Confession/Update

I've been a really bad blogger! I guess I really failed on that New Year's resolution, there's always next year. I have been maintaining my current weight and exercising but undermining all my hard work my emotionally eating, there is my confession, I try to fill the void with food and it never works and I should know better by now. I picked up "Breaking Free from Emotional Eating" by Geneen Roth from Amazon, it came in the mail today and I'm really hoping I get at least something out of it.

I've been very busy with the two weddings I'm in starting in two weeks, I hope

all my other friends and relatives elope! My college roommate is going through a very difficult time, she lost her father, had a baby and is dealing with a major MS flare up. It's so hard to see somehow you lived with, partied with and enjoyed your college years with suffering so much, I know this w

ill pass for her but I would do anything to take away her pain including

taking it on myself.

I will leave you with a couple of pictures from the recent wedding festivities! I promise I will blog more!

The first pictures is from my SIL bridal shower in June, the second picture and my friend Alison and I on a booze cruise around Portland Harbor and the third picture is all of us at her party.

Before & After

I don't have a picture from when I started back in November but I'm using my engagement photo, which was my largest ever when I weighed in at 230 pounds (OMG I know).Before:

After: 5/3/2010

So far I have lost 35.4 pounds, almost half way to my goal weight and almost 50 pounds from my before picture. I know I have a long way to go but I am very proud of how far I have come and it's been worth it all! I can now put on a mini gun show!!

Quick Update

I've been a bad blogger but I just wanted to pop in and give a quick update on my progress. So far I've lost 30.5 pounds! The last couple of weeks I've been a little bad mostly on the weekends, this weekend was especially bad. I just ate my way through the entire weekend, my best friend's dad passed away very suddenly on Thursday so it's been a rough weekend to say the least. I did still exercise and really that's half the battle. I'm going to be back on track tomorrow. I am starting the 5th week of training for a 5k ran, with c25k. I signed up for a race on July 11th, I hope I'm ready but I'm going to be so very slow and that's okay!

My friend is also having a baby in less than two weeks, so this makes this even harder. I'm also in two weddings this summer and the business of those is starting to pick up. I promise to be back soon with many food posts!

March: My least favorite month of the year

I'm planning to make this March better, we spring ahead and Spring finally arrives, I've been at my current job for 2 years the end of this month, I really do love my job even though it can be stressful. It's just a really long month with not a whole lot to look forward to.

So I've been doing good with my diet, not great but good, I've been doing great with exercise. Four days a week I go to the gym at work and busting my butt on the elliptical and then doing the 30 Day Shred after work. Saturdays I got and do an hour of intense cardio and weights, I rest Thursdays and Sundays. I'm really enjoying (?) working out and am really noticing a difference.

I've lost 18 pounds since I started watching what I eat in early November, I know I could have lost more but I've sabotaged myself with all the junk in our apartment. So tonight I came home from work and threw away every single thing that was bad or junky away, mostly it was my husband's stuff, but I will eat things I don't even like when I get desperate on a diet. He needs that stuff even less than I do and I've been enabling his bad habits. So all the junk is gone! I'm recommitted to my lifestyle change.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Lightened Up Version of Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Source: Allrecipes.com

1/4 cup butter

1 onion, diced

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper

1 package frozen broccoli florets

1 quart chicken broth, I used reduced sodium

1/2 cup all-purpouse flour

1 1/2 cups of skim milk

salt to taste

8 ounces of reduced fat shredded sharp Cheddar Cheese

1. Melt butter over medium heat in a stockpot. Cook onion in butter until softened. Add garlic and pepper; cook for 1 minute then stir in broccoli, and stir in chicken broth. Bring to a boil and simmer until broccoli is tender, 10 to 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile whisk flour into milk until dissolved. Stir into soup stirring frequently until thickened. Reduce heat, and stir in cheese until melted and heated through.

3. Season with salt to taste. I run my immersion blender through the soup to make smooth, you don't have to if you like a chunkier soup.

Beef Taco Bake

Beef Taco Bake

Source: Campbell's

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef

1 can Campbell's Condensed Tomato Soup

1 jar salsa

1/2 milk

6 flour tortillas, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Cook the beef in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until well browned, stirring often. Pour off any fat.

Stir the soup, salsa, milk, tortillas and half the cheese in the skillet, I had to do this in a separate bowl because it just wasn't happening in the frying pan. Spoon the beef mixture into a 2 quart shallow baking dish. Cover the baking dish.

Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until the beef mixture is hot and bubbling. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

This was a recipe my husband found and wanted me to make and I thought it was going to be a serious miss but it was really tasty and hit the spot.

Farfalle with Creamy Wild Mushroom Sauce

Source: Cooking Light, December 2006

Serving Size: 1 1/4 cup

Calories: 336

1 pound uncooked farfalle

1 tablespoon butter

12 ounces presliced exotic mushrooms (I am cheap so I used the cheap salad mushroom that were on sale)

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/3 cup finely chopped shallots (I omitted because I couldn't find any)

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup dry white wine

2/3 cup whipping cream

1/2 cup grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Cook past according to package directions, omitting salt and fat drain.

Melt the butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms, onion, shallots, garlic, 1 teaspoon salt and pepper; cook 12 minutes or until liquid evaporates and mushrooms are tender, stirring occasionally. Add wine; cook 2 minutes or until liquid evaporates, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.

Add the cooked pasta, whipping cream, cheese and 2 tablespoons parsley, tossing gently to coat, I had to do this in a separate mixing bowl because my frying pan just wasn't large enough.

This recipe was okay, it definitely needs some spicing up and I would have enjoyed it a bit, it was filling for a lighter meal and it didn't taste overly like diet food. I did a lot more pepper than the recipe called for.