Hungry Girl's 200 Under 200!

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Thanks to Helen over at A Healthy Life Ahead, I won Hungry Girl's 200 Under 200 recipe book!


Thanks for the giveaway! It just came in the mail today =D

I'm pretty pumped about it. Some of the recipes are very typical Hungry-Girl (meaning, lots of fake subsitutes), but some look pretty awesome. And they're all under 200 calories!

An example of a not so great recipe: The Green Tea Creme Swappuccino. I don't want to get into any copyright trouble or anything, so I won't get into specifics, but some of the main ingredients in this are:

1. Ice
2. Sugar-free calorie-free syrup
3. Sugar-free creamer
4. No-calorie sweetener packets
5. Fat free whipped cream

Buh.

But! Here's an example of an awesome recipe: Hungry, Hungry Artichoke Hummus, which includes:

1. Chick peas
2. Artichoke hearts
3. Greek yogurt
4. Lots of different spices
5. Vegetable broth
6. Lemon juice

YUM!

I can't wait to look through it all.

Go check out Helen's blog, A Healthy Life Ahead. Who knows, maybe you can win a giveaway too!

Things I am doing well

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I was looking in the mirror today, and I thought "Man. What's with my stomach? It's all jutty-outty. Dammit. I look fat."

SAY WHA?!?!?!

Hell no. I do NOT look fat! I look awesome! Snap out of it!

So I decided to make a list chronicling my awesomeness. ;)

In all seriousness, I think it's really important that we don't forget or underestimate our achievements. A lot of us have come *so* far, and we should remember that! And remember how awesome we are! I already made a similar post a while ago here, but hell, let's make another.

Various ways I have become more healthy over the past year:

1.) I floss more. I had never had a cavity in my entire life, and then about a month ago, they found one. =O Having no cavities was like, my claim to fame.

Me: "Hi there, I'm Allison, how's it going?"
Person: "Oh, hey, I'm -"
Me: "I've never had a cavity. Ever."
Person: "I - wait, huh?"
Me: *pulls out pen* "If you don't have paper, I can autograph your hand or something, it's cool. I'm flexible."

And then, boom, cavity. Right in the molar. I actually had to go in and get a filling. A huge blow to my identity and ego, obviously.

And now I floss more. Every night! Sometimes in the morning, too! Flossing is awesome.

2.) I quit smoking. I smoked for about 3 years, give or take. It started socially, like how most people start. I remember the first time I stopped bumming them from people at parties and just bought my own pack. I was really nervous because I was afraid I wouldn't pronounce "Marlboro" correctly. It's an easy one to garble. I went to the store, pronounced it correctly, gave them money, they gave me a pack, and I "officially" became a smoker.

Then a couple cigs a week became a couple cigs a day, which became 8 cigs a day, which became 12 cigs a day. Which, at the beginning of 2009, became very close to a pack a day.

A few reasons that made me quit:

1. Cigarettes are like, 8 bucks a pack. EIGHT. It's absolutely insane. A pack a day = $56.00 a week. That is money I don't have.
2. I felt like shit. I couldn't breathe in the morning when I woke up.
3. I was always very nervous around my family. My family is very healthy (my parents and brother all are runners, eat well, etc), and while they knew that I smoked, they never really brought it up much (unless to say sort of off-hand, "You know, you should quit"), and I definitely never felt comfortable smoking around them. So it would always make me anxious when I visited them - would I be able to go that long without smoking? When would I be able to sneak a cigarette? It was a huge source of stress.
4. My boyfriend decided to quit - and I knew that this was my chance. If I didn't quit with him, then I knew that I would need to quit later on, by myself, and I honestly didn't think I could do it on my own. Besides, smoking around my boyfriend when he JUST quit is a pretty douche-baggy thing to do.

I bought a ton of nicorette gum, but really only needed to chew a few pieces total. Weirdly enough, quitting was quite easy, which was entirely unexpected. I have a pretty addictive personality (see: food).

So now I've been smoke-free for about 5 months. =D

3. I started running. I started out and could barely run for 3 minutes straight. Now, I run for 6 miles straight. My muscles are more defined - my legs look HOT. Screw that "oh my stomach looks big" crap, because, for one, it DOESN'T, and for two, check out my LEGS. I could kick some serious ass with these legs. It's awesome.

4.) I eat healthier foods. I still have slip ups from time to time (I AM human, after all), but for the most part, I eat real whole foods. Foods that aren't processed up the wazoo, foods that are natural and good for you. All different kinds of fruits and veggies, whole grains, natural protein, etc. Very little sugar-free fat-free crap. I mean, sure, I'm still known to *occasionally* eat some light laughing cow cheese, diet pepsi, WW mini bars, and, well, Cool Whip from time to time. But I'm trying my hardest to get away from all that.

Good food choices I've made:
A. Instead of sugar-free non-fat yogurt (sweetened with aspartame), I eat non-fat greek yogurt, usually Chobani, sometimes Oikas. Chobani's ingredients: Cultured pasteurized nonfat milk, strawberries, sugar, natural flavor, beet juice concentrate (for color). So simple!


B. I just discovered this Weetabix cereal/biscuit thing. Have you heard of this? I hadn't! Holy crap. I love this stuff. The ingredients? Organic whole wheat, organic dehydrated cane juice, organic barley malt extract, sea salt.

I put two of these biscuits in a bowl with a cup of chocolate soy milk - it is seriously good stuff. I really recommend it.

As opposed to what I used to eat, say, Cocoa Puffs, which have (among other things): Sugar, corn meal, cocoa, canola and/or rice bran oil, corn syrup, corn starch, modified corn starch, cocoa processed with alkali, salt, calcium carbonate, fructose, beet powder and caramel color, trisodium phosphate, artificial flavor. Bah.

C. Instead of a pop-tart for breakfast (that's got fruit in it, right? >.>), I eat an apple.

Guess what ingredients are in an apple?

Apple.

Bahahahah.

I always get a kick out of that. =P

5.) I drink less. I still enjoy a couple glasses of wine here and there, maybe once every couple weeks, and very occasionally will go out and actually get drunk - but those times are extremely few and far between. Last year, I'd go out and drink quite a bit every weekend, and I would have a few beers during the week as well. Alcoholism runs rampant on both sides of my family, so it's definitely something that concerns me. I feel much better now that I don't drink as much. I'm hungover less, I'm not consuming crap for calories, and I feel more in control overall. It's a good thing.

What about you guys? How have you gotten more healthy?

Weigh in

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Woohoo!


Yeah, that's right! It was so awesome that I had to take a picture of it =D

NOW I CAN FINALLY GET A HAIR CUT.

No, seriously, I've needed one for like 3 months, but in all my sage wisdom, I said "Oh hey, I know, I'll use that as a reward for getting under 140!" Oh yeah, great, little did I know that that would mean waiting A LONG TIME.

Anyway.

I'm looking up short hair cuts... if I do something drastic, I'll post some pics =P

EDIT (yay for walk-in appts!):


Weeeeeee!

BREAD!!!

HOLY CRAP, BREAD. See that photo of glorious breadiness? I MADE that. I did! *cheer*

Ingredients:

warm water (1 cup)
sugar (2 tbsp)
active dry yeast (3/4 tbsp)

vegetable oil (2 tbsps)
salt (1 tsp)
bread flour (3 cups)

Warm up a large bowl with some hot water; pour the hot water out and then put in your measured cup of warm water. It shouldn't be scalding hot, but it definitely should be quite warm. (I had to pour out my initial yeast mixture because the water wasn't warm enough and didn't activate the yeast very well). Put the yeast and the sugar in the bowl with the warm water, stir a little bit. Then just let it sit.

After about 5-10 minutes, the yeast should be bubbling a bit.

In a separate bowl, mix your flour and salt together. Slowly add this dry mixture into the wet mixture bowl. This is where you get your hands all gooey. It's awesome. You'll love it.

Now you get to knead the dough! I kneaded it right there in the bowl. I didn't really know how to knead it, to be honest. Do I use my thumbs? My knuckles? It was like trying to give a massage to a very particular, yet mute client. I practically started talking to the dough, "Do you like it like that? I can dig in a little more if you want. Or maybe a little lighter? .....any feedback would be nice, here. Hello? Hellooooo -" I did this for about 10 minutes and nary a peep.

Note: I'm not actually insane. *cough*

I kneaded it as best as I could, and eventually THIS formed (which I put in a bowl and covered with saran wrap):

I let that sit for about an hour, and sure enough, it rose! Check it out:

It's at least double in size, which is what they recommend.

Then I got to punch the dough. It was awesome. "Think you can get away without talking to me during that massage? *BAM* Not so fast! *WHACK* What now! *PUNCH* Talk! *WHAM*"

It all deflated fairly quickly, actually, and, in fact, did not start to talk. I decided that that was pretty okay, seeing as how it's a doughy loaf of bread. I kneaded it for about 3 more minutes. Then! I formed it into semi-rectangular shape, and put it in a greased (with cooking spray) 9x5" loaf pan.

I then covered it with saran wrap again and let it rise a second time, for about 45 minutes.


Er, wait.

There we go.

INTO THE OVEN IT GOES (350 degrees!)

And then, after 30 minutes....

BEHOLD:

Doesn't it LOOK edible? It certainly looks edible.

Guess what:

It IS edible!!!!

It's pretty bland, to be honest, but it definitely tastes like bread! Holy crap! I'm going to make a sammich with it tomorrow!!!

Nutrition Info for the whole loaf:

Flour: 1320 cals, 7g fat, 10.5g fiber
Oil: 240 cals, 28g fat, 0g fiber
Yeast: 35 cals, 0g fat, 2.5g fiber
Sugar: 45 cals, 0g fat, 0g fiber

Total: 1640 cals, 35g fat, 13g fiber

For a slice (1/16th):
103 cals
2g fat
1g fiber
2 points!

Weighing in, bread making, meal plan

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Meal plan for the day:

Breakfast:
apple (1 pt)
greek yogurt (3 pts)
1/4 cup fresh strawberries (0 pts)
homemade blueberry muffin (2 pts)
coffee with a little bit of milk (.5 pts)

Total: 6.5 pts

Lunch:
green peppers (0 pts)
raw green beans (0 pts)
garlic hummus (2 pts)
half a PB & J sammich (3.5 pts)

Total: 5.5 pts

Dinner (9 pts left):
As usual, I'm not sure yet. I might make some veggie lasagna. I keep saying that, but when I get home I never want to put that much effort into cooking.

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Speaking of effort and cooking, I DO want to make some homemade bread really soon.

Like, maybe tonight.

However. I have a strong feeling my bread is going to fail.

Indeed, Skeptical Cat. I agree. I keep reading different articles about how to make homemade bread (with no bread machine thingy) and they're all like "MANY THINGS CAN GO WRONG AT EVERY STAGE OF MAKING BREAD AND BELIEVE ME THERE ARE MANY STAGES SO HOLY CRAP YOUR BREAD IS GONNA SUCK" and I'm like "Yes, I believe you."

Regardless, bread making (or some type of semblance of it) shall occur. Don't worry, I'll document each step along the way so when I'm a super awesome bread maker in the future we can all look back and laugh. =)

Hm. If I make homemade bread, maybe I'll skip making the lasagna and instead have a veggie burger ON the homemade bread. Holy crap, I'm a genius. I can actually make like a little sandwich. If the bread is edible, that is.

Cross your fingers. =P

On a separate note, I sneaked a peek at the scale this morning, even though my weigh in isn't until tomorrow morning.

139.8!!!

So I just have to make sure that holds til tomorrow when my weigh in is official =P But wow, was it nice seeing 13-something on the scale. Baking bread will be good for tonight, I think. It's time consuming but also not something where I'm going to be licking the batter left and right.

Things to remember

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I decided to compile a list of awesome weight-loss related things. Compliments I've received, goals I've met, etc, to just remind myself about how far I've come. Thanks in advance for letting me brag for a bit here....

1) I can no longer work out in the size large workout pants I bought when I first started exercising. They're too big! The only thing they're good for anymore is lounging around the house. I'm thinking about getting them tailored, or using my sewing machine to take them in. Cause I mean, hey, they're comfy around the house, but I didn't pay 50 bucks a pop to just lounge around in them.

2) When I went to the doctor for a random sinus infection about 2 months into doing WW, she weighed me, entered in my weight in the computer, and there's this little noise "baDOOP" and the nurse says: "Um, there's a pop-up message here that says you've lost 11% of your total weight?"
Me: "Yeah, I'm on weight watchers"
Nurse: "Well, you're doing something right - keep it up!"

3) I can run almost 5 miles without stopping for anything.

4) Compliments, compliments, compliments! People from work, my mom, my brother, my roommates, people from my boyfriend's work, friends who I see often, friends who I don't see often, pretty much everyone and their mother has said something about me losing weight.

5) Not being recognized by one of my boyfriend's co-workers.
Me: "Hi Bell!"
Bell: "Hi? Oh, holy shit, hi! You look great!"

6) Clothes that I used to only dream about fitting into now are too big for me. Case in point: the size 6 plaid slacks I'm wearing right now REALLY need a belt. Size 6!! I know!! Crazy!!

7) I eat so much more fruit, it's nuts. Before WW, I just... didn't eat fruit. No joke, I was all about carbs, fat, and protein. Pizza! French fries! Sandwiches with huge slices of bread and lots of cheese! And mayo! Maybe I'd have a salad sometimes for fun. But an apple? banana? berries? what are those? Don't, like, nutrigrain bars count as fruits? They have that fruity..... stuff..... in the middle. Right? Today so far, I've had an apple, dried apricots, grapes, and a small carton of blackberries. And I might have a banana later on, too! Serious yum.

8) All this running has made my legs muscular! A couple weeks ago I was taking a shower and bent down to soap up my feet, so I kind of bent my knees a bit to reach down - and then put my hand on my thigh to straighten up again. And I'm like "WHATS THIS HARD THING IN MY LEG oh wait, that's my quad muscle." I got all excited and started feeling up my legs - no joke. It was freaking hilarious. It sounds super sexy, but it wasn't even, because I was just way too giddy about it. "This! This here, my calf muscle! Holy crap, my hamstrings are HOT! And my quads! *flexflexflex*"

9) I tried on a belt that used to be too small and very much unwearable, and it fits perfectly.

10) I've lost over 20 pounds!

So, whenever I feel blah, I can look over this list and remind myself how awesome I am. =P

You all should make your own lists! Either on your own blog, or in the comments section!