fat loss

Monday Manifesto

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As of today, I’m officially 54 days from my birthday.

This is the big one, the birthday I’ve been dreading for years: THIRTY.

This is the birthday that officially says goodbye to the naivete and excuses of youth and slams me smack-dab into the center of adulthood. I’m old enough to know better and yet young enough (at heart) to recognize what I’m missing out on.

I envisioned my life to be very different by 30. When I was a teenager, I imagined that with my 30th birthday came children, a minivan stocked with soccer equipment, and the body of a fitness model.

(For some reason, I always thought a minivan was cool – perhaps because I was the only one of my friends that didn’t have siblings and I found the conveniences of a minivan to be luxurious beyond measure. Broaching 30, I’m kind of excited I don’t have a minivan.)

While 54 days isn’t enough time to pop out a football team (hallelujah!), it is enough time to recommit to my fitness goals and see tangible results. Since my fitness/nutrition/health is the one thing I am in control of in this crazy, hectic world, I’m dedicating myself to it for the next two months.

Today’s starting weight: 131.2

Goal weight (by July 11th): 119 or less.

Current jean size: 26/27 (between sizes 4-6, depending on brand)

Goal jean size: 24/25 (size 2)

Diet plan: Mostly Paleo, but allowing dairy.

Calorie goal: Under 1,300/daily.

Fitness plan: 60 minutes elliptical/5 days per week. Walk 60 minutes per day. Strength training 3/week.

Accountability plan: doubling my bets on GymPact and taking weekly measurements/photos/weigh-in to post here.
(Look for the infamous “Weigh-in Wednesday” posts to return!)

So, there it is. Here’s my Monday Manifesto, my public declaration of goals in the hopes that all of you can help me stay focused, stay centered, and stay motivated.

On that note… bon appetit, my friends!

~ Tori

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Insanely Delicious, Low Fat (and high protein!) Buffalo Chicken Dip

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Ever since the Superbowl, I’ve been craving tailgate food with a passion. I’m not a football fan, but I’m a huge fan of the snacks that correlate with America’s favorite past time. Burgers, wings, dips – oh my!

A major favorite has always been the infamous Buffalo Chicken Dip. You know, that crockpot dish with a thick layer of oil and fatty goodness just waiting for you to dunk one (or hundreds) of tortilla chips in it?

Yeahhhh. I’m salivating at the thought.

Desperate to recreate the rich flavor and not consume 2,500 calories on a snack-size portion, I decided to concoct an experiment in the kitchen. Let’s just say it was a BIG success.

Ingredients You’ll Need:

  • Approximately 1 lb of chicken breasts. (I used about 1.25 pounds in my batch.)
  • 2 containers of fat free plain Greek yogurt. (I used Chobani, but any brand works.)
  • 2 cups of Frank’s Red Hot Wing Sauce, Buffalo Flavor. (They make a regular, a mild, and an extra spicy. I opted for the regular in mine and then added more heat post-cooking!)
  • 1 packet of Kraft Ranch seasoning (A huge calorie saver compared to using the dressing!)
  • 1 tub (8 oz) of fat free cream cheese.
  • 1 cup fat free shredded mozzarella cheese.
  • 1 cup of 2% reduced fat Sharp Cheddar (or fat free cheddar, if you REALLY want to cut the fat content down to nothing).

Super Simple Directions:

In your crockpot, add the chicken breasts and 1.5 cups of the hot sauce. It should be just enough to cover the surface of the meat but not drown it. If it’s a little short, add the full 2 cups.

Cook on HIGH for 2 hours. At this point, the chicken should be fork tender and should easily shred with a little stirring. If not, allow to cook another 1/2 hour or so.

Once you’ve shredded the chicken, stir in the remaining ingredients: cream cheese, Greek yogurt, Ranch packet, and cheese. Reduce heat to low and allow to cook another 15-30 minutes, or until all cheese has melted.

Stir well and serve with sliced veggies, baked tortilla chips, or just spoon it right out of the pot!

Based on MY recipe (I used 2% fat cheddar and 1.25 lbs chicken), the entire crockpot was about 1,600 calories and nearly 300 grams of protein. I divided the pot into 8 GENEROUS servings and froze four of them (in gladware) to enjoy the next time the craving strikes. I swear, you CANNOT taste the difference between this version and the full-fat version. If you’re a blue cheese fan, you can sprinkle in a 1/4 cup of blue cheese in lieu of 1/2 cup of the above-mentioned shredded cheese. I’m personally not a huge blue cheese fan (it’s an overpowering flavor), so I opted for sharp cheddar as the base to my flavor.

Test out the recipe and let me know what you think! If you make any cool substitutions (I debated adding sliced jalapenos), tell us about them.

As always – bon appetit, my friends!

Freedom

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I don’t exactly know how I did it, but I did.

For those of you that actively follow this blog, you may have noticed the long radio silence the past few weeks. I’ve gone almost 17 days without a post on here. While I do regret the lack of writing activity, the silence was the result of a very good thing: I haven’t been stressing my weight.

For nearly three weeks, my weight (and my body as a whole) has been at the very back of my mind. Perhaps it’s due to my busy work schedule, life stressors, or the heavy graduate class I’m balancing, but the scale, my pant size, and the reflection in the mirror have not been important to me recently.

I’m not used to this freedom. I’m not used to walking beside the scale and not feeling inclined to strip and weigh myself. To weigh myself not once, but twice – because the first time might be wrong. Maybe a third time, just to average the three numbers together and get the most accurate weight. In the last three weeks, I think I have weighed myself four times. Each time, it was out of habit and not need and, in two of the four cases, I didn’t actually look at the number on the screen. I just hopped back off.

In the last three weeks, I’ve enjoyed pizza. Candy. Pasta. Foods I’ve normally considered “forbidden territory” have been peppered into my day-to-day. And guess what? They haven’t destroyed me. I’m still strong and healthy. I’m still a good person. Even if my jeans are a little tighter in the waist, my heart is happy and I’ve allowed myself to live.

This is a freedom I could get used to.

While I’m not saying I plan to drop my regimen and let loose entirely, I think allowing myself a little wiggle room has helped me.

I got on the scale this morning and actually looked at the numbers this time: 133.2.

Three weeks of just letting myself live – exercising when I could, eating well for the most part, and enjoying my indulgences without guilt – and my weight was right about where I started.

Maybe there is something to this 80/20 balance thing after all.

Bon appetit, my friends!

~ Tori

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Track Shack Ladies 5k – Saturday, 2.1.2014

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Track Shack Ladies 5k - Saturday, 2.1.2014

Bright and early on Saturday morning, I ran a 5k as part of the Track Shack Winter Series and to follow through with my New Year’s Resolution to get out of the GYM and back to the outdoors!

It was a cool, humid morning and a scenic route through Mead Gardens made the run unusually easy. In fact, I set a PR of 28:14, the fastest time I’ve ever recorded – and that’s counting treadmill runs!

I took this picture immediately post-race (I tried to capture the massive crowd at the finish line behind me) because I wanted to remember this moment: how PROUD I felt of myself for setting a goal (get outdoors & run under a 29 minute 5k) and achieving it.

As my fellow yo-yos will likely attest, it’s easy to forget the successes you have on your journey to fitness, but oh-so-easy to linger on your setbacks and failures. To help remind myself of how far I’ve come, I’m making a conscious effort to take photos (even if they have to be the baneful selfies, like this one), just to ensure that I can’t deny myself the joy of this memory.

My next run is coming up on February 15th: The Run Around the Pines! It’s the best course in Winter Park as it’s flat, scenic, and not overly crowded. My goal is to break the 28:00 minute mark! Wish me luck!

Bon appetit and happy journey, my friends!

~ Tori

Almond Flour Waffles: Paleo!

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I woke up this morning with a severe hankering for a soul food breakfast. I wanted waffles. I wanted maple syrup. I wanted doughy, fluffy goodness. I wanted to cheat on my diet with everyone bone in my body and taste bud on my tongue.

I was given a waffle maker nearly seven years ago, which I have probably used twice, maybe three times in my life. Since switching to the Paleo diet in 2012, I’ve never even opened the cabinet in which it has been stored, patiently waiting to be put to its purpose.

Instead of going to iHop or Mimi’s Cafe and completely ruining my diet on this foggy, Sunday morning, I decided to get creative and construct a Paleo alternative that would satisfy the fiercest of cravings.

The following recipe makes three full-sized waffles.

Basic Ingredients List:

  • 1 3/4 cups almond flour.
  • 3 whole eggs.
  • 3/4-1 cup of So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk (I used just a little over 3/4 cup, but you can water it down to a full cup and the texture is the same).
  • 1 1/2 tsp of Baking Powder.
  • 2 tsp of pure vanilla extract.

Mix-In Ideas:

  • 6 tbsp unsweetened coconut flakes.
  • 4 tbsp Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips.
  • 1/4 cup blueberries.
  • 1/4 cup diced banana.
  • 1/4 cup diced pecans, walnuts, or almonds.
  • Get creative! You can stir in just about everything as long as it’s not liquidy. If you do add fruit (such as the blueberries), so with just 3/4 cup of coconut milk in the recipe above.

Instructions:

Spray your waffle-maker with a non-stick spray. If you’re a true Paleo-follower, avoid canola or soy-based sprays, which are the most common on the market. I actually found a coconut oil spray at Whole Foods a few weeks ago, so it’s been my standard for cooking everything lately! You can also just dip a paper towel in cooking oil and rub the waffle-maker if you don’t have any sprays.

While the waffle-maker preheats, combine all ingredients from the waffle-base ingredients list. Stir until well-mixed. It should be a little thicker than normal pancake batter but thinner than a brownie batter. Once fully combined, stir in any mix-in ideas from above. I added coconut flakes and the Enjoy Life chocolate chips – I was going all out! I also added a tbsp of cinnamon, a personal favorite. I think cinnamon accentuates the flavors in chocolate and the homeopathic benefits make it a win-win!

A huge bowl of batter.

A huge bowl of batter.

Once the waffle-maker is warmed up, spoon batter into each of the four compartments. DO NOT OVERFILL. I used about 1/4 cup batter per section, which covered the bottom but did NOT fully hide the metal indentations. The waffles will fluff up, so you need to leave room for them to grow without overflowing the machine. My waffle-maker has preset timers on it, so I didn’t have to pay attention to cook times, but I would say it was roughly two minutes per side.

This sucker is HUUUUGE.

This sucker is HUUUUGE.

I will admit, these waffles pack a substantial caloric punch: for my recipe (with coconut flakes and chocolate chips), each waffle was about 700 calories with roughly 29 grams of carbs, 58 grams of fat, and 26 grams of protein. Fortunately, I found it to be sweet enough without any syrup and it was EXTREMELY filling. I’m STUFFED.

I’m going to try to modify the recipe to bring it down under 600 calories – perhaps a blend of coconut flour and egg whites will help. I’ll have to play around with it! In the meantime, this recipe satisfied every craving and paired perfectly with a hot cup of coffee this morning.

Bon appetit, my friends!

~ Tori

Paleo Recipe: Spicy, Nutty Kale Chips!

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Regardless of what diet or health plan you’re currently on, chances are you’ve been hearing a lot about kale recently. Kale seems to be the new “superfood” of the month, the absolute miracle cure to all things that ail you. I would try to convince you that I’ve always liked kale – long before the hype – but I realize that makes me sound like a food hipster.

The bad thing about the rising popularity of kale is the rising cost of kale-based snacks. I was at Whole Foods last night and a bag of seasoned baked kale was $5.99! Seriously, $5.99 for 1 oz of food? Really? I can get a pound of organic chicken for $5.99 or a pound of seasoned kale for $96. Does that even make sense? Yeah, my thoughts exactly.

I decided to pay a visit to my favorite Sunday morning stop: the Lake Eola Farmer’s Market. A little pricier than other local markets, but the scenery and selection make it worth the extra cost. For $5, I got two HUUUUGE bundles of fresh, organic kale – over two pounds, easily. I decided to test my hand at making my own homemade kale chips and concocted the following recipe:

Ingredients:

  • 1 bundle fresh kale, washed, chopped, and dried. (approx one pound)
  • 2 tbsp sunflower oil.
  • 2 tbsp chili powder.
  • 2 tbsp garlic powder.
  • 2 tbsp roasted pumpkin seeds, crushed.
  • 1/2 jalapeno pepper – seeded – diced very small.

Put the oven on BROIL (500 degrees F) to preheat.

In a large plastic bag, combine all ingredients and shake well to coat. You can add a tiny bit more oil if it doesn’t seem well covered, but 2 tbsp worked well for me.

On an aluminum foil lined cookie sheet (for ease of cleaning – I’m lazy), spread out the kale evenly. Place the cookie sheet on the SECOND shelf – not directly against the broiler – and allow to cook for approximately ten minutes. Remove the tray from the oven, flip the kale over (spatula is easiest), and cook another five to seven minutes.

PLEASE NOTE: If you put the cookie sheet on the TOP shelf, the kale will get super crunchy on one side, half raw and green on the other – no bueno. So make sure to use the second shelf to ensure an evenly-cooked finished product. I learned this the hard way!

Once cool, store in an air tight container at room temperature. It can probably last a few days, but if yours tastes half as good as mine came out, you’ll be lucky if it lasts an hour or two.

This is only half of the batch! Seriously, making your own kale chips is far more cost effective.

This is only half of the batch! Seriously, making your own kale chips is far more cost effective.

I want to experiment with different flavors this week (I have a lot of kale to cook). I have an idea for dessert chips (think: coconut oil, shredded coconut, agave syrup, cinnamon, and pecans!) and I’d like to attempt a ranch/cheese flavor to really knock out my potato chip cravings. So many options, so few calories!

More recipes to come!

In the meantime, bon appetit my friends!

~ Tori

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Product Review: MaraNatha Caramel Almond Spread

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MaraNatha

Looking for an alternative to peanut butter (aka, the Reese’s peanut butter cups I was inhaling prior to the New Year), I scoured the shelves of the local Publix for something new and different from the plain almond butter I’ve been living on. Bless my lucky stars, I stumbled across this hidden gem: MaraNatha Caramel Almond spread. It was approximately $7 for the jar – a bit steep – but I decided to give it a try.

WARNING: This is NOT Paleo!

I didn’t realize until I got the jar home that it contained both soy and milk derivatives – two things you’re encouraged to avoid on the Paleo/Caveman diet. However, given the fact that I’d paid so much for the jar and was curious about the flavor, I decided to count it as my “cheat” and dig in for a spoonful.

DearSWEETLordBabyJesus.

This stuff is AMAZING. Crack-in-a-jar.

It has a rich, buttery, and sweet flavor that hits your tongue in a foodgastic explosion of taste. It’s more of a butterscotch flavor than caramel but I assure you that I mean that in a complimentary way: it’s decadent. The texture is much like normal almond butter, only it had a creamier (more sinful) residue on the tongue.

A serving consists of two tablespoons packing a whopping 190 calories, 14g fat (4g saturated), 13g carbs (11g of which are from sugar – yipes!), and only 4g of protein.

Fortunately, the flavor is very strong, so I was able to use less of it and still get a satisfying experience. The label on the package actually suggests using it on cake, so I probably should have been prepared for the ambrosial experience. Who needs cake when you have this stuff?

Confession: I ate 1/3rd of the jar the first day.

I had to hide it from myself to avoid eating more. It’s so good, it’s bad.

So, for those of you looking for a heavenly sweet treat (and not worried about the extra sugars/lack of protein), I would strongly suggest picking up a jar of this stuff. But make sure you have a sturdy padlock to put on the cabinet you store it in because I promise you it’ll be a Herculean feat to stop yourself from eating it all once you taste it.

On that note, bon appetit!

~ Tori

Weigh-In Wednesday

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I skipped this last week (out of shame).

I really, really wanted to skip this week (out of greater shame) but I’m doing it anyhow.

Today’s weight: 136.0.

I’ve been on a steady incline, fluctuating between 133-136 for the past two weeks. My all-time low was 129.8 on November 22nd and I haven’t been able to get back to that sub-130 milestone since.

Perhaps if I could stop eating junk food, I could make it happen. Perhaps if I went to the gym more than three times a week, I could make it happen.

Waist: 27.75″

I’ve got a bit of a muffin top going in my size 4 jeans. They fit perfectly in November, they are snug in December. Let’s hope I don’t burst out of them in January.

I didn’t measure my thighs, mainly because I didn’t trust myself to not freak out. I can see that they’re wider, thicker, jelly.

I just need to make it through December.

I will regain control in 2014. Until then, I just need to survive.

~ Tori

 

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Wednesday Weigh-in, Week Two (A Day Late!)

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Whooooops!

Even though I remembered to take a photo and weigh myself yesterday, I absolutely forgot to post my details. Wow, only two weeks into this new habit and I’m already missing due dates. Ha!

I blame the holidays. I spent the day with my family only to come home to house guests, so it was a hectic (but fun) day!

I'm trying to wear the same outfit for every weigh-in photo so you can see the small nuances and changes to my body.

I’m trying to wear the same outfit for every weigh-in photo so you can see the small nuances and changes to my body.

 

Weight: 134.0

(This actually upsets me, as I had gone down to 129.8 on Friday of last week, but I had a feeling that was due to dehydration… oh well.)

Waist/Thighs: unknown.

(My husband misplaced my measuring tape.)

I’m concerned that I’m going to take a major step back with today’s Thanksgiving eating, so I’m planning to go for a long run and get a workout in before I gorge on all of the good stuff. Hopefully I can make it to next week’s weigh-in without too much damage!

On that note, friends, it’s time to gobble ’til you wobble!

Bon appetit, my friends!

~ Tori

 

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A New Feature to the Blog: Weigh-In Wednesdays

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As I mentioned this weekend, I’ve really been bad lately with my diet and, as a result, my weight is up. I went from 130.6 just three weeks ago to a whopping 138 on Sunday morning when I stumbled onto the scale (after a weekend of gorging and excess). Since Halloween, I’ve really been letting myself just eat whatever I want (while still exercising 4-5 days per week) and I’ve learned that I just can’t get away with that with my body.

Unlike the rest of the world, I cannot exercise and eat what I want.

I will gain weight. FAST.

It’s unfair, but it’s the body I was given. I have to make the best of it. Awareness is the answer.

As part of an effort to hold myself more accountable, I’m going to publicly post my stats every Wednesday as well as a new (quasi-revealing) picture to show the progression of my body.

Starting tonight, I will post the following every Wednesday:

  • My weight (as taken in the morning)
  • My waist circumference
  • Left & right thigh circumference
  • A full body photo (shorts/sports bra)

I’ve been very regimented this week so far – a big thanks to MyFitnessPal & GymPact for keeping me honest with myself – and I went into the week with far more meal-planning than I had previously, so I’ve managed to keep my food intake in check and the scale is slowly creeping down.

Tonight, after work, I’ll be posting my first “Weigh-In Wednesday” and I hope that all of you can help to keep me encouraged, motivated, and accountable to my goals.

On that note, please watch for a post later this evening and, as always, bon appetit!

~ Tori

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