Two steps forward, one step back

I think I am in the diet doldrums. Unfortunately, I've put a few pounds back on, due to poor eating choices during my hectic last two weeks (including red thai curry at dinner with friends Friday night, and a delicious but not very healthy indian meal Saturday night at my neighbors' party). I can't help it, I love food! I shouldn't have to completely cut those types of meals out, but what I do need to do is limit them to special occasions (and no, the weekend is not a special occasion...although it should be).

The good news is that my workouts have stayed consistent, so at least I am combatting the food that way. I managed to get two TG workouts in last week (Tuesday/Thursday), 40 minutes of cardio via Exercise TV on Demand Wednesday night, and a 3.5 mile run Friday morning (it is killing me to wait until almost 7 to run in the mornings - the only downside to daylight savings time!!). Then, Saturday was the big day for my yard - my dad arrived at 8 Saturday morning with two pallets of sod to lay. We actually ran out of sod before the front yard was done (as evidenced by the pics below), so we'll have to continue when he can get some additional sod this week. But that was definitely a workout (although not quite as intense as the rototiller a few weeks back). I also washed my car yesterday (hey, it's 93 calories burned!) as well as another 3 mile run. And a TG workout this morning - my arms are definitely getting ripped with the TG workouts and lawn work, woohoo! Now, if only the pooch would follow suit...

I wanted to share a new recipe that I tried out yesterday; back in the fall, I stocked up on canned tuna when Publix had it BOGO (I had like 12 cans in the cupboard). Since beginning my mission, though, I've been trying to cut as much fat and calories as I can, and the thought of mayonnaise-y tuna salad just didn't fit the diet bill - and I just can't do tuna right out of the can. So I started looking at Allrecipes.com to see if anyone had posted a mayo-free tuna salad, and sure enough, there was one that sounded pretty good! Roasted red pepper hummus was substituted for the mayo, which sounded yummy to me. And it was! I modified the recipe to my liking - I don't care for raw onion, and I didn't have any fresh herbs on hand, but threw in pickle relish and hard-boiled egg whites - and it sure was good.

So there you have an update on the past week for bumpbuster, and as promised, a few pics on the yard project, as well as the recipe...








Mayo-Free Tuna Sandwich Filling

Ingredients

* 1 (6 ounce) can albacore tuna in water, drained and flaked
* 1 tablespoon red onion, diced
* 1 teaspoon fresh oregano, minced
* 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, minced
* 1 tablespoon diced green chile pepper
* black pepper to taste
* 2 tablespoons red pepper hummus

Directions

1. Mix tuna, hummus, onion, oregano, rosemary, green chile pepper, and pepper in a bowl.

Enjoy!

Back in the Saddle

Got a Total Gym workout in tonight!!

Working till 12:30 AM Does nothing for one's weight loss regimen...

I know, I know. I haven't posted in over a week. Things got crazy at the office this past week, and I've barely had time to check my facebook, let alone blog. Fortunately I am seeing a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, I just hope it gets bigger soon.

Other than working in the yard for a few hours on Saturday (cleaning up palm fronds, which is more laborious than it sounds, and planting hedges), I have not exercised since Thursday. Bad. I knew Daylight Savings Time would put a crimp in my running routine, since it's still pretty dark, even at 6:45. I'm going to have to test the waters at some point, though. It's just hard to get up at 6:15 after working till 12:30 to begin with!

And the diet...ugh. I've been eating takeout for most meals, since I've been working so late. And when I get stressed, I tend to snack, so there has definitely been some dessert snacking going on. I was out at a client site today, and basically worked through lunch; thank goodness I had brought in a dozen donuts, because one became my lunch. But bad because it was a donut!!!

This is the type of evil that lurks during busy season; up to this point I've been able to avoid falling off the wagon too much, but I've got to get back on the straight and narrow before I fall off completely. Here's to a better second half of the week!!

Just a lil' update...

:)

Tillin' and Chillin'

This weekend, I realized that the time for playing games was over. If I wanted to get my yard done before I leave in a month, I was going to have to enlist the help of power tools. Enter the Honda rototiller, above. I rented one of these bad boys from Home Depot this morning. Now, mind you, both men working at the tool rental counter looked at me like I had three eyes, and treated me like I was a foolish girl who didn't know what she was doing (and maybe they weren't too far off), but they helped me load the beast into my truck (borrowed from dad), and off I went to dig up the rest of my yard.

When I got home, I realized one small miscalculation in my plan: I was not able to get the thing off of the back of the truck. Fortunately, the neighbor boys were around and willing to help. They were also very interested in the rototiller, and followed me into the backyard to give the thing a test drive. Now, I got it started up, and gave it a go - definitely harder than you would think. It's gas powered, and once you hit the clutch, it wants to move forward. However, to make it really dig into (and up) the ground, you've got to keep it in check and slow it down. I found the best m.o. was to allow it to go forward a bit, then pull it back over the area just covered. The neighbor boys' m.o., however was to "just go apesh*t on it!!!" So they left me to it, and surprisingly I got the back yard done in about an hour or so. It was tough work; my shoulders, biceps and triceps were wore out afterward. I couldn't finish the front yard, so instead raked up as much of the back yard as possible before calling it a day. I had to call the boys back over to help me load it up again, and the one guy liked the thing so much he finished off the front yard for me!! So I am happy to say that my yard is ready to be treated for chinch bugs and re-sodding! And I proved the guys at Home Depot wrong, too :) I've included some pics of the finished product...that is, the dirt in my yard!

So today's workout was a good cap on the week (and I'll be paying for it over the next few days, I'm sure). I managed to eat pretty well, save for a few splurges on Friday (it was my sister's last night in town, I had to meet her and her friends at Cheesecake Factory for dessert! I've got a salad made up in the fridge right now, plus I baked off a new dinner recipe, Eggs in Purgatory, which I plan to pack for either lunch or dinner this week. And I was very good about exercising this week, getting up every morning and hitting the pavement or the Total Gym. All this hard work is definitely paying off, though!

Alright, bedtime is here, I promise to post more later this week!

Picture Updates

Ok ok ok, I know you've all been dying for new pics (and by all, I mean all 3 of you). So I've put together a few montages here of before and after (or I should say, in progress) photos as of Day 1 and Day 60 (or thereabouts). A little humbling, because the pooch is still in pretty full effect, but I must say my butt has gotten significantly smaller! You can definitely tell my shorts have loosened up on me!



And now a sideshot...



Yeah, my upper thighs and butt have definitely shrunk; you can kinda see (if you look real hard) that the fabric of my tank is not quite as tight around the pooch, too...not quite. I've got my work cut out for me in that area!!