Veggie Dancer

My dinner tonight: pineapple-cashew-quinoa stir fry, from...

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 20:46:09 -0700

My dinner tonight: pineapple-cashew-quinoa stir fry, from Veganomicon. This is seriously one of my favorite things … ever!

What motivates you?

Sun, 13 Mar 2011 18:42:00 -0700

zenfocus posted this on MFP, a little while ago:

“You really can achieve anything you set your mind to!” I have to keep remembering this constantly. What do you think about/do to keep yourself on track and stay motivated?

This was my reply:

I think about how far I’ve come and how I NEVER want to go back there again. That’s not a choice, for me. I think about the non-scale victories I’ve had and how I want to keep having more, and think about what my next NSV might be. I think about how amazing it is that I could possibly be under 150 lbs by my 24th birthday (May 23rd). I think about how proud of myself I’m going to feel when I go with my husband to his 10-year high school reunion this summer. I think about how close I am to fitting into a size 12, when I have zero memories of ever being below a 14.

Those are the things I think about.

So now, I ask you: what motivates you and keeps you on track, or helps you get back up when you fall?

Decided it was time to post a public before/during...

Sun, 13 Mar 2011 15:03:06 -0700

Decided it was time to post a public before/during collage…

Here’s what 210 lbs looked like on me. And what 167.4 lbs looks like on me. I prefer the latter. (Minus another 37.4 lbs.)

It’s very hard to post the top set of photos. I remember when the bathing suit photo was taken. I was so happy at having lost 7 lbs and felt like I looked great. I have a lot more “before” photos, but I feel like these really show where I was. Looking at these now, I realize that I never really saw how round I was…

The blue shirt from today is a size medium, which I swiped from my mom (okay, she gave it to me the last time I visited). I’ve never truly worn a medium anything before. Yes, I still have some round bits that pop out here and there, but the shirt isn’t actually tight. That’s so awesome!

My two anthem songs, right now:
“F*ckin’ Perfect” by Pink and “Not Afraid” by Eminem.

It frustrates me to no end when people have terrible, unhealthy diets and then complain because they...

Tue, 08 Mar 2011 22:10:04 -0800

It frustrates me to no end when people have terrible, unhealthy diets and then complain because they get sick all the time. Come on, people! Where you think your body gets all the stuff it needs to keep going and to fight illnesses?

If you eat crap, you feel like crap. End of story. Good night.

</rant>

theuglygirl: atelophobicatelophile: ohdearalice: tequila-flavo...

Tue, 08 Mar 2011 21:49:18 -0800

theuglygirl:

atelophobicatelophile:

ohdearalice:

tequila-flavoredkisses:

i would love for that to happen. chocolate, if possible.

Could you imagine? what if every guy was a different flavor of ice cream?

please please please please please please can men ejaculate haagen dazs from now on please

LOL just - these comments. <3

I usually don’t reblog, but …

Imagine how blissed out everyone would be if this became reality. Not that I would mind. I’m just sayin’. Carry on.

And last, but certainly not least … dessert! I gotta tell...

Sun, 06 Mar 2011 18:31:03 -0800

And last, but certainly not least … dessert!

I gotta tell ya’, dessert is most certainly my downfall. People think of vegans as being skinny and boney. Psh! They should talk to me; I could give them a tip or two on how to add some padding. I’m not even kidding. I make the best peanut butter cookies and chocolate chip cookies.

That said, these pumpkin pie bites aren’t too bad, when it comes to dessert. This recipe hails from the FatFree Vegan Blog, care of Susan Voison … whose photos put mine to shame. *sigh*

These are vegan and gluten-free, and Susan is just plain awesome in that she almost always includes nutritional information at the bottom of her recipes. (Though I always enter the recipe into MFP anyway, so my ingredients are brand-specific and more exact.)

See this post for nutritional information.

Can’t forget the salad! It was the dang pecans that put me...

Sun, 06 Mar 2011 18:24:00 -0800

Can’t forget the salad! It was the dang pecans that put me over the edge, calorie-wise. But hey, they’re good for you. And like I said earlier, I’ll be riding my bike tonight and will easily work off any excess … and then some.

This salad was pretty simple, with just baby spinach, pecans, dried cranberries, and a raspberry vinaigrette.

See this post for nutritional information.

Tonight’s dinner is one of my all-time favorites....

Sun, 06 Mar 2011 18:22:47 -0800

Tonight’s dinner is one of my all-time favorites. It’s spinach linguine with edamame pesto, another Isa Chandra Moskowitz recipe. This recipe can be found on her blog, The Post Punk Kitchen.

It’s not too difficult to make and a single serving (1 cup) has only 250 calories. Lots of protein in there too, from the edamame. And as far as pesto goes, very little fat. Yay!

My husband refuses to try this, which ordinarily would annoy me, but in this case I’m totally fine with that. More for me! I’ll be working my way through this for lunches and dinners, throughout the week.

See this post for nutritional information.

And so we move on to lunch. I was skimming through a new...

Sun, 06 Mar 2011 18:15:00 -0800

And so we move on to lunch. I was skimming through a new cookbook I recently bought, Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. I hadn’t tried any of the recipes yet, and was looking for something simple and healthy to try out. She has a dozen or so “bowl” combos listed in the back of the cookbook, with a few basic ingredients and then a sauce listed from earlier in the book.

The one that most caught my eye was a combination of quiona, broccoli (steamed), tempeh, and a peanut-lime dressing. I don’t know about you, but I’m a huge fan of peanut sauce, so I had to give this a try! My tempeh was store-bought, and was already marinated in a sesame garlic sauce, so I suppose I cheated, there. But again … meh.

It was tasty, and I have a bunch of everything left over, so I’ll probably have this again for dinner tomorrow night.

See this post for nutritional information.

Breakfast today was the same as just about every day …...

Sun, 06 Mar 2011 18:08:00 -0800

Breakfast today was the same as just about every day … oatmeal. I went with marionberries as my fruit of choice. Tasty! (Seriously, tastes like cobbler.)

My quickie oatmeal recipe is 1/2 cup of rolled oats and 1 cup of water, tossed in the microwave for 2 minutes. Then I add in 1/2 cup of frozen fruit, stir it well, and let it sit for a few minutes so the fruit can thaw. Then, I eat!

Nom nom.

I should mention, I go through oats like there’s no tomorrow! And I’m oddly proud of that.

See this post for nutritional information.

I took up the challenge and I photographed all of my meals from...

Sun, 06 Mar 2011 18:04:44 -0800

I took up the challenge and I photographed all of my meals from today. I gave a new recipe a try for lunch and man was it tasty!

My calorie total for today came out to 1261, which is fine since I’ll be riding my bike in a little while. 61 calories over = meh.

So, prepare for some food photography inundation. And deliciousness.

I definitely did not starve, today.

Just a Thought

Sat, 05 Mar 2011 21:48:13 -0800

So, I had this thought, the other day. I was thinking it might be cool to create a sample day’s worth of my meals and photograph everything, then post the photos and nutritional information for the world to see.

I’m tired of hearing the whole “you must have to starve in order to lose weight” thing, and likewise the typical reaction of “what on Earth can you eat?” when I tell people that I’m vegan.

I would love to demonstrate to the world that you can eat good food and plenty of it while losing weight, and I do eat amazing food as a vegan. (Sorry to disappoint, but it’s not all sticks and leaves. Eww.)

It seems like quite an undertaking, but I think I might be up to the challenge. We’re supposed to get some sun tomorrow, so I might even have decent light to do my photography session.

Decisions, decisions…

What program did you use to make that graph? :)

Sat, 05 Mar 2011 20:32:00 -0800

I make my weight loss graphs on a website called Fridge Graph. I track my weight on there more often than my once-a-week weigh-in on MyFitnessPal, as I like to follow the trend. And the events/goal dates are cool.

In order to post it, I click “Display printable version” at the bottom of the main graph page, and then take a screenshot and crop it. It’s a roundabout way of doing things, but I find it works for me. I’ve checked out other weight-tracking sites, but I like Fridge Graph for its simplicity.

Thanks for asking!

Thought I would post an update of my weight graph, since...

Sat, 05 Mar 2011 18:11:45 -0800

Thought I would post an update of my weight graph, since it’s been a while.

Some recent tidbits of awesomeness:

I’m now 41 lbs down, 39 to go!
I just made it into the “overweight” category for BMI, and am officially out of the “obese” category forever! Never been so excited about being overweight, before…
I’m now able to do around 60 minutes of riding on my bike, which is set up on a bike trainer in our office. I take a break about mid-way through, to get some feeling back in my rear end, then hop back on and keeping pushing myself until my body says I’ve had enough.
I’m learning how to listen to my body.
I’m able to do a mile on the elliptical in 6:55. A year ago, I was hard-pressed to get a mile done in 10 minutes. Of course, this is just the elliptical, which isn’t very comparable to actual running/jogging. But still, it’s progress.

Shortly after I started my most recent bout of weight loss (on January 8th), I took some pictures of myself in the mirror at my gym (on the 10th); one from the side, one from the front. Last night I stood in front of the mirror and compared both photos to how I look now, and I can definitely see a difference, even with only losing 12 lbs since then.

Main differences that Ty pointed out when I showed him:

arms are skinnier
stomach doesn’t stick out past my chest
legs and butt are smaller

I’m finding myself looking in the mirror a lot more often, these days, constantly looking for things that have changed. It’s so easy to feel like nothing about my body has changed, since the rate of change is so slow, but side-by-side comparisons do wonders.

What victories or differences, large or small, have you noticed on your journey?

Hi! Congratulations on 40 pounds! That's incredible! I see you've been using myfitness. Do you love it?! I don't know why but both Ali and I really like it and feels it helps a TON. Not to mention its free. I do have a quick question though, how did you get the about me section?! we tried so hard to figure it out but couldn't=/ and just blogged our about me thing and linked it to our little box under our picture. Thanks so much! Stay strong!

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 07:30:05 -0800

Thank you! And yes, I love MFP! I’ve tried a few other tracking sites (SparkPeople, Calorie Count, The Daily Plate, etc.) and none of them really felt like they did anything for me. I’m finding that being semi-active on the forums and connecting with new friends is really helping when it comes to accountability. Another bonus is that I get people adding me so they can check out my food diary regularly — which is definitely an incentive to eat better and to be a good example!

To add the “About Me” or any other page, just go into the Customize mode and you’ll see an option at the top called Pages. Select “Add a page” and there you go! :-)

I’m officially 40 lbs down, with 40 to go! I’m halfway there! dances

Sun, 27 Feb 2011 10:59:00 -0800

I’m officially 40 lbs down, with 40 to go! I’m halfway there!

*dances*

Still in line with my goal. I added some event dates to the...

Sat, 29 Jan 2011 10:03:05 -0800

Still in line with my goal. I added some event dates to the graph so I could get an idea of (and envision) where I’ll be when those dates roll around. It’s a good motivator.

How We Carry Our Weight

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 22:26:24 -0800

I have a gripe. It’s something that’s been on my mind for a while, which I’ve been wanting to get out. So, here goes…

I hate how everyone carries their weight differently!

*ahem*

I was browsing the “Success Stories” section of the MFP forums and came across some before/after photos posted by a MFP user who went from 225 to 162. Now, I’m not digging on her at all — she’s done an amazing job at losing 63 lbs, looks absolutely gorgeous, and is a total inspiration.

But I’m looking at her photos and I’m like, “That is what 162 lbs looks like?” That’s about 13 lbs less than where I am, currently. I look in the mirror and there’s no way I’d look like that 13 lbs from now. Seriously — no way.

One of my gripes about losing weight is that I honestly have no idea what weight to shoot for. I’m mostly concerned about how I feel, rather than the number, but I’m a numbers kind of person and if I know what my endpoint is, I can calculate what I need to do to get there. It’s just that simple. But I have no idea what weight will look and feel good on me.

I’ve checked on various “ideal weight calculator” sites and I’m finding suggestions ranging between 105-140 lbs. Now, 105 lbs would just be ridiculous. I have no desire whatsoever to weigh that little. My goal weight is set at 130, which seems reasonable. But then I see photos like the ones on the MFP forums, where someone is 162 lbs and looks exactly how I want to look, and I’m not sure what to do!

I know it’s a matter of everyone carrying their weight differently, and people also have different levels of muscle mass, which definitely makes you look leaner at a higher weight. I just need to keep on keepin’ on and see where I end up. But in the meantime … argh! It’s frustrating as all get out, not knowing where I’m going to be.

*sigh* End of transmission. That is all.

I’m having way too much fun on the forums on MFP. I’m just sayin’.

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 23:12:07 -0800

I’m having way too much fun on the forums on MFP. I’m just sayin’.

A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words

Sun, 23 Jan 2011 19:20:19 -0800

Today I spend a large chunk of time going through almost all of the photos on our server. I’d been spending quite a bit of time browsing the forums on MFP, this weekend, and decided I’d try to find some photos of myself to use as “before” photos. When I get to my goal (or close to it), I can post the before and afters, and see how far I’ve come.

I found a few contenders, but this was actually harder than I thought. While searching through past events and special occasions, I realized something: I’m not in very many of these photos. There are holiday, work, and family events where I’m not in a single frame. True, I love being the one behind the camera, but I always try to avoid being captured on camera, especially if it’s more than just my face.

But it makes me think … if someone came across these photos, would they even know I was there? I always volunteer to photograph family gatherings because if I don’t, someone else will. My rationale is that I take better shots, and maybe I do, but who am I kidding … I would rather be behind the lens, not in front of it.

Even on our honeymoon, I took tons of pictures of everything else, but only got a couple shots of us …

I started thinking back to when I was growing up, trying to figure out when the weight came on. And still, I have no idea. All I can remember is being a slim little girl, then seemingly ballooning when I hit puberty. I don’t have any recollection of ever comfortably wearing pants smaller than a size 14.

I have no memories of being in shape, no photos to fall back on, except for the ones of me as a little girl. I miss that little girl. I want to be this little girl, but grown up:

Today I told Ty that I wasn’t sure if I could do this. I told him that he’s probably going to have to bring the bags back. Reusable shopping bags, which he fills with rice, flour, my free weights, and anything heavy … totaling as much weight as I’ve lost. Seeing the changes on the scale is great, but it’s so easy to look at yourself in the mirror and think, “I don’t look any different.” Hence, the bags. We’ll definitely be using the bags.

I think I can make it another 5 lbs before I’ll have Ty bring the bags out, though. That will be my halfway mark; here’s what I’ve lost, here’s what I have to lose. Now, go!

35 lbs down, 45 lbs to go.