OMG! And I am THRILLED! : )
For some reason, the weight is coming off again and taking friends. I had put back on a few pounds between the holiday and the snowy days and the general eating thing I enjoy. I managed to get back down to about where I was at the end of November by eating less and doing some minor weight training and walking.
This weekend, we started easing into eating 'superfoods' again: soy, pumpkin, beans, tomatoes, oranges, yogurt, blueberries, tea, walnuts, broccoli, salmon and turkey. These are foods that are nutritionally dense and loaded with omega-3, antioxidants and vitamins and are long-burning. I expected to feel a little better and after a week or two, maybe drop a pound or two. This year my focus is more on nutrition than weight loss as some of what I eat is keeping me from having the energy and stamina I would like to have. Plus, I want to eat regular meals again, we have gotten bad in the last month or two about heating up plates of food or making a sandwich and disappearing.
It was like my body said, "Oh! Okay, pumpkin soup and curry and layered bean dip* and fresh fruit (bananas and oranges) couscous with loads of greens! and what's that? A turkey sandwich on whole grain? Score! You win!" My prize? A 4-pound drop in 3 days! I know WAAAYYY better than to think it will keep peeling off at this rate, but in the meantime, I am under my lowest point from last year.
I feel newly motivated to keep the ball rolling, something I have talked about needing to get around to, but until this morning, was not really keen on actually DOING with gusto, though I have been walking. I have been so surprised with having lost some weight that losing more just did not really seem possible.
For some reason, the weight is coming off again and taking friends. I had put back on a few pounds between the holiday and the snowy days and the general eating thing I enjoy. I managed to get back down to about where I was at the end of November by eating less and doing some minor weight training and walking.
This weekend, we started easing into eating 'superfoods' again: soy, pumpkin, beans, tomatoes, oranges, yogurt, blueberries, tea, walnuts, broccoli, salmon and turkey. These are foods that are nutritionally dense and loaded with omega-3, antioxidants and vitamins and are long-burning. I expected to feel a little better and after a week or two, maybe drop a pound or two. This year my focus is more on nutrition than weight loss as some of what I eat is keeping me from having the energy and stamina I would like to have. Plus, I want to eat regular meals again, we have gotten bad in the last month or two about heating up plates of food or making a sandwich and disappearing.
It was like my body said, "Oh! Okay, pumpkin soup and curry and layered bean dip* and fresh fruit (bananas and oranges) couscous with loads of greens! and what's that? A turkey sandwich on whole grain? Score! You win!" My prize? A 4-pound drop in 3 days! I know WAAAYYY better than to think it will keep peeling off at this rate, but in the meantime, I am under my lowest point from last year.
I feel newly motivated to keep the ball rolling, something I have talked about needing to get around to, but until this morning, was not really keen on actually DOING with gusto, though I have been walking. I have been so surprised with having lost some weight that losing more just did not really seem possible.
*Layered Bean Dip:
In Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-Long Blog, during Commentary on the extras, in the song "I'm Better Than Neil" which is an old sea shanty Nathan Fillion's mom used to sing to him as a child, Nathan mentions 7-Layer Bean Dip of the gods.
A little while back, he posted the recipe on Twitter and I will admit, just hitting refresh and seeing the lines appear was geek girl heaven because that meant Nathan was on line RIGHT WHEN I WAS. Eep! Matt tweeted him back, double eep!
I took his recipe and modified it so that it's A) not covered in olives and jalapenos and B)easy to make with what we have locally.
Here you go:
Layer one
Re-fried beans from a can
Layer two
Mixture of sour cream and taco seasoning
Layer three
guacamole (I mash avocados and mix in the spices from the pack, our store has never heard of guacamole)
Layer four
Salsa-I prefer garlic and artichoke salsa, so yummy
In Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-Long Blog, during Commentary on the extras, in the song "I'm Better Than Neil" which is an old sea shanty Nathan Fillion's mom used to sing to him as a child, Nathan mentions 7-Layer Bean Dip of the gods.
A little while back, he posted the recipe on Twitter and I will admit, just hitting refresh and seeing the lines appear was geek girl heaven because that meant Nathan was on line RIGHT WHEN I WAS. Eep! Matt tweeted him back, double eep!
I took his recipe and modified it so that it's A) not covered in olives and jalapenos and B)easy to make with what we have locally.
Here you go:
Layer one
Re-fried beans from a can
Layer two
Mixture of sour cream and taco seasoning
Layer three
guacamole (I mash avocados and mix in the spices from the pack, our store has never heard of guacamole)
Layer four
Salsa-I prefer garlic and artichoke salsa, so yummy
Layer five
Mexican style rice in the little packet you put in the microwave
Layer six
Shredded cheese, I like the taco seasoned cheese, just about half a pack will do (about a cup)
Layer seven
Cilantro
Mexican style rice in the little packet you put in the microwave
Layer six
Shredded cheese, I like the taco seasoned cheese, just about half a pack will do (about a cup)
Layer seven
Cilantro
This will feed a family of 4-5, it's a LOT of dip. You will need heavy duty chips or else they will break. Whole grain chips are best. I use a 9x11 glass casserole pan.
Nathan's dip has beans, sour cream, guacamole, tomatoes, olives, jalapenos and cheese on top.
