New Year, New Start

So it would seem that I've been a little remiss in my blogging. I have not quite kept up with it as much as I would like to, and I'm starting to pay the price of not having to account for what I'm doing. I've gained a little weight in the last couple of weeks. I haven't been running a single time in two weeks. I haven't been watching what I'm eating. But I've settled on a new routine for this semester, which I think will help me accomplish my goal.

First, I promised to post two new recipes. I know you guys have been in terrible suspense, just waiting to hear what I've got! Okay, maybe not :-) But here they are anyway....

The first recipe I've got is for pizza zucchini boats. What you do is cut a zucchini in half long-ways, and then again short-ways so you've got four little "boats". Use a spoon to hollow out the seeds so that you can put stuff in the boat. Brush them lightly with olive oil and garlic and salt, and them cook them in a toaster oven (or regular oven, or microwave) until they're cooked, but still kinda crunchy. Meanwhile, brown up some hamburger meat and mix it with your favorite spaghetti sauce. When that's done, fill the boats with the meat sauce. Top with a little mozzarella and parm, and put back in the toaster oven until the cheese is melted. Yum yum!

The second recipe I've got is for a Tomato Edamame Grilled Cheese sandwich. I buy the frozen pre-shelled edamame beans (I found mine at Sprouts, but I bet they have them other places too) and cook them in the microwave by putting them in a bowl with water for three minutes. A quarter of a package will give you about one sandwich-worth of edamame. Then I put that in a blender with garlic, onion powder, salt, and a dash of cumin (you can season it to your own taste) add a little water (the amount of water you choose to add will determine the thickness of your paste - less water = thicker paste) and blend it up until I get a spreadable paste. Then I put the paste onto a piece of Ezekiel bread, add sliced tomato and cheese (the original recipe says to use jack cheese, but all I had was swiss, and that was good too) top with another piece of bread and toast it until the cheese melts. There's fat in the cheese, but the rest of the sandwich is either veggie or whole grains :-)

So let's talk about the other stuff. This week and last week have been crazy with trying to get a routine pinned down. Charlie is back in school this week, and I started working last week. We're not using the babysitter this year since our schedules mesh together in such a way that one of us can always be home with the munchkin. It's been a little hectic getting the routine down, plus, I was able to pick up a little extra work doing childcare at the church. I haven't been running in two weeks. I mean, that's really stupid considering the fact that I'm supposed to run a 5K in October! What was I thinking? Well, I guess I was thinking about the fact that I needed to be up by 6:00 in order to shower and get ready for work. If you factor in a run, we're talking about 5:15. And starting back to work has been slightly exhausting since I had the entire summer off. So I didn't exercise, I didn't pay as close attention to what I was eating as well as I should have, and that resulted in a weight gain of three pounds. Not a lot, but it was enough to put me back at square one, at my highest weight ever and in tight pants. Grrrrr.

Here's where the new year comes in. I am now in a mostly settled routine. That means that I can schedule times to run in the mornings. In the summer, I went on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. For the fall, I have decided to make Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday my running days, with yoga on the other evenings. In addition, I have decided to change the way I'm eating yet again. This time, I have decided to follow my friend L's plan that she used when she was training for her half-marathon. I'm pretty much just cutting out refined sugars and carbs and replacing them with healthier whole grain options, in moderation of course. The rest of my food intake should consist of veggies, lean proteins, and fruits (also in moderation) with lots of water. This has been easier to stick to so far, plus, I'm able to ask her questions or go to her with any problems or cravings that might come up. This week, we've been reporting our food logs to each other daily via email, and I know that has REALLY helped me stay on track. I completely blew it on Monday, the first day, but she set me back on track and we've both done pretty well the rest of the week. Today is Thursday, and I'm finding it easier and easier to make good choices. I love that there's nothing boxing me in on this plan like Weight-Watcher points, or eating certain foods on certain days like my previous plan, which worked for a while but became hard to stick to. All I have to do is make sure all of my carbs come from whole grains or fruits and remember to choose lean proteins and lots of veggies in an appropriate portion size. This worked really well for L as far as weight loss, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what it can do for me. I'm already down this week from 242.8 to 241.2!

So the highlights are I sucked, second chance, new foods. And I really should blog more often..... like twice a week, maybe. My weigh-in is Monday, so I'll post an update then.