bye-bye dry

99% fat free ground turkey - very good

dry turkey patties - very bad

so what's a chick to do?

she scopes the net and finds a solution.

add approx. 1/2 cup chicken broth for every pound of 99% fat free ground turkey
mix it up (along with any spices) and let sit for at least 30 minutes
use as you normally would

results - moist flavorful ground turkey that doesn't dry out

WW@work

-3 lbs
+
Not sore from kickboxing
_________________

back on track

yeah...

a few hours ago i went to kickboxing.

i came home. took an epsom salt bath, ate a high protein meal, took in some potassium (soymilk), took some ibuprofen (pre-emptive strike). and then i sat down on the couch.

that was 2 hours ago. at this point, i could probably fall asleep in this position. even my teeth are tired. however, i think i can muster up enough energy to put on my PJs, blow out the candles and fall into my bed.

but you know what? it's totally worth it.

one foot in front of the other

went to the "gym" today. it was. not good, not bad...but it had two cool elliptical trainers and some decent bikes, a nice set of free weights and an okay cybex set.

going to check something out by the house tomorrow night.

serenity now

yeah, so the last weigh in was rough.

i was up 3 lbs.

but that's not the rough part. the rough part was i knew i was gaining weight as it was happening. no exercise. lots of high fat stuff like donuts and rice and peas. not enough water. lots of salt in the pre-made stuff...and quite a few french fries. stopped counting points.

i broke down and cried at the ww meeting. i felt so bad about not doing what i needed to do PLUS i knew that i had gained weight. but like i said earlier, the group is full of cool chicks. people were there to support me...in a real way.

but on the good side - the big rush project at work is completed. i am now in my apartment and things are being unpacked. i still don't have a working stove/oven. the gas company has to come out and turn on the gas and i don't know when i can take off work again to be here. i'm thinking that i'll be able to do it in about a week.

however, i do have a microwave and a fridge and a blender. so there are some things i can start doing. i like to think of it as the "detox" phase (lol) - lots of salad, veggies, fruit, cereal and yogurt for the next week or so. I do have some lean chicken and cold cuts from TJ.

and i have an exercise buddy. there's a "gym" across the street from our job. i say "gym" because i haven't seen it yet and the people i know who work out there tell me i should set my expectations low. we'll see. i'm going to check it out next week. on the plus side, the job pays half of the fee if i attend at least 3 times a month.

i still want to find some place to go around my house. i really like working out at a gym. HOWEVER, since this is a year of change, maybe i should look at what i can do in my house. something different from the usual routine. i'm not yet fit enough to keep up with tae bo...but i can do 15 minutes of walking in place and add some calisthenics to the mix. the workout goal for this week is to get in at least 90 minutes (combined cardio and strength).

i know that i can do this. not just because i want it, but because i know that i'm not alone. i've been reading some other weight loss blogs and there are others who are going through this...newbies and people who have lost significant amounts of weight. for me, that takes a lot of the pressure off...i don't feel so alone and like i'm an utter failure at this change thing. i'm breaking some unhealthy habits and replacing them with healthier habits. it doesn't happen overnight, so i gotta keep moving on one step at a time.

WW @ Work

Deep breath. I know that I am more than those three numbers on the scale but goodness gracious. I was slowly creeping up to my alltime high.

But that is over...I am now on a path towards a healthier and fitter me.

I decided to go with the flex plan - the one where you count the points for EVERYTHING that goes in your mouth. I really need to be more aware of what I am eating as I have been on autopilot for so long with food. Last night, I was able to identify when I was eating just because I was stressing about something and when I was eating because I was hungry. I was also more aware of my hunger. Quelle suprise to find out that I don't have to eat the whole can of gumbo to fill satisfied.

The group is really cool and very supportive.

Now it's about working in the exercise. Now that I have a permanent apartment , I can start looking around for a gym or workout place. There's kickboxing not too far from me. That would definitely be a jump start to my routine. :)

I've already found a capoeira class, I just need to bring the fitness up to speed so I can start taking it. I need to find out when the spring season of soccer starts.

New beginnings...

Tomorrow is my first WW meeting. I was kind of anxious at first, but then I saw the list of women who are doing the program (the leader sent out a group invite).

There are some really cool women. In addition to Sara (we work in the same group) some of the other fun, interesting, down-to-earth women that I've met at work are also in WW. So awesome.

Plus, I found out that there's a gym across the street from my job. The fee is $40/month, but the job refunds 1/2 if you go 3 times in a month. Elizabeth, another woman in my group (not in WW) currently goes. My buddy Denise (also in my group) and I are going to check it out tomorrow. If it's decent, we've committed to going to the gym together after work at least once a week.

This job has been a blessing in so many ways.

On another note, I'm watching this interesting documentary on BBC America called "Super Skinny Me". In a nutshell, 2 thin women go on extreme diets for 5 weeks to get to size 4(UK) - jeans. Both start at a 12(UK) and is absolutely appalled at how thin she is getting...the other woman literally loses her mind and falls prey to bulimia nervosa. The former experiences weakness and her body rebels through rashes...the latter pushes herself beyond the brink She looks and acts unhealthy. The one with the better body image at the start of the experiment welcomes the end of the experiment and looks forward to going back to her more healthy size 10/12 jeans. Interestingly, the one with the healthy view got to her goal and the other one got pulled from the experiment for fears about what it was doing to her mental health.

On the eve of going back to WW, this was a really good show for me to see. A reminder to be healthy and keep my head about me. I've been in the place of the second chick and that's not a pretty place.