4 Hours of Work= 1 Week of Deliciousness

LA couple of weeks I was inspired by my friend and gym buddy Jen to "kick things up a notch" and follow her example of spending one day a week making food for the upcoming week.  She has been doing this for a little while now and told me how much it helps her out during the week... plus, she has lost some weight by doing so, and I thought.. why shouldn't I give it a try as well.... so I did.  The last two Sundays I spent about 3-4 hours fixing meals for the week...all my meals for the week, including breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.. impressive right?  Yeah, sometimes I even impress myself with the stuff I can do when I put my mind to it LOL.  I will admit, the first week it took a lot, and I mean a lot of planning and prep work, first you have to make a menu, then put together a shopping list, go shopping, then come home and prepare everything.. and then there is the worst part of it... the clean up... but I can honestly tell you that it has been so worth it!  It has been so wonderful to come home every night and already have something delicious ready to eat, with little or no prep... and very, very, little clean up!  What has been even more exciting is preparing my lunch for the next day.. it takes like 2 minutes because again, everything has already been prepared, I just have to throw it into my lunch box and I am ready to go.  It was such a success last week that I decided to do it again this Sunday...whew.. so yesterday I did all my shopping and today, all the cooking.. and now look at my fridge... I feel like it could be pinterest worthy it's so organized.. LOL

   
I will post some of the recipes of the things I made... everything turned out delicious.. and healthy, but until then, here are a few pictures of my creations....

Roasted Corn and Tomato Soup

Chicken Skewers with Garlic Roasted Green Beans

Mini Egg Cups with Ham

Other things I made were berry cups, Charred Corn, Brown Rice & Black Bean salad, and chicken salad sandwiches.  There are a couple of tricks I have learned from doing this two weeks in a row...

1.  Go to the farmers market... so much fresh delicious produce at really reasonable prices (I go ever Saturday during the summer... it's like a tradition for me) and plan your menu around what's in season

2.  Buy stackable (if you don't have it already), reusable Tupperware so it will easily fit in the fridge and you don't have a bunch of random sized containers that you try and shove in there

3.  Cut up vegetables and bag them in individual servings so you can just "grab and go"

4.  Costco is your friend... even if you are only cooking for one... seriously, they have a lot of yummy "pre-cooked" meats that will save you a ton of time, like pre cooked bacon and chicken

5.  Line your baking sheets with tin-foil when roasting anything... saves sooo much time on the clean-up

6.  Be creative.. who would have thought to cook scrambled eggs in muffin tins... not me, luckily there is Pinterest...

Well ... I think that is all for now folks... thanks again for following.  I would love to hear from you all on any ideas that you have for plan ahead meals... and/or your tips and tricks! 

I survived week 1 of NO eating out!

So... I did it!  I survived 1 whole week without eating out!  Yay!  Now to survive week two.  I got on the scale today and I am down 3 pounds... and I am pretty sure that not eating out, and pre planning and cooking all my meals for the week is the reason why.  I have had to get really creative on getting my social fix, since eating out has always been a big part of it.. but so far so good.  On Saturday instead of eating out with my good friend Cheree, we made lunch at her house and were able to just hang out and talk... oh, and plan her upcoming wedding..and you all know how much I love to party plan... so good day!  I will admit that I have really been craving a hamburger.. and I don't really eat hamburgers all that much, but of course you always seem to crave the things that you can't have... or at least I do.  Now the trick for me is going to be to incorporate eating out... but on a limited basis and learning to make healthy choices when eating out and not using it as an excuse to "go crazy" and eat whatever I want.  So wish me luck on week two!

My name is Camille, and I am a social eater...

Yes, I am going to admit it... I am a social eater.  I have never been one to "eat my feelings", I rarely have anything in my house that would be considered "junk food".. I don't keep ice cream, chips, cookies or even chocolate in my house (never have), I really don't love fast food other than an occasional Jr. pastrami burger from Crown Burger..and a sandwich from Subway, but that is really it... but I LOVE, Love, love good food and being with friends, so I find myself eating out a lot... and way more than I should. 


Eating out with 2 of my besties... I hope they don't mind I used the pic LOL

When you love food, food becomes more of an activity than just away to feed your body.  Most people would consider me a "foodie" I could watch the Food Network 24/7, and I love trying new restaurants, I love local places, fun eateries, pizzerias and just darn good food.  I also love being with my friends... so over the years I have learned to combine my love of food with my love of friends and I end up eating out a lot, which means I spend a lot of money of food.  I also have been blessed to know a lot of really great people from different work/social circles that I have become really close with over the years, along with my core group of amazing life long friends that I have known for many years... so I have a lot of people to eat out with.  I am also a "yellow" personality I love to be social so... again, eating out for me became the easiest (and yummiest) way to spend time being with great people.   I'm a little ashamed to admit this, but this week alone (which was a typical week for me) I went out to dinner/lunch with different friends 5 times (Zupa's twice, Kneader, Texas Roadhouse, and Green Papaya)... and of course, it was fun, and delicious... but very hard to track let alone stay within my weight watchers points...  I hope none of this comes off as conceited... it sounds a little egocentric, but I am not meaning it to be.. just trying to explain why it is that I eat out a lot.

All this eating out does reflect a lot on the scales... and no matter how much I exercise.. if I don't stop all of this social eating.. I am never going to lose the weight I need to.  I have decided to offer myself a challenge... for the next 2 weeks... I will NOT eat out at all.  Yep, you heard it... I am abstaining from eating out for 2 whole weeks.  This one is going to be tough for me... really, really, really tough, and I am going to need all the support I can get from you all...and your words of encouragement.. it is going to be an interesting 2 weeks, and I will definitely keep you posted! 

Sweating the small stuff...

I know, I know, isn't it "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff"... yes, it is, but I have changed it to "Do Sweat the small stuff... why you ask...well, let me tell you.

The other night I started to have a mini pity party for myself over this boy that I had recently briefly dated.  We met online, the relationship came on pretty fast and furious...I got kind of overwhelmed that everything seemed to be happening so fast.. and I found myself really wanting to go to the gym to work off some of the stress I was feeling.  Then, several weeks later, just as fast as the relationship started, it ended.. or I think it ended... not sure, he just seemed to disappear.. and once again I found myself stressed about things (yes friends.. relationships STRESS me out) and had a desire to go to the gym to "feel better".  One night last week when I was feeling particularly bummed out about things (okay so I was having a pity party for one)... I decided to get out of the house and go to the gym instead of staying at home and wallowing in self doubt and pity.  At the gym I worked out hard, probably harder than I have in the past couple of months... I had my music blasting, and I kicked butt on that elliptical and ARC machines... when I was done, I felt AWESOME!  I felt strong, proud, and in control, I guess I would say that I felt empowered.  I walked away with a new perspective on things and feeling happy (I also spent 15 minutes in the massage chairs...which might have helped as well).  So instead of turning to food for comfort, I turned to the gym.  Go me!  Yay!  When I got home I went to fill out my exercise log that I have been keeping and noticed that I had made it to the gym 4 times per week for the past 7 weeks!  I have formed a habit!  So instead of spending the night feeling rejected, sad, lonely, and angry... I spent an hour at the gym and and the rest of the night feeling empowered, strong, in control and accomplished... a way better option that a pity party for one.  In essence, I literally "sweated" over some small stuff in my life... and felt great.. so, my new motto is "Do Sweat out the small stuff". 

I think I might have actually made going to the gym a habit, and a priority, and in doing that I have been able to maintain my weight loss over the past couple of weeks even with a road trip, the beginning and end of a new relationship, craziness at work, and two weeks of my sister and her family being in town which included a lot of potlucks and access to sweets and chips...  during all of that, I still made it to the gym, and as a result, stayed the EXACT same weight.  Maybe the gym is becoming my new "comfort food"...  woot woot!  I guess this means that I am progressing on the "real changes" I need to be more healthy and lose the weight.. and I need to start a new exericse log! 

Anyway, thanks for your support everyone and for letting me ramble on!  Love you all! 

Free Space

Over the past couple of weeks I have really been doing a lot of thinking, and I thought I would share some of my "deep thoughts" with you...well, as deep as my thoughts actually get.. I promise, they do relate to weight loss and getting healthy... but you know me, I'm kind of long winded and not the best writer.. but here it goes:

As I said in my first post, at the beginning of January I had this "ah ha" moment where a took a hard look at my life, the good, the bad and the ugly.. and decided that I needed to make some changes in many areas of my life in order to move forward.  I guess I was feeling a little "stuck in a rut", and I wanted out of the rut.  It's not like I was unhappy with my life, I wasn't... I am and have always been extremely happy and grateful for my life and have always tried to live every minute of it...but, none the less, I was feeling "stuck"... stuck in relationships, stuck in situations that weren't making me happy, stuck in my job, stuck in being overweight, ect.  I guess to sum it up, I was stuck in apathy.... 

Apathy (also called impassivity or perfunctoriness) is a state of indifference, or the suppression of emotions such as concern, excitement, motivation and passion. An apathetic individual has an absence of interest in or concern about emotional, social, spiritual, philosophical and/or physical life.

They may lack a sense of purpose or meaning in their life. He or she may also exhibit insensibility or sluggishness. In positive psychology, apathy is described as a result of the individual feeling they do not possess the level of skill required to confront a challenge (i.e. "Flow"). It may also be a result of perceiving no challenge at all (e.g. the challenge is irrelevant to them, or conversely, they have learned helplessness).

This "ah ha" moment came after I had gotten into a sticky situation at work and I felt extremely powerless to get out of it... the whole situation is a long story, but basically, I got caught up in some  "drama" with several very negative and disgruntled employees at my job.  I think because people have always felt comfortable coming to me with their problems... many people in the office would come to me and well, in listening to them, I too started focusing on all of the negative things about my job..and I ended up being called on the carpet for it by my boss.. she expressed her concerns that I had become negative and gossipy and that she was disappointed in me.  I was so disheartened by the whole situation disengaged from almost everyone and everything at my work... and for those who know me well... that is totally not me.  I have always taken pride in my work ethic and have always considered  myself to be a really good team member and employee.  The situation left me kind of powerless...at least that is what I thought....then one day, things changed and I had the "ah ha" moment.  This moment happened at a staff meeting in which our boss had invited someone from our Employee Assistance Program (EAP) to come and talk to us about our EAP benefits.  Up until that point, I didn't even know we had EAP benefits, but the discussion sparked my interest so I listened carefully as the presenter talked about how we (each employee) had access to free therapy benefits to help us with any life situation we were dealing with, or even just problems we were having at work.  It was like a light went on and I saw a way to get some help talking through a couple of things that had been weighing me down... so immediately following the meeting, I called and made an appointment... and that my friends, is where the change began.  Now, I have never seen a therapist, and I never really thought I needed to see a therapist because I wasn't feeling depressed but when the offer of free short term "life assistance" was offered, it was like I felt someone had thrown me rope to help me out of some of the negative and consuming life situations I had gotten myself into.  So, that is when I committed to myself that 2012 was going to MY year, it was going to be the year that I take back control of my life.... and I was going to get out of that "rut" I have been in for the past several years.. 

My sessions with my therapist were AWESOME.  It was like having my own personal life coach to help me analyze what was going good and what wasn't with my life and how I could change things.  We discussed many, many things.. but one of my favorite sessions was when discussed how the "old Camille" would handle things and how the "new me" could handle things.  As we were talking, he got out his laptop and said, "I am writing these down, so you can remember them and see them everyday", seven months later.. I still have that piece of paper hanging on my wall so I can read it everyday.. and I do and here is what it says:

"My past does not determine my future"

"I am as valuable of a person as everyone else"

"Just because I have had some negative experiences, it doesn't mean they have to

control my life"

When we read them out loud at that session, I began to cry...not because I was sad, but because I was happy.  It felt like for the first time in my life somebody had given me permission to let go... that it was okay to move forward...and that I deserved to take control of my life.... it felt AWESOME and so empowering... 

After that meeting, I made a decision that there were a couple of people in my life who I had somewhat unhealthy relationships with that I needed to cut ties with in order to move forward in my own life, and take care of me.  I also needed to fix the situation at my work, along with do something about my weight.  Letting go of some of the people in my life was hard... really, really, really hard.. but it needed to be done.  Taking back control of my situation at work was really, really, really hard as well.. but I did it, and I have gotten nothing but praise from my bosses since then ( I was even one of the very few in the office that got a raise).   I also made the commitment to start going to the gym and watch more closely what I eat.  Since January I have lost 20 pounds... and I am now regularly going to the gym and pushing myself harder at the gym than I ever have before.. and I feel great. I even joined a online dating website...yep, you heard it... and have gone out on more dates since January then I have been on in the last 5 years... (some good..some not so good LOL).  Of course the last 7 months have had their ups and downs.. but overall turning 40 and 2012 have been AMAZING.. and it is only going to get better. 

When I was talking to one of my really wise friends the other day, she made a super insightful observation about this year for me... she said "Camille look at all the progress you have made on your 2012 goal of taking care of you... by getting rid of the negative in your life, it has freed up your time to let the positive back into it....and has left some space for God to let good things come into your life".. and she was right!  I now have the emotional "free space" to let good things back into my life, and may good things have come back into my life over the past year.  I have been able to reconnect with some wonderful people from my past that for some reason, maybe because I was so consumed with the negative situations in my life,  we lost contact with each other.. and reconnecting with them has brought some incredible blessing to me and I am incredibly grateful.  I have also had the emotional free space to accomplish some things that I have been wanting to do for a long time... like enjoying the beauty of nature, spending more time with family and friends, and even a little dating ... of course, I still have things that I am working on.. like taking care of my finances and cleaning out my room and getting rid of stuff I don't need... but baby steps right?

So, why did I share all of this with you?  I guess I just want to thank you for being a part of my life and for supporting me and encouraging me to continue on in my journey.  I would also like to offer a challenge to you, my readers, to take a few minutes to look at the things in your lives that may be halting you from moving forward... taking up all your "free space"...  and if there are those "space invaders" I would encourage you to make the changes necessary to make room, clear some emotional space, so that God can fill it with all the good things He has in store for you, and each of us.

Love you all!  Thanks for following!

Strength

So the past week or so has been crazy...mostly great, but some parts a little tough.  One of the things that made it a little rough was that at my last weigh in, I gained 2 pounds.  Yes, you heard it... I am admitting that I gained.  At first I was a little bit upset at myself, discouraged, frustrated, and felt like giving up... I even caught myself thinking "why do I even try, I'm never going to lose this weight"?  I thought about leaving before the WW meeting because I was so discouraged....but I didn't, I stayed and I am so glad I did.  We had a great discussion about how everyone is going to have moments of discouragement during their weight loss journey, we are all going to "slip up", all of us will have moments when we gain, plateau,  or not follow our food plan perfectly or even make excuses to not go to the gym... and in those moments, along with "life moments" we have the opportunity to just give up... or to start again.. and with the support and love of my family & friends (all of you), I am choosing to be strong.. and start again! 

A couple of weeks ago at one of my WW meetings, this lady come into the classroom sobbing.. and I don't mean just crying, but literally sobbing.  Someone had asked her why she crying and she could barely get out the words.. but ended up saying "I did it, I finally did it.. I hit my 100 pound weight loss".  At that point the whole room burst out into cheers and clapping, it was really inspiring.. but what was more inspiring is listening to her talk about her "journey".  She said it had taken her 7 years to loose the weight.. 7 years!  That's a whole lot of perseverance, starting over and over again and picking herself up when knocked down... but she did it!  So, although I am hoping it doesn't take me 7 years to lose the weight I need... it was a great reminder to hang in there... good things come to those who put in the blood sweat and tears... to those who persist and continue to start over, even when it's tough.. which I think is good advice both in weight loss and life in general.  Be strong friends!

Thanks for letting me share the ramblings of my of the week with you!   Love you all! 

What the scale DOESN'T tell us

Today was my weigh in day at Weight Watchers (WW).. and for the second week in a row, I stayed the exact same weight! Yep! I have been working out 4-5 times per week, tracking all of my points and staying within my allotment... yet, I have still stayed virtually the exact same weight (I guess I did go down .4ounces today). So that said... I had a BREIF moment of discouragement but the thought of giving up did NOT even cross my mind.. not even once... now I would say, that is progress! The old me would have seen that number on the scale again for the second week in a row and said to hell with it......but not the new me! The scale does not... and I repeat.. does not know everything!

What my scale and that number doesn't tell me and others is how much better I feel since I have been working out... how much stronger I feel, how much more in control of my life I feel. Several months ago I could barely finish 10 minutes on the elliptical...now, I can do 3 miles on that same machine in 35 minutes. It doesn't tell me how great I have done when eating out with friends by choosing an extra side of vegetables instead of the potato option that I really wanted. It doesn't tell me how much looser my clothes are fitting, or how much less IBU I have been taking each day for back problems... all it gives me is a number. That's it! A number.. nothing more!

This experience really got me thinking....why do we focus so much on the scale and not how we feel. Why do we rely on the scale to tell us if we have had a good week or a bad week (or day for those of you who weigh yourselves daily). Why do we let that number determine how we feel about ourselves? Why do we give the scale the power to make us discouraged and want to give up, or motivate us starve ourselves just so that damn number can go down? Seriously, the scale can only give us a number... It doesn't know how fabulous we are.. and we are way more important that a number.

Anyway, those were my random thoughts for the day! Don't forget that friends... you are all fabulous and I feel blessed to know each and every one of you! Thank you to everyone who has been supporting me on this journey! You ROCK!