Inspiration can come from all places...Thank you Walk MS.

Inspiration can come from all places, but no matter where it comes from, it's always so amazing.  This weekend was the Walk MS 5 mile walk in Manchester, NH.  A very good friend of mine, Casie, requested that all her friends and family do this walk with her for her 30th birthday, which was the same day as the walk.  She doesn't have MS, but someone close to her does, much like many others.  Kristi and I signed up to do the walk, along with a good group of our friends.  We did a little fundraising (thank you to those who donated!), and we did a (VERY) little bit of walking to prepare. Sunday was the day of the walk and it was a hot (80 degrees) and very sunny day.  The walk started at noon, and we started our 5 mile walk around Manchester.  The route was mostly scenic, but quite hilly.  The walk started downhill, which unfortunately meant the end was up (quite a big) hill.  We walked a bit along the canals, which gave off a very nice breeze, and then headed up to downtown, walking by all the delicious restaurants and awesome bars...what a tease!!  The walk then wound up through neighborhoods and up a nice big hill just before the finish.

At the beginning of the walk, I was worried about finishing, but as we continued walking, we saw people of all ages, from babies to grandparents, with varying disabilities.  If they could do this 5 mile walk, so could I.  I sometimes think that being so overweight is a disability in itself at times, but even if it is, at least I have the option to make a change.  I don't have to be this overweight. I don't have to worry about fitting in an airplane seat, or worry about weight restrictions for different activities.  There is no reason that I should be limited to where I buy clothes, or how I look in them. The people with MS have no choice, they cannot change their diagnosis, much like people with other disabilities and illnesses.  Why should I live with a "disability" that I created for myself?   Time to make a change.  Thank you Walk MS for continued inspiration to continue on my path to a healthier and better life.

So, yes, I finished the walk.  I completed 5 miles in 2 hours and 20 minutes. Yes, 8 minutes longer than it took the winner of the Boston Marathon to complete 26.2 miles today.  But you know what? That's okay, because every mile I walk is a step closer to getting my health, weight, and life under control.

Yesterday's Walk MS event was very inspirational, and I'd like to thank my friend Casie for putting her team together as her birthday wish.  What a great idea. Thank you Casie. :)

I did it!

"Join The Movement" as it says on my bracelet.

Yesterday after the walk we came home, had some lunch, rested for a bit and then decided to go out to dinner in Nashua with some friends.  I picked Shorty's in Nashua, NH because Kristi really wanted a burrito.  Unfortunately our meals were less than great, but it was still a fun dinner with some friends that were able to meet us there! I love when we randomly want to be social and are able to make it happen within an hour. Thanks for joining us friends! :)

Today was very hot and humid and we stayed inside for most of it.  I woke up very sore from the walk yesterday, but by early evening I was feeling good and so I decided to go for a little walk around the neighborhood.  Kristi and our pup, Samson, came too.  A nice family walk. We went about 1.4 miles, in about 30 minutes.  And it was crazy hot.  Then I made dinner on the BBQ grill that Heidi has on the back porch, and it was delicious!

14 Points for dinner, using low fat hot dogs, light buns, fat-free feta, and fat-free dressing to save points!

Saturday night was our friend Jess' birthday party. and we went candlepin bowling and then to the bar at the bowling alley, where some of the party people entered a karaoke contest.  It was a good time, aside from not getting to sleep until about 2am, which was not the amount of sleep I wanted to get before walking 5 miles. Oh well!  Overall, it was a very successful and enjoyable long weekend with lots of activity, friends, and successes.  

This is a picture of me and Kristi, my wonderful fiancee, before our bowling birthday party outing on Saturday! :) 

Have a great week everyone, and don't let anything hold you back from doing what you want to do! 

Good Meals and a Good Week

It's been a great week so far.  Nothing really special or remarkable, but any week that I do well with staying on track and eating right, according to the Weight Watchers guidelines, I feel great.  It's Friday which means it's the last day of my week, before my 10am weigh-in tomorrow. I've made a lot of good, healthy, balanced meals this week and I wanted to share some more with you!  I know it's tough to think of healthy things to eat sometimes, especially if you get bored of eating the same thing over and over again. I know a lot of people eat the same meals all week so they know they're staying on track etc, but I just can't do that. I do like leftovers, for a day. But I can't seem to get excited about something after the 2nd time, sometimes I can do 3 meals if it's really good.

This morning I made a brunch like meal for a late breakfast, pictured below.

Brunch (Weight Watchers Points Plus Values in brackets): 9pts


Orange wedges - (0)
Grapes - (0)
100 Calorie English Muffin - (3)
Thin n' Trim Oven Roasted Turkey 2oz - (1)
Weight Watchers spreadable garlic & herb cheese (1 wedge, on english muffin) - (1)
Nonfat store brand mixed berry yogurt - (2)
Fiber One Cereal, 1/2 cup or 30g - (2)

Breakfast/Brunch was filling, balanced, and delicious.  As I said in a previous post, fiber was the focus of last week's meeting, so I tried to think about that while meal planning this week.  The 1/2 cup of Fiber One cereal as 14g of fiber, which is a really great amount to start the day! I had some extra orange wedges, not pictured, as well.

Hamburgers were on last night's menu.  Kristi said she was craving a McDonald's hamburger, so rather than give into the craving, I told her I'd made hamburgers one night this week.  I decided to make them on the grill outside, and I put corn on the cob on the grill too! I had to ask Heidi for some grill instruction since I've never owned a grill and therefore have never had to start a grill up. It was pretty easy, but thanks Heidi for the help! :) 

Dinner  (Weight Watchers Points Plus Values in brackets): 21 pts

Fresh cut veggies (cucumber, celery, red pepper, carrots, dill pickles) - (0)

Red pepper hummus (1.5oz) - (3)

Corn on the cob, made on the grill with some seasonings in tin foil - (2)

Sweet Potato Fries (homemade, cut up sweet potato, a little oil and seasonings) - (4)

Hamburger, 1/3 pound patty - (5)

Wheat hamburger bun - (3)

Lettuce, tomato, ketchup (1tsp) - (0)

American cheese - (2)

2 small slices of center-cut bacon - (2)

So, that was dinner. Dinner was amazing. The corn was possibly the best corn I've ever had.  I used about 1/4 teaspoon olive oil, over 2 ears of corn, then added small amounts of salt, pepper, garlic powder, and vegetable seasoning then wrapped them individually in tin foil about 2 hours before cooking.  They were seasoned perfectly.  They were on the grill for about 15 minutes and that was a perfect amount of time.  The burgers were preformed store-bought 90% lean ground beef, and I added some pepper, Montreal burger seasoning, and Worcestershire sauce, also about 2 hours before cooking. They were perfect.  I was very pleased with the meal.  The sweet potato fries were a little crisp on the outside, and warm and soft on the inside.  I'd like them to be a bit more fry like, but these were pretty darn good!

Yesterday afternoon I decided to try a Weight Watchers recipe that was suggested in the Weight Watchers weekly for this week. Kale and Bacon and Cannellini beans. This proved a little more difficult than I expected, with a few changes and set backs.  The recipe is below the pictures, so you can see where I subbed thins from the original list.  I ended up using dried minced garlic instead of fresh.  While the taste was just as good, I forgot that it wouldn't need to simmer as long since it isn't fresh.  I let it simmer in the bacon grease, as directed, for under a minute, but when I turned around, it was very dark , which ended up meaning it was burnt to a crisp.  Unfortunately I didn't really realize it was burnt until I added the fresh onions, so then I had to throw out everything through that step.  I ended up cooking another 3 slices of bacon, so that I still had bacon grease to cook in, per the recipe.  I used some of the extra bacon for dinner, on my burger, so that worked out.  I didn't want to chop another onion, so I ended up using onion powder.  The taste, again, is pretty much the same, but it creates less food for the recipe.  The rest of the meal I proceeded as per the recipe, but I realized I didn't have 1lb of kale, instead I probably only had 1/2 that.  Oh well.  The dish turned out pretty well, and I think I'll try again, but this time use everything fresh and follow the recipe exactly.  I think it'd be better that way.  With no onions, and not enough kale, it only came out to about 2 servings, and the recipe says each serving is 5pts, but I know each of these is more since the ingredients are only split between 2 dishes.  I don't think each one is 10 though, so I called it 7 points per serving.  I could be off, but since I haven't used my weekly points, that's fine. I've only used 8 out of 49 and today is the last day of the week, so a few extra points from varying recipes is fine to not be sure about.  I also have activity points I gained this week so I know there is no way I'm over my points.

Pictures are below of the ingredients, and then the finished dish.  It was very flavorful, maybe a little too salty, but I think using fresh onion would make that better, as the salt and balsamic vinegar would have more to mix into.

Kale with Bacon and Cannellini Beans: 7pts per serving, served 2, recipe at the bottom of blog

 

I ate this yesterday for lunch, along with a 6in Subway sandwich that Kristi brought home for me.  Heidi had some BOGO coupons that expired yesterday so Kristi got us each a 6in sub for lunch on her way home from her class at UML.  I forgot how much I loved Subway! I worked there for awhile, when I was 19, at Plymouth State College. It was a fun, and easy, job, and the perk of free subs was pretty decent!

So, a few great meals. A pretty great week.  A weigh-in tomorrow that I'm feeling good about, and not stressing like I normally do, so that's good.  I need to run to the grocery store to stock up on some fruits and veggies for the weekend, and for my salad that I'm having for dinner tonight.  I try to always eat a light meal, low on salt and heavy meats, the night before a weigh-in, so that I'm not "weighed down" when I get on the scale.  Tonight's salad will likely be with either tuna or shrimp on top. I haven't decided yet.

I hope all of you reading this have a fantastic day, and if you're doing Weight Watchers, or any other "diet", I hope your results this week are where you wanted them to be.  I'm hoping for minimally 0.4lbs lost, so I hit that 10lb goal I wanted to meet last week, but I really want it to be more than that of course. I usually feel good as long as I'm losing 2lbs per week, but we all know that just doesn't happen every week.

Happy Friday friends, family, and supporters. Have a great day, and a fun-filled holiday weekend, whatever you may be celebrating! :)  I'll be sure to post tomorrow about my weigh-in results!

Kale with Bacon and Cannellini Beans Prep time:  10 min Cook time:  32 min Serves: 4, Points Plus Value: 5 3 slice(s) uncooked reduced-fat bacon    3 clove(s) (medium) garlic clove(s), minced    1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes    1 cup(s) (chopped) uncooked onion(s), diced    1 pound(s) uncooked kale, stemmed, roughly chopped    1 cup(s) canned chicken broth, or beef broth    15 oz canned cannellini beans, rinsed and drained    1 tsp kosher salt    1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar    1 tsp sugar, in the raw    Instructions ·         Set a large, heavy pot or skillet over medium heat; add bacon and cook to desired crispness. Remove bacon from pot and set aside; leave bacon drippings in pot.  ·         Add garlic and red pepper flakes to bacon drippings; cook, stirring, until garlic becomes fragrant, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add onion; cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 10 minutes. Add kale; cook, stirring occasionally, until it starts to wilt, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add broth; cover and simmer over low heat until kale is just tender, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add beans; simmer, uncovered, until liquid is almost evaporated, about 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in salt, vinegar and sugar; sprinkle with crumbled bacon and serve immediately. Yields about 1 1/4 cups per serving.