Discouraged

So, Ryan and I have been doing this new workout routine for about two weeks now. We've been on our new diet for almost 3 weeks. There was a time where even cutting out soda for a week would make me drop 5 pounds automatically. 

I have officially lost no weight in the past 2-3 weeks. 

I can feel my body changing, for example my pants are fitting lovely today with almost nothing hanging over the top, even though I've been up for 4 hours already AND have eaten something. I think I'm even beginning to look thinner from the side, and a friend even said to me that I'm looking better. 

But that number on the scale bothers me. I know it shouldn't. I've always been one to say "the number doesn't matter -- it's how you FEEL that counts!" But for some reason, it's bothering me. I keep stepping on the scale to see some wonderful dropping happening, but it always lands within the 3-pound window that I just can't seem to escape from. 

Ryan says, Come on, it's only been two weeks! And on the inside I'm thinking, It's already been two weeks! What the flip!

Anyway, there's where I'm at. Overall. I'm feeling good though (or rather my body is feeling good). We did an intense 1-hour weight lifting session last night on our backs. It feels awesome :) 

Creamy Chipotle Corn Soup

Serves 2-3:

> 4 ears of corn
> 1 cup of non-dairy milk (I have used both almond and oat milk and they are both delicious)
> chipotle powder to taste (I used about 1/4 tsp)

Combine half of corn, milk, and chipotle powder in blender. Puree until smooth. Transfer into a saucepan and add remaining ingredients. Heat over low. Add water/milk to thin if necessary. Serve.

Breakfast Quinoa Bowl recipe

Ingredients: (serves one person -- I just doubled everything)
> 1/4 cup quinoa
> 1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I used oat milk -- so tasety!)
> 1TBS brown sugar (feel free to use less, especially if you use sweet milk)
> drop of vanilla extract (I actually forgot to include this, but it still tasted amazing)
> 1 cup blueberries
> dash of cinnamon (optional -- tasted wonderful)

Combine quinoa and milk in saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn down to low and simmer until milk is evaporated and quinoa is light and fluffy (add milk as necessary to thoroughly cook quinoa). Add extract and blueberries. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Serve.

Sooo sweet and delicious! Ryan felt overwhelmed by the blueberries, but I thought it was delicious as it was.

I took these pics in the car, so I can't vouch for the fantastic lighting, but you get the idea.

Coming up soon: Creamy Chipotle Corn Soup!

Super easy lunch bowl

Veggie and Rice bowl recipe:

>1 packet of frozen veggies ("Steamfresh" for even more simplicity)

>1 package of sticky rice (microwavable kind)

>Teriyaki sauce (my favorite kind!)

1. Heat frozen veggies (in microwave if using Steamfresh or something similar) ~ 5 min
2. Heat rice in microwave ~ 1.5 min
3. Cover with Teriyaki sauce and eat!


It reminded me of Flame Broiler, but with an even better sauce that won't get you addicted with MSG :) This ended up serving both myself and Ryan. 

We're back!!!

Okay, so I suck at blogging, apparently. But I'm giving it another go, especially now that Ryan and I are on a set food routine.

We have recently starting working out: my goal is to lose the fat, Ryan's is to lose fat and bulk up. In order to achieve our goals, we've set-up a system for our food and workouts.

Food:
4 meals a day, plus a snack. We're still trying to make this work with our jobs (he's in the cleanroom), but this is the plan anyway.
1) Breakfast (few/no carbs) -- fiber/granola cereal with fruit, or omlet with with spinach and fruit, or yogurt and fruit with granola, or oatmeal.
2) Snack -- nuts, fruit, etc
3) Lunch (few/no carbs) --  salad with toppings like chicken (or some other protein like tuna, steak, etc), fruit, veggies.
4) Recovery Shake (after our workouts) -- includes whey protein
5) Dinner (carby) -- pasta with sauce and veggies and protein (chicken, clams, etc) stirred in, or meat with rice and veggies, etc.

I'm still trying to not eat a whole lot of meat (by American standards), just the topping for salad and a normal size portion for dinner. We are getting our proteins from things like eggs, beans and such as well as the meat (in addition to whey protein, although I may switch to something without lactose since my stomach has been unhappy with dairy since we cut back on it).


Workouts:
We start by stretching and doing some minor things like sit-ups, toe-touches, etc. Then we choose a muscle group to work on: abs, legs, arms/shoulders,or back. We spend almost an hour lifting weights that will work whichever group we picked for the day. Ryan is trying to go in order from the top of the body down, but seeing as I have missed our workouts frequently these last two weeks, I have messed with his schedule a bit.... It takes about 4 days of the week to hit every muscle group. We spend a fifth day doing cardio (so important for bulking up, as you don't want to starve the muscles of blood from not having a strong enough heart, and also to drop the belly fat :). Then we usually end up going 2 days without working out, but I think we are going to try and cut that back to one day. Or at the very least do something active one of those days (hike, bike ride, whatever).

Today's food:
> Oatmeal with blueberries for breakfast (plus a piece of cake at a work mtg -- I had to! I swear!!)
> Lunch with co-workers (I haven't gone yet, but I'm planning on either a salad or veggie-intensive entree)
> Pecans and green tea (iced) as my snack
> Recovery shake after the workout
> Pasta with clams, zucchini, tomatoes, and avocado (I may switch the clams out for chicken, depending on when we get home...)

That is all for now. I shall keep you posted.

Surprise Diabetic Friendly Lunch

Today, Ryan and I went to Wildflower for lunch. We each got a vegetarian soup and a side of salad. After lunch, Ryan took his insulin, as usual, but only took a small amount as we didn't think he had eaten too many carbs (or hidden sugar in the soup!)

About an hour later, Ryan realized he was going low -- perhaps a little too much insulin. He ate a crap-ton (a very legitimate term for measurement) of fruit, but found that he was still going low! Turns out he didn't need to take any insulin for lunch!

I now have a new favorite lunch spot =)

Forks over Knives

After falling off the band wagon due to a shortage of money two days before a payday, it's been so freakin difficult to get back on! Which surprised me, honestly, because we were genuinely enjoying our food choices. Since bad food eerily resembles a low-grade addiction, I guess it's not terribly surprising that it took some time to get off of it. And sadly, the cheap food is almost always the bad food...

I will say that during this last grocery shopping trip, we've made an effort to improve. Half of our cart consisted of lean meat Turkey burgers (no added sauces or anything), chipotle salmon fillets (unfortunately, they are breaded), BBQ Tilapia fillets (still haven't tried these), and hummus. UN-fortunately, our cart also consisted of baklava and caramel apples. I love me some gourmet sugar!

I would post a picture of the apples and baklava, but they are gone. Already. <oink!>

Last night, Ryan found a video on Netflix called "Forks over Knives". It is definitely on my top ten must-see movies. If you get the chance to watch it, DO! It shows the research of two doctors that over a lifetime discovered that -- ta da! -- a plant-based diet is basically the best cure for every major medical problem in America. And yes, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and weight issues are almost exclusively an American problem. Although we have seen other documentaries emphasizing the importance of a plant-based diet, we still had meat as an essential part of our diet. It was certainly reduced, but it was still a part of at least one meal every day. In America, we've been taught that the only source of protein is meat. "Eat plenty of meat, 'cause you won't get any protein if you don't!!"

This is not the case.

Even in the least protein-filled vegetable (potatoes, in case you were wondering), it is composed of approximately 9-12% protein, which is actually about how much daily protein you need anyway.

Crazy!!


This movie also went into exactly why animal protein is not necessarily healthy, which is something I never quite got a satisfactory answer to. And now I know. But, that's a topic I'll save for another day, seeing as I've ranted enough for one post :)

*Disclaimer: I'm not saying meat is bad. Not at all. But our conception of meat as a nation is wrong. It's not a main dish item. It should be treated as a topping. For flavor, as it were.

In addition to "Forks over Knives", I highly recommend two other movies: "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" (the movie that originally jump started our diet) as well as "Food Matters". If you're the book-reading type, then I highly suggest "Eat to Live". (Yup, Kaysie, we love it!!)

SO, with our new-found motivation, Ryan and I have constructed our diet again, this time almost eliminating meat entirely. If we do eat meat, it will be a topping, or very small side dish. Non of this main course business. We are back on a plant-based diet, consisting of fruits, veggies, grains, beans, and nuts. No gluten, dairy, animal products (including cheese, sadly), processed nastiness, or sugar (perfect right before Halloween... note the sarcasm). Our plan is to be VERY strict for a least a month, not allowing ANY of the "No" items on our list into our diet. That's so we can get all the addictive stuff out of our systems. Then, we can slowly sprinkle a little bit of naughty into the diet. And by sprinkle, I mean you can barely see it.

You are what you eat!