow pepper, chopped (power food)
2 (15 oz) cans tomato sauce (power food)
2 (15 oz) cans petite diced tomatoes (power food)
2 (15 oz) cans black beans, rinsed and drained (power food)
2 (15oz) cans red kidney beans, rinsed and drained (power food)
4 diced jalpenos (this was my special addition)
1 cup frozen corn (power food)
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
Salt and black pepper, to taste

Optional toppings: green onions, shredded cheese, avocado, sour cream/Greek yogurt

directions:

1. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place turkey in the skillet, and cook until brown. Pour turkey into slow cooker.

2. Add the onion, peppers, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, beans, jalapeños, corn, chili powder, and cumin. Stir and season with salt and pepper.

3. Cover and cook on High for 4 hours or low for 6 hours. Serve with toppings, if desired.

Note-we use a 6 quart slow cooker. I also added 2 cans of pinto beans.

Sunday was another gorgeous day. I needed more balsamic vinegar for salad dressing. I decided since it was so nice, I should walk to the olive oil store. Since Andy was working, Colin and I walked down Las Olas. We stopped at the Las Olas Farmers market and then went to the olive oil store. I got two balsamic vinegars, pomegranate and a white jalapeno lime balsamic. I love using flavored balsamic vinegars for salad dressing. These are aged 18 years so they do not need oil in addition to the vinegar.

Even though I felt like this was going to be a good weigh in this week it wasn't. Since I had plans Wednesday after work, I decided to go to the meeting on Tuesday because the meeting is important heading into the holiday season. I was up a 1 pound. I feel like my body is not letting me get away from 170. I am getting pretty frustrated with this up and down of the scale. I don't know if it was the couple of glasses of wine I had the night before or just the lack of tracking....I know that I have trimmed down because people have started to comment on how I look thinner. 

I am trying to stay positive and am going into this week with a goal to get to the gym now that I am feeling better and track everyday. Any one have words of inspiration to keep me positive?