OMG!

I'm pretty sure anyone but me is gonna win this week, cause well, I'm eating and drinking everything on vacation.
EVERYTHING.
Good luck you guys.

Friday Breakdown

So just to recap, and correct me if I'm wrong:
Ash won this week with her questionable loss of 2.7%
Yrautca came in second with a strong showing at 1.9%
I came in third with a 1.1%, the hardest 2 lbs I ever lost
Linny came in fourth with 0.57%
and Berly came in fifth with a gain of 0.69%

I'm so freakin' tired today, I was in butt-fuck nowhere watching the boyf's band play last night, I didn't find out till I got there that their band was going on last and I wouldn't get to bed until 2am. The upside is that the band sounded amazing. The downside is that I ate a plate of chicken fingers and fries, and the worst part was that I was satisfied after the chicken fingers and a quarter of the fries, but I ate the other three quarters of the fries because they were there. Restaurants are a problem for me. The other downside is that I had to be at work at the crack of dawn today and I'll be busy until after midnight tonight. TGIF my ass! The upside is that this is a party office, so everyone is hung over this morning.

Not bad

I am at 1.9% this week. Not great but not bad either.

Yay i lost it..... again

Ok so as you all know i was a glutenous pig last week and had gained back all that i had lost previously. Well good news this week, i have lost 5 pounds. My percentage is wanky though. See if i go by the scale at the gym then i lost 3.29% but if i go by my scale at home then i lost 2.7% because my starting weight on both were different (3 or 4 pounds off from one another) However, i've been religiously using the one at home and didn't get to the gym to use that one just to check it out, so i guess my percentage is 2.7% then for this week.

Abiasa and Viragia

I don't want to get all new age on people here, but I was doing some yoga yesterday and I was pondering my dilema with the cleanse. I tried really really hard and I didn't make any gains (or losses in this case), I think that might be an issue that's facing all of us. There are two concepts that yogis talk about which are relevant. The concepts are abiasa - willfull determination and viragia - non-concern for results. If you set out a regimen and follow it but don't get results, you shouldn't get discouraged just relax and trust that it will work evenutally. Don't let desperation get the better of you. If you gain some muscle and it results in a weight gain one week, then focus on how your clothes are fitting you better and how the muscle will help you burn more calories in the next weeks. If you're having trouble following your regimen then you should first re-evaluate your plan to see if it is do-able and then focus on being willfully determined to follow it.
OK, now that I'm done being all philosophical, here were my results for the week. I lost 1.1% of my body weight this week, and my total percentage of weightloss so far was 9.4%.
While it's the lowest percentage I've had so far, I wore my jeans last night and they weren't tight at the waist any more, they didn't make my tummy bulge over the top of the pants. I can feel my collar bone which is no longer covered by fat. And mostly I'm relieved that I don't have to do the cleanse any more.

Being Negative Sucks

Ok.
This week's percentage is . . . -.69%.
I gained a pound.
Which totally sucks.
But I am hoping it has something to do with the fact that I have been working out a lot more and perhaps that is just some fat that was turned to muscle.
Come on guys.
Work with me on this. ;)

So how did everyone else do?
Who is going to be the biggest loser this week?

Miracle

What on earth? I just got back from gym. Just the regular workout. Get ready for this cuz this shocked me too. I not only lost the 3 lbs I had gained over the weekend but an additional 1.2 lbs!!!!!!!

My scale is digital and new so I cant think that its broke. Funny, eh?

The Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Cleanse

I've decided to scrap the cleanse. I've been the incredible shrinking woman for the past 5 days, and that's nice, but it's not translated into any change on the scale. It's odd, I'm not sure why I haven't lost weight, my clothes have gone from not being tight any more to not fitting me at all.

The boyf is still doing really well on the cleanse, but I just couldn't do it. I think I'm more effected by low blood sugar than he is, and also I'm less dilligent about feeding myself if the food is not something I find appetizing. Also I couldn't drink the salt water in the morning to flush out my intestines.

I found during the time I was on the cleanse, I was lethargic, couldn't get going and was a bit forgetful. Anyway, I started back on the solid foods today. I had a little brown rice and some veggies, and then later I ate some french fries, normally my favourite food, but after being on the cleanse, they tasted dry and tasteless and the ketchup tasted very acidic. Somehow, I thought after not eating much for a few days, that food would be tastier not harder to eat, but there you go.
I hope that I can put a last push on and loose some pounds before Thursday, but if I don't it wasn't for lack of trying. The other factor is that I spent the entire day on the stairs of highrise buildings yesterday knocking on doors trying to get people out to vote and by the end of the day yesterday my bum knee was killing me. Then when I got up this morning my calves were aching. The boyf tried to massage them tonight and I couldn't even stand him touching them they were aching so badly. Boo-urns!
I hope you guys are all having a better weight loss week than I am. I'm just taking consolation in the fact that even though I'm not lighter, I'm a whole lot thinner and looks are what really counts anyway.

Ash inspires me

Ash has inspired me to be a couch potatoe again. This week so far, I have gained back 3 lbs and counting. But hell if Ash got a date being a fat cow, I have a chance as well. Ash you mentioned that the guy was standing behind you when you met your friends. Could it be that he could not see your friends behind your behind?

Anyway, I am a loser myself now so far this week. Football games this past weekend killed me. I ate chicken wings. I ate popcorn. I ate a cheese burger with fries. I am hating me.

I've Been a Bad Bad Girl

So right on the heels of my "Bus to Skinny Town" post...what do I do? I pig out the very next day. Ugh. My Uncle and Grandfather are visiting from Arizona and we all went out to breakfast this morning (I ate pancakes) and then went to a late lunch at Longhorns (Chicken fingers and fries). :0(

I am very upset with myself. Not to mention bloated as hell and feeling a little queasy. I am going to have to bust my ass over the next few days to make weight. Damn damn damn damn.

Bus to Skinny Town

Did anyone watch The Biggest Loser (Couples Edition) Thursday? I caught it a little after it started so at first when I saw the women, they still seemed rather large to me because I hadn't seen their starting photos. After I did...my jaw dropped. Especially with guys pictures too. To see how thin they were and how much muscle they had put on. I thought...crap, if they can do it I can do it.

Then I also watched "Dancing With the Stars." (It's my guilty pleasure...don't pick on me.) And to see all of those women with their flat stomachs and legs up to here...*sigh*. I looked in the mirror this morning and groaned at my jiggly belly and my not so skinny thighs...definetly must do something about this.

Therefore, it doesn't appear to be raining outside yet so I'm off to the park to attempt a run. I haven't run in years because I hate it...but it's a good cardio workout so I'm going to suck it up and give it a shot. I WILL be hot again dammit.

The Poo Diaries

My friends have this hilarious tradition where we describe incidents of unusual bowel movements as the Poo Diaries. Every installment of the Poo Diaries must begin with the date.

January 20th, 2006

I started the Master Cleanse today. You drink a laxative tea at night before bed and then you drink salt water in the morning. If you can't drink the salt water you can have another cup of laxative tea. Then for the rest of the day you drink a lemonade concoction.

So last night I drank my laxative tea, I couldn't drink the salt water, so I had more tea and then hung out near the bathroom for a while. Mid morning I got ready to go out and buy some ingredients for the cleanse juice. I walked down to Kensington market, that area rocks, they have everything you'd ever need for cheaper than anywhere else in the city. I found everything I needed and then started walking home... then I started running home. The lock on my front door sticks, I was fumbling with the key, trying to use my fist to jam it into the lock, throwing my shoulder into the door. I finally fell in the door, leaving the groceries in the hallway and made it to the bathroom within seconds of an accident. I think I'm going to try to stay near the toilet for as much of the weekend as possible. Unfortunately, I'm volunteering tonight in an area that's a far from the public toilets. I'm going to be sure to have cab fare with me in case I need it.

On the flipside though I'm really liking the taste of the laxative tea, the cleanse juice is quite tasty as well, better than I thought. So I think I can do this thing and get that plaque off of my bowels.

To the champion go the spoils

Berley when you get a chance please email me your home address so I can send you your prize. I don't know how long it will take Ashley's ratty undies to get to you, they might get quarantined at the border, but I'm sure they'll get to you eventually.

My numbers

Not great but pretty reasonable. 2.11%. Please note once I lose a few more I am cutting back on cardio and increasing weight training. Whatever!

Too Pathetic to Face...

Let me just preface this by saying this week SUCKED at work. We were short staffed...stressed, I never took more than 15 minutes for lunch and I worked super late almost every single night. Therefore...I was completely and totally screwed on my first week of dieting. It's quite pathetic I assure you. Shit. I'm going to have to do something to buckle down and be able to deal with the stress, weariness and still work hard. I WILL PERSERVERE IN THIS CHALLENGE IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO!

All the whining aside....I've lost a single...freakin' pound. Percentage wise: .57%

Ashley...you can stop worrying about losing now.

Who knows....

I have no idea about this week. I ate whatever i wanted, i went to the gym once and was pathetic, i gave myself a week off i guess. So i'm pretty much back to my starting weight ... booooo i know, but better for the rest of you. Apparently the scale at home is broken so we're in the midst of buying a new one. However, my mother wants a good one and is shopping around at various health stores. I offered to go and buy one to try out. The problem is you cannot return them, some weird policy they have and the cheapest one we found was $149. So i told her to have one by today...if you know my mother you know i'll be waiting forever. So i just used the scale at my work that the Dr. uses (she does methadone counselling when our office is closed) and it showed that i am back to my starting weight. How accurate this is i'm not sure as i have not been using this scale. However, if i go by how my clothes are fitting and how i feel, i'd say it's spot on.

Just a sidenote for Jennifer. I'm only coming to visit this weekend if you refrain from gloating and pestering me about this :)

Show me your numbers

Ok.
2.7 percent.
That is my number this week.
I'd like to thank the academy for giving me this honor.
And Kraft cheese for making two percent slices (healthy and yummy), everyone at work for not pressuring me to eat Mexican food, my husband for cooking last night, and you fellow losers, for being "fat" as well and pushing me to do my best.

These are my confessions

In our Y there are about 20 treadmills and only 3 stairmasters. One hottttt woman is now using one of the stairmasters. She is easily in her mid to late 30s but man she is hot. Every time I look at her I add a few minutes to my workout. I thank her for making me spend extra time on the stairmaster.

As a side note, do women mind if a guy using the next machine is staring at you for 30 or more minutes as he sweats like a pig (not that it matters). Baby, if you are reading this, I am the devastatingly handsome guy who stares at you even when a football game is on. Call me. 1-800-HOTGUY.

I had a dream...

Seriously, this isn't about MLK, I had a dream last night, it was really odd. I was standing naked in front of the mirror looking at myself and it took me a while but I realized that my breasts were much much smaller, in fact everything from my waist up was really thin. I don't think there was any change to my stomach or hips, or if there was it certainly wasn't as extreme as my upper body change. I'm not sure what that was all about, probably something to do with a conversation my boyf and I had about my the diet last night.

Anyway, in my waking life, I actually have been noticing a change in my body, my hands and feet and neck and shoulders and face have all gotten thinner, also my hip area is shrinking. I haven't noticed a big change in tummy or bum yet, but I have noticed that I'm wearing the smaller pants in my wardrobe, so it must be a change I can't see yet. It's a funny way to lose weight, isn't it? I don't really care about having thin hands and feet, but the extremities always seem to get thin first. I've also noticed a difference in my ability to retain heat, the boyf likes to keep the thermostat at arctic levels, there's a marking for what should normally be considered room temperature and we haven't near there since the summer. So it's cold in my place, and I have a duvet, a comforter and another blanket on the bed, I'm sleeping in warm PJs and the other night I had to get up and put on my fleece robe and put a heating pad under my back to get to sleep. Now, this isn't anorexia, I still have plenty of weight to lose, why can't I get warm? Oh well, it's a small price to pay for beauty and to take some pressure off my poor knee.

As for Yrautca's comment about my knee and my sex life, never you mind about my sex life Yrautca, never you mind.

About the weigh in tomorrow. Please go back and review the post I put up last Wednesday regarding "The Rules" for how to calculate your percentage, or just email me your info and I'll post it. And please way yourself at a consistent time every Thursday, don't try to weigh yourself all day and then report the lowest weight, it's not fair to everyone else.

Big Bertha

Ughh. So i went to the Mandarin this evening to pig out, which is exactly what i did. I'm pretty sure i've gained back every ounce that i lost in previous weeks, but Thursday will tell. I have been eating quite well and have been going to the gym religiously 5 times a week, doing at least 45 minutes of cardio and lifting weights. I'll admit i've been rather lax with the weights but i have done them. I feel like it's all for nothing really. I've been going to the gym for years now and i'm still looking the same. There was one time last year where i lost 30 pounds and looked great.....not sure how the hell i did that though. Seems to not be working this go around. I've even been eating healthier and cutting out on the booze. This is where i get discouraged and feel like a big fat slob, like nothing is working :(

Signed,
Big Bertha

Damn you!

Ok.
I just waited an hour in my apartment's workout room for a machine.
And I couldn't get on one. WTF?
These people are laughing at me on the inside.
"Ha ha, look at that fat girl who wants to use this treadmill. I don't think I'm gonna get off just yet."

Retail Therapy

I just ordered some silly book from the internet, it may be the key to all my weightloss needs. I'll let you know if it works.

Thank You

I just wanted to say a big Thank You to you guys for letting me in.
This past year was really difficult for me, physically and emotionally. However...it is a new year with new and wonderful things to look forward to. It is time to live my life and do it with a kickin' body! Screw all those 19 year olds out there thinking they're so hot...move over sister. You're on the train to fat town and I'm sweeping in to take your men!

Afterthought: Maybe the fact that I'm having my wisdom teeth removed next Friday isn't totally a bad thing. I'll be on a liquid diet for a couple of days... (yuck) but from my misery...may there come weight loss!

Happy Birthday Yrautca!

Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday dear Yrautca!
Happy Birthday to you!

I thought about suggesting that as a birthday present we should all let you win this week, but it's really just not in my nature. On the other hand if you do win this week, I plan on saying that that was why.

Kale and Onion Stirfry

I got this recipe attached to a bunch of kale and modified it for my own ends. I think Kale is an acquired taste, but dark green leafy vegetables are very important for health and kale has more fibre than you can shake a stick at.

1 pound fresh green kale
2 onions, sliced
(2 cups of sliced or quartered musrooms, optional)
2 tbsp. rice vinegar
2 tbsp. light soy sauce
1/2 tsp. sweetener

Clean Kale and remove ribs. (I find that the best way to do this quickly is to hold the end of the stalk and pull your fingers down the stalk peeling off the leafy part.) Spray wok or skillet with cooking spray. Heat on high, add kale and onions (and optional mushrooms. (I usually put in the onions (and mushrooms) first and the kale second) Stir for 1 to 2 minutes. Pour in rice vinegar, lite soy sauce and sweetener. Reduce to medium heat and stir until kale and onions are tender-crisp. Makes 4 servings.

More fun with balsalmic vinegar

So, in case you haven't noticed, I love balsalmic vinegar.

This recipe has some obvious cross over with the "my favourite salad" recipe posted previously, but it's a totally different thing, and the balsalmic flavour in this one is much more subtle.

This recipe was adapted from a dish that they make at Ash's fav Toronto restaurant, The Red Room they call theirs the Marinated Grilled Veggie Sandwich and serve it on brown bread.

I call mine the Marinated Roasted Veggie Wrap for reasons that will become obvious if you read the recipe.

Go out and buy some:
Mushrooms,
Onions,
Zucchinis,
Eggplants (the baby ones are better for this),
Tofu (firm),
Peppers (green, red, orange, yellow, whatever),
Some of those wrap things (preferably whole wheat),
Mildish Cheese (low-fat, swiss or cheddar or something, processed cheese slices are ok too)
Mayo (low-fat, the green package is lower fat than the baby blue one if you can find it)

A day or two beforehand, chop up the mushrooms, onions, zuchs, eggplants, peppers and tofu. Put them in a tupperware with some balsalmic vinegar. I usually marinate the tofu separately and the mushrooms separately from the other veggies so I can use them with other things.

Once the stuff is marinated, put it on a baking tray (you can use the bbq as well) (spray or drizzle some oil to prevent sticking, if that's a concern). Put them in the oven at 350 or so for 15 or 20 minutes, or longer, till they soften up and start to really cook. Turn them during cooking. When they are almost done switch the oven to broil and brown them a bit. Broiling means that the oven turns off all the other elements and turns the top one up as high as it will go. When you are broiling you should always leave the door of the oven open, and watch the stuff carefully, you could burn your meal or much worse if you are careless about it, so don't be a jackass.

In the mean time, stick your wrap in the microwave for less than 5 seconds, this improves the taste of the wrap a lot.
When the veggies are done, stick them in the wrap with a slice of cheese and a little bit of low-fat mayo, wrap it up and eat it.
You can cook up all the veggies at once and store them in the fridge to make sandwiches later, or you can leave the veggies marinating and cook them up each time you want a nice hot sandwich. Either way, it's very tasty.
If you want to take this to work, take the veggies and the wraps separately, and assemble there, so the wraps don't get all soggy.

Words of wisdom

As we start losing weight remember that initially all you are losing is water. This is true at least in the first week.

Which brings us to a more important point. The goal should be to get healthier regardless of how many pounds are lost. The ultimate goal is to reduce body fat index. This is not in a direct relationship with body weight. You could gain muscle, maintain weight and yet lose body fat. I will see whether we can come up with a measure for body fat but the math could be much more complicated.

Also note that once our goals are achieved it would be too easy to let go again. This is most likely to happen if you define your goal in terms of weight. Weight loss is the main criteria for this little competition but you should define healthier goals for yourself. Change the way you eat and how much you exercise. So when you can fit in the polka dot bikini or a gorgeous summer dress or a bridesmaid dress, or have 6-pack abs, you still can find the motivation to stick to your new lives.

Weigh in

Sorry for late entry. I just got back from gym. My weigh in is only 0.5848% down since Monday. A few things:

1) Jennifer is prolly right that all the water I drink during workout makes weighing in after a bit off mark. Next Thursday will weigh in in the AM.

2) I am also lifting weight so some fat is replaced by muscle. My real goal would be to replace fat with muscle. Still I hope to have a better weigh in next time.

3) I had a shorter weigh in period (Mon to Thur) than these fatties who think they are doing miracles by losing a lousy 2-something percents.

There is too much fat on this blog.

The biggest weigh-in

I woke up this moring to find that I had lost 2.7% of my body weight in the last week for an overall total of 6.25 percent weight loss in the two weeks we've been at this. Woo hoo!

Yeah, I'm In!

Ok
Thanks for letting me join (fat) girls.
We are suppose to insult each other right?
I have chosen to use the Weight Watchers point system and do cardio for 30 minutes at least four times a week. I lost thirty pounds doing this before. But then my lazy ass started in on the fried chicken, so here I am.

Weigh in

Alright this week i lost 4 pounds. Not too shabby considering i just started my nutrition plan on Monday and i've only been to the gym twice so far. I'm making Jennifer's cabbage rolls tonight to try something different. If Jennifer beat me this week i'll be pissed. She ate M & M's and fried foods and i was eating salads and veggie burgers with no bun. So my total loss thus far is 6 pounds. Beat that wide loads :)

With the equation i lost 4 pounds this week and my percentage for this week is 2.222%

Fat girls

Jennifer is so fat her left buttock has a different zipcode than her right buttock.

Ash is so fat her left buttock has a different time zone than her right buttock.

Jennifer is so fat when she stepped on the scale it said "To be continued..".

Ash is so fat when she stepped on the scale it said "One person at a time."

Jennifer is so fat she fell in love and broke it.

Ash is so fat the first time she saw 90210 she was looking down at the scale.

The Rules

OK, guys, since tomorrow is the big weigh-in I'd like to remind everyone of the rules. In order to preserve everyone's diginity, no one needs to post their actual weight. Take out your trusty rusty calculators at home and figure out:
(weight last thrusday minus weight this thursday) divided by weight last thursday times 100.

Example:
wt last Thur: 160
wt this Thur: 150

(160 - 150)/160 x 100 = 6.25%

Example 2:
wt last Thur: 160
wt this Thur: 170

(160 - 170)/160 x 100 = -6.25%

Keep in mind that the competition is only for how much weight you lost this week. You can feel free to post the total percentage of weight you've lost since the beginning of the competition, but we are only competing on a week by week basis.

If you aren't a math guy, you can just email the info to me and I'll figure it out for you and post it.

Then after you've done that, I'd like you to send me an email. Telling me your original weight, your weight from the beginning of the week and your weight from the end of the week, just so that I can follow the whole thing clearly and keep some stats, and make sure there is no creative algebra going on.

Many thanks to Yrautca for coming up with this formula. Mine didn't account for weight gain. Although I wonder, Yrautca, are you planning on gaining weight while competing in this challenger, or were you trying to make things easier for Ashley?

Danke

Hey, I am in. The ladies let me in. So first of all thank you to the pretty ladies. Secondly, I will try and add value here whenever I can. Thirdly, I think anyone else who wishes to join needs to pay a membership fee. I am absolutely serious. This could be a brilliant idea and could catch up on the net. A lot of small ideas turn into gold you know. We will make a business out of this. Ash will be the Managing Director, Jennifer will be the President and I will be the CEO.

The product we sell is that if you pay us $12 a month, we will let you access our before and after pics as well as let you post here. Moreover, you get free fitness ideas and recipes. Come and read stories of thousands of other men and women. Meet people in your age and weight range and make groups and monitor your progress. Ask our experts for advice and support. We can divide the blog in various sections.

This could really work. I have an MBA and I know a thing or two about running a business.

P.S. we need an admin assistant. Who should we ask? hmmmm.....any ideas????

Program Thus Far

Well i must say i was a bit of a champ last week...or so i thought until i read yrautca's workout schedule. I went to the gym on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday only completing 45 mins of cardio, but hey at least i went. I also went Friday and lifted weights for 45 minutes & did some abs and to finish off the week i went on Saturday for more cardio. I will have to alter this schedule as i usually lift weights at least 3 times per week, however i will admit i had not done that in about a month and getting back into it is a pain in the ass. My muscles ache and it still hurts to laugh in my tummy area. I actually had not planned on lifting weights that day it was by fluke that i did. All the cardio machines upstairs had been taken so i was going to the downstairs area and passed the empty weight room. I figured i could not make an ass out of myself when i was alone in there so i gave it a shot. It's embarassing after not lifting for over a month...my arms shake and i can not lift what i should be able to so it's more out of embarassment that i have avoided it.

I started my meal plan yesterday, takes me a while to get going on these things so not sure what my weigh in will look like this week as i just started eating healthy, but we'll see. Jennifer apparently pigged out over the weekend cause she's gluttonous so maybe i'll be ahead this time :)

Bean Salad

This bean salad is very popular at my house, and with Ashley, and can be made ahead of time.
The recipe involves:
Beans - Red Kidney, Black and White Kidney
Vinegars - Balsalmic, White Wine, Cider, Red Wine
Lemon Juice
Onions
Cilantro
Olives
Jalapeno - fresh and pickled
Olive oil

The rule for this salad, is that, for every can of beans you add to the salad, you add at least a tablespoon of vinegar and a teaspoon of oil.
So, for example:

In a food processor chop:
1 onion

3-4 tablespoons of cilantro
Half a fresh Jalapeno seeded and deveined (optional)
Add:
3-4 teaspoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon balsalmic vinegar
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Process again, then pour over:
1 can each of red and white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 to 3 tablespoons of chopped olives
2 to 3 tablespoons of pickled jalapenos
Serve by itself or over lettuce, sprinkled with:
salt and pepper
hot sauce

If you just want to make a small amount use a can of mixed beans and cut the recipe to 1/3.

Sweet and Sour

Ingredients:
1 pkg firm tofu
drizzle olive or canola oil
1 can of pineapple, retaining the juice
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
3 tbsp Splenda
1 tbsp soy sauce
2-3 cloves garlic, minced garlic
2-3 tsp ginger, minced
2 tsp cornstarch
1 red pepper, roughly chopped

-Cube tofu and fry with oil until browned on the outside, about 10 minutes, remove from the pan
-Then add to the pan 1/4 cup of the pineapple juice, 1/4 cup of red wine vinegar, 3 tbsp Splenda, 1 tbsp soy sauce, garlic and ginger, and cornstarch. Heat and whisk the mixture till well blended, then add red pepper and some of the pineapple cut up. When this is warmed up, add tofu and serve.

Sometimes I use chicken instead of tofu, I personally think it's tastier that way, but if you are a veggie like Ash, then tofu is good too.

Cabbage Rolls

I had these again for lunch today, yum! yum!

This cabbage roll recipe can be used to make traditional rolled cabbage rolls as well, but that takes hours you could be spending at the gym, so screw that. This recipe comes out more like a stew.

You'll need:
2 chopped onions
2-3 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup dry white wine, or stock, or juice or white wine vinegar or water
1 28 ounce can of tomatoes broken, pureed or cut up
1 cup of water
1/2 cup of raisins
1 tablespoon of Splenda or sweetener
8 crumbled gingersnaps (optional)
Juice of a large lemon, or 1/3 cup of lemon juice
2 chunks or 1/2 teaspoon of sour salt (optional)
1 pound extra lean ground beef, chicken or turkey
1 egg
1/2 cup bread crumbs (whole wheat or just bran)
1/2 cup brown rice (uncooked)
1/2 cup water
1 large grated carrot
salt and pepper
1 head of cabbage
low fat sour cream

Spray or drizzle your largest pot with cooking oil, and put over medium heat, toss in:
2 chopped onions
2-3 cloves of garlic
Heat for a minute or two and add:
1 large grated carrot
After another minute or two, add:
1/2 cup dry white wine, or stock, or juice or white wine vinegar
Simmer over low heat for 5 minutes and add:
1 28 ounce can of tomatoes broken, pureed or cut up
1 cup of water
1/2 cup of raisins
1 tablespoon of Splenda or sweetener
8 crumbled gingersnaps (optional)
Juice of a large lemon, or 1/3 cup of lemon juice
2 chunks or 1/2 teaspoon of sour salt (optional)
1 pound extra lean ground beef, chicken or turkey
1 egg
1/2 cup bread crumbs (whole wheat or just bran)
1/2 cup brown rice (uncooked)
1/2 cup water
salt and pepper
Stir thoroughly, then add:
1 head of cabbage, chopped
Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for an hour and a half, stirring occasionally.
Serve topped with low-fat sour cream.
I like to let the rest cool and freeze it in individual servings, so I can have these whenever I like.
low fat sour cream.
I substitute veggie ground round for the meat on occasion, also sometimes, I substitute some mushrooms and other tasty veggies for some of the meat.

Nutrition Plan

I used to have a trainer at the gym and he put together a nutrition plan for me. It of course can be altered. Substitutions are fine as long as you stay within the required nutrient breakdown. An approximate breakdown.....

1300 Calories, 86g Protein, 100g Carbs, 22g Fat

7-8am
6 eggwhites, 30g oatmeal, 1/2 cup of berries, 2tsp extra virgin olive oil

Postworkout
2 scoops protein shake, 1 piece of medium fruit

2 hrs later
6oz shrimp, 1/4 cup brown rice or 5oz sweet potatoes, 1 cup steamed veggies

2:30pm1/4 cup kidney beans, 1/2 cup chickpeas, 1 cup romaine lettuce, 2tsp olive oil

5:30pm3oz Lo Carb veggie burger (nor more than 5g), 1 cup steamed veggies

8:30pm
3 scoops Protein shake

*At least 8oz of water at each meal
*crystal light and diet pop are fine
*NO KETCHUP
*mustard, salsa, soy sauce are all fine
*substitutions are fine as long as you stay within the required nutrient breakdown
*TRY TO LIMIT ALCOHOL TO NO MORE THAN ONE DAY A WEEK <---- this is exactly how he put it on my sheet as he knows i like to have a beverage or two. He also recommended if i must drink the least amount of calories are found in vodka and diet drinks.
*every 2-4 weeks alterations are made
*TRY NOT TO CHEAT FOR THE FIRST 2 WEEKS

This nutrition plan of course goes along with good ole fashion exercise and I do change things up. Instead of the kidney bean part i've spiced it up and eaten Jennifer's bean salad which is quite tasty. I've cheated a bit and eaten these really great President's Choice veggie burgers with Portabello mushrooms and cheese in them for a treat, they are just higher in carbs. As well with the shrimp i usually make some type of stirfry, sometimes with soy sauce or garlic. As well Jennifer has a great sweet and sour recipe so i will use that as a treat.

I also went to a nutritionist once and she recommended cod liver oil and Greens Plus Multi....it's vitamins but in powder form. Problem is it's terribly expensive. However if you purchase the larger container vs the smaller one you get more for less money. I usually have half a scoop as well rather than a whole one. As for the cod liver oil, she suggested Nordic Naturals, it has a bit of an orange taste to it. I used to just put it in my Greens Plus drink. She also recommended women take a Calcium & Magnesium suppliment with Citrate and Vitamin D.
One more hint, you should always balance out carbs and proteins when eating. Example if you have a piece of fruit (carbs) you should have a handfull of nuts (protein)

Breakfast Ideas

2/3c Oatmeal with one cup plain soy milk, 1tbsp ground flax with a dash of cinnamon

1 pouched egg served over 1 slice whole grain bread

1 slice whole grain bread with 2oz melted low fat cheese with sliced tomatoes and cucumbers or 2 rings of pinapple

My favourite salad

I once actually claimed that you can't make friends with salad, I retract that statement, you can make friends with this salad, but only if you don't put too much raw garlic in the dressing.

This might all seem really involved at first, but if you are the kind of person who does a bunch of prep for the week on one day, and then just eats that stuff all week, then this is the tasty salad for you.

I don't always make this salad the same way, I switch it up and add what ingredients I have prepared and on hand.

The different parts:

Roasted onions, Marinated mushrooms, Hard-boiled eggs, Grilled Chicken, Tofu "croutons", Lettuce, Marinated beans, Various other typical salad ingredients that you like, Dressing.

The roasted onions:

I usually do these in the toaster oven, or I pop them in in a little tray when I'm cooking something else in the big oven. They are really easy, just take a bunch of onions and take off the end bits, don't worry overly about taking off the skins because you'll probably pull off the outer layer when the onions are done cooking anyway, cut them in half and place them cut side down on the baking tray. A 9x9 or 8x8 pan is probably a good sized pan, I use the little pan from the toaster oven. If your tray is a bit sticky then you can spray some cooking oil on it or drizzle a bit in the pan, but I never do. Take some balsalmic vinegar and slosh some over the tops of the onions. We're not making soup, here, so don't go overboard, but just make sure that you get a bit on each one and that there's a bit pooled on the bottom of the pan. Also, when I cut the ends off the onions, I try to make a bit of a divot with the knife so that the vinegar can sit in there while they are cooking. Once you have all that done, put them in a 350 degree (or so) oven for a half hour or 45 minutes until the outsides of the onions have browned. Take out the tray, let it cool, then use your fingers to take off the crispy outer layer and discard it, then take the soft tasty centre, and resist the temptation to eat it right then and there, and stick it in a container in the fridge.

Marinated mushrooms:

Take a bunch of mushrooms, rinse them, cut them in quarters or sixths if the mushrooms are huge, or halves if the mushrooms are tiny. Stick the mushrooms in a tupperware and slosh some balsalmic vinegar over the top. It doesn't matter here if you put too much balsamic vinegar in the tupperware, but you aren't made out of money, so don't waste the stuff. The only mistake you could make in here is choosing a container that is too deep so the mushrooms on the top don't get any vinegar, even if you do this, you can just stir it around, or shake it up, or just pick mushrooms from the bottom and use them and then put the whole thing back for another day or two.
So, you leave the mushrooms in the fridge over night or for up to a week and by the time you use them they will be nice and soft and tasty, no cooking required. (If you have any spices you like you can toss those in as well, I have a friend who does it with white wine vinegar and lemon and dill, it's very tasty, but the theme for today is balsalmic.)

Hard-boiled egg:

If you don't know how to boil eggs, then stop reading this and go learn to cook. I boil them ahead of time and leave them in the fridge, then quarter them and toss them into the salad.

Grilled chicken:

I know Ash won't eat this, but it's good. I use the George Foreman Grill.

Tofu croutons:

My brother turned me on to these, they rock. I think they should have a cute name, ToCroutons? Anyway, take some firm tofu (if you don't have firm then you can drain it to make it firmer) and cut it into cubes 1cm X 1cm or a bit smaller. Marinate in balsalmic vinegar and any spices you like, maybe some garlic. Leave them for a day or so in the fridge. Then using a hot frying pan with a little olive or canola oil fry the suckers on each side till they are suitably crispy. You could do them in the oven too.

Lettuce:

Whatever kind you like. I like the organic mixed salad thingies you can buy at the grocery store where all the work is already done, failing that I buy romaine or something. Iceberg lettuce sucks and should be avoided at all times, feed it to your rabbit.

Marinated beans:

Use cans of mixed beans or if you are a big bean eater like me you can open several cans of your favourite beans. I usually use a can of Red Kidney, a can of White Kidney and a can of Black Beans. Empty into a colander, rinse with tap water till all the sludgy can juice is washed off. Then toss in a tupperware in the fridge with some vinegar.

Various other salady things:

If I have tomatoes, they are the top of my list. Celery, cucumber, red onion, shredded carrots, bean sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, any other sprouts, snow peas, cauliflower.... whatever you like, go nuts, knock yourself out. Speaking of nuts, slivered almonds are great on this salad and there's a study that suggests they assist in weight loss. Oh, and avocado, it's a good day for me when I have avocado in my salad. Avocado is high in calories, but it has the kind of fat in it that you should be eating, the good fat, you know like in olive oil. I know it goes brown really quickly, but try to work out a way that you only eat a quarter or a half of the avocado in a sitting, invite some friends or something, or store the rest in some lemon juice.

The dressing:

This is the culmination of all of your efforts. I use a really good high speed food processor for this one, normally I say that you can make anything with simple kitchen tools that you can with an expensive appliance, but in this case I make an exception, I like the oil really emulsified so it makes a nice thick dressing. If you aren't into that, then you can just use jar and shake it up, and chop all the solid ingredients by hand ahead of time.

The typical rule for an oil and vinegar dressing is 60% oil and 40% vinegar. I reduce the oil content by adding a few other ingredients to substitute for the oil, some of the oil substitutes add volume to the dressing, some add thickness and they all cut the bitterness of the vinegar. Any amounts I give depend on how much you are making and your taste.

Set up the food processor with the blade in it.

The first thing that goes in is the oil, a few tablespoons just to get things going. Whip the crap out of it till it gets a bit white, then toss in some of the roasted onions as a substitute for some of the oil (if you ate all the roasted onions already, don't sweat it), I also add a half to a whole head of roasted garlic at this point, if I have it (you just take the whole head of garlic cut the very top edge off, put the tiniest amount of olive oil in and wrap it in tin foil and roast it when you are doing the roasted onions), this is also when I put in a clove of raw garlic (but not if I plan to eat it at work). Process the oil, garlic and onions with the oil until the mixture is smooth. Then add some balsalmic vinegar (you can also put in a bit of lemon juice, cider vinegar, and white or red wine vinegar). Process this for a while and let it get nice and thick. Once you've done that you can start adding stock, beef stock is good, veggie stock or mushroom stock are good too. The stock is a substitute for the oil, don't add too much stock because it only adds volume and not thickness to the dressing and you don't want to water it down too much. Of course you can always just add more of the other ingredients if that happens. Taste and adjust the ingredients according to your taste. If the dressing is still too bitter and you don't want to add more of any of the other ingredients you can sprinkle in a 1/2 teaspoon of splenda or other sugar substitute. Shake in salt and pepper or just pepper, process one last time and serve. You can save the excess dressing in a jar in the fridge for a week or more, I've eaten it after a month and it was still good.

Assembly:

Take some lettuce, stick in all your other things, roasted onions, marinated mushrooms, quartered eggs, grilled chicken, to-croutons, yummy beans, all the other stuff, put it all in a container you can cover, and see through, like a big tupperware. Then take the dressing and drizzle a little bit on the salad. Then put on the cover and shake it around till the dressing gets all the way through, if you need more dressing, then add more dressing. The idea of shaking it is so that the less dressing covers more of the salad. Shake some salt and pepper on the top if you like.

I eat some variation of this salad at least 3 times a week, I never get tired of it, I just keep changing the vinegars and the ingredients. This salad and half a can of a healthy soup is the perfect meal, and you are guaranteed not to be hungry after. You can take it to work too, I usually take the lettuce in one container, the dressing in another container, and all the rest of the stuff in a third container.

Without further ado.... my weight loss for the week

Yes children, despite the fact that Ashley won't get her fat ass in gear and go to the gym and weigh herself, I'm going to end your suspense and announce my fabulous, amazing weight loss numbers for the week. The numbers are impressively high, but I want to assure you that they are an accurate measure of my weight.

A little word about honesty in this competition, while no one will be looking over my shoulder, or Ashley's shoulder, from week to week as we weigh ourselves in, my plan is to use the same honour system as the electric company. You see, they ask you to read your electric meter every so often and pay a bill based on the amount of usage that you reported. Sooner or later however, the electric company's meter reader will come to your house and give an accurate reading of the meter, even if the meter reader never gets a chance to come around, they always come around at the time a house is sold. So even if you don't report accurately every time, eventually you will have to pay the bill. In this case, at some point when Ashley is at my house, or I'm at hers, we are going to check the actual weight of the other person just to make sure that they are close to the weight they have been reporting so far.

That being said, I will now tell you of my fabulous weightloss. In order to get a consistent number I always weigh myself first thing in the morning before going to the bathroom or eating breakfast. Yesterday, my weight was 4 pounds below my weight last week, but since Ashley has taken an extra day to put her results in, I weighed myself again this morning and I'd lost another 3 pounds. So I started out in this competition being **2, and yesterday I was **8 and this morning I was **5. So, In total I've lost 7 pounds in our first week of the competition. Thank you, thank you, very much. I'd like to thank Jesus, and my mother, and all the fans, my manager, and all of those who gave me support. I would not like to thank all the jerks who tried to avoid getting fat themselves by bringing Christmas chocolate into work this week and put it by my desk in the hopes that it would be greedily devoured by the folks at the office, especially the woman who put the caramel Hershey's kisses on my desk, curses to you lady! I would also like to not thank my boyfriend for sitting around our apartment eating take-out and cooking fabulous smelling fatty foods.
Lastly, I'd like to say, Ashley, top that! Lardass!

Hanging left or hanging right?

I'm watching a documentary on obesity on the learning channel at the moment. There's a guy who lives in a nursing home for the morbidly obese. He's so fat that his belly hangs down almost to the floor. The home helped him to loss 700 pounds but he ended up with loose skin hanging from his stomach all the way down, they had one shot of him in a rehab session and he had tucked the belly into his pants and hanging down the leg. It looked like the worlds largest testicles. It reminded me of the line in The Breakfast Club where Bender asks Claire if she'd date a guy who had elephantitis of the nuts, if he was a nice guy and had a nice car but you had to ride in the back seat because his package would be riding shot-gun - priceless.

They also had a segment on a fat camp for girls. I'd have rather died than do it when I was that age (and I didn't need to loose weight), but it kind of looks like fun now.

BOOOO to me

Alright so here it is. I have been dedicated to the gym all week long. I have gone everynight and was supposed to go this evening as well. However, yesterday i left my house at 8am for work and did not return home until 1:30am which made for a very long day with 6 hours of sleep the previous evening to run on. I had a 45 min commute home from work, went to the gym and then to see Memoirs of a Geisha. Excellent movie though rather long which is why i got home so late. Skip to this morning and i'm now running on 5 hours sleep. I commute to work, get my glasses fixed, commute home, volunteer and finally get into my house at 8:30pm. My eyes are going all funny and i can barely keep them open. My gym partner calls and says she is not going and i decide i'm going to bed at 9pm. No worries i shall weigh myself in the am when i hit the gym. I highly doubt i've lost anything as heading back to work and not having the time to make proper meals this week has left me eating perogies and pizza....yummy however deadly for losing weight.

I work at my other job in the city tomorrow for only one hour. This leaves plenty of time for me to focus on meal planning and getting proper groceries for the week. Once i begin my nutrition plan from my old trainer i'll be rocking!!! Go ahead jeer and boo at me, i can take it. How much of that ass did you lose anyway Jennifer? :)

Results tonight

Thursday is weigh in day.

Ash is going to be weighing herself this evening, I've already done it. We'll both be putting them up tonight.

You better work it at the gym tonight fatty, my results were pretty good this morning!

Ashley says...

Ash hasn't set herself up on this blog to post yet, but here's a comment from her blog on the subject:

Jennifer and i also decided that we're fatsos and need to lose some chub. We've decided to have our own Biggest Loser contest. We measured each other and hopped on the scale to get ourselves started...i've been to the gym 3 days in a row now Jennifer :) Anyway, see for those that know us, i'm sure you've heard one of us call the other fatass or fatty or some other such name. Jennifer and i decided a few years back that these two guys on the Amazing Race were hilarious. They referred to one another in ways one would not normally talk to a friend. I recall an episode while one was repelling the other was trying to motivate him by yelling "swing you fat bastard, swing." So Jennifer and I decided to join in on the fun. Now i just received an email from Miss Jennifer saying we should start a two-way biggest loser blog to help movtivate ourselves and for you to all amuse yourselves with our struggles. Yup sounds like a great idea fatty let's get on that :)

First Post

Ash and I have decided that weight loss is much more fun when competitive, so we've decided to have our own version of the show, The Biggest Loser. Despite the fact that I've linked to their site, I don't want anyone to mention the content of the special they had this week since I tevoed it and am planning on watching to tomorrow. Although I seriously doubt that anyone other than Ashley or I is loserish enough to watch the show anyway. So don't talk about the show fatty!