Cauliflower Power - Round 2

Back in February, I posted about my new found love of cauliflower! Well....I'M BACK!!

Here is the latest (and dare I say, greatest) cauliflower recipe:

Twice Baked Cauliflower
Ingredients:
1 large head cauliflower
4 oz. low fat or light cream cheese
1/2 cup low fat or light sour cream
1/4 cup minced green onions (if you have it...we didn't and it was still good)
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (if you only have finely grated Parmesan, use a bit less)
6 slices turkey bacon, cooked until very crisp, fat blotted with paper towel and then crumbled
1 cup reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Cut out stem and core from cauliflower, and cut into small pieces. Cook in large pot of boiling salted water until cauliflower is tender, but not overly soft. Drain well and mash with potato masher, leaving some chunks. Mix in light cream cheese, light sour cream, green onion, Parmesan, and 3/4 of the crumbled bacon.

Spread evenly in a medium-sized glass casserole dish. Sprinkle with low-fat cheddar cheese and reserved bacon. Bake 30-35 minutes, or until hot and bubbly. Enjoy!

Personally, I think this recipe tastes JUST like a baked potato!

Monument Ave 10k - I DID IT!

This past Saturday, March 31st, I ran my first race ever - the Monument Ave 10K in Richmond, VA!

I surprised myself by running the WHOLE THING! No stopping to walk!! Can you believe it??? Because I can't! The whole time I was running I was thinking "This is sooo weird!"

My goal was to make it to mile 3.1. I'm running two 5ks this month so I wanted to make sure I could do it! Once I got to mile 3.1, I didn't want to stop! And by the time I made it to mile 4, I knew that if I stopped I wouldn't start running again.... so I didn't stop!!!

Seth was much faster than me and ended up running ahead of me by mile 2. He finished the race in 1 hour and 3 minutes. I finished in 1 hour and 17 minutes :)

Here are some pictures from after we finished the race!

We did it!!

The whole gang

Me and Cousin Emma

So happy to be done!

Me and big brother

(who caught a lot of shit for his awesome shirt! GO DUKES!)

JMU gang representing (minus mom)

Our photographer and #1 cheerleader!

(we had to take this picture because we got a good laugh at his umbrella/coat tail)

Next stop: 3 mile run in Indianapolis where I will be for a work conference!

Before and After

I really don't want to do this but I promised myself to stay honest through this whole process.....

Although I'm proud of the progress I've made, I've still got a long road ahead of me to reach my goals!

Before             and                    After

Day 1: 189 pounds                    Day 64: 157 pounds

          (size 12-14)                          (size 6-8)         

Day 64 - And the Winner is........

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not me.

It's hard to believe that I lost 32 pounds and still came in second place. I'm totally bummed, but still really proud of myself! 17.3% loss!

If nothing else, this has given me even more motivation to stick with it and lose even more weight!

Thanks for sharing in this journey with me. This blog has been a huge support system for me and even though I feel like I'm talking to no one most of the time, it's been a blessing in disguise!

As I continue on with my weight loss, I will check in here every now and then... but sorry no more daily posts and food/exercise tracking. You're heartbroken I'm sure :)

On that note, I think I'll go treat myself to a Shamrock Shake. Cheers!

Day 61 - Final Weekend Challenge

This morning I am officially 29 pounds lighter :) That means I only have ONE pound to go to reach my goal of losing 30 pounds! That is SOOOO doable!

And 3 pounds in 3 days (including today) to lose the 9 pounds that has been predicated that I need to lose in order to win first place! This weekend is going to be TOUGH, especially being St. Patrick's Day on Saturday!

St. Pattys Day is fun and all but I'm def not one of those hardcore Irish-wannabes that just use St Pattys Day as an excuse to get shit blasted. I think I grew out of that in college, unfortunately. Damn I'm getting old.

It's just gonna be a nice little Saturday with my future hubby:



Since there is no chance that I'm going to be drinking any green beer this weekend, I'm just going to keep myself busy doing stuff and when I'm not doing stuff I'm going to SLEEP! Exercise and sleep (hopefully) = minus three pounds.

I WANT THIS SOOOO BAD!

2- Day Recap:

3/14
Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs
Snack: Unsweetened applesauce with cinnamon

Lunch: Progresso Light Soup: Chicken and veggie

Dinner: Chicken breast and peas
Snack: Nutrigrain bar
Water: four 24oz bottles of water

Exercise: (morning) 30 minutes on the treadmill, (evening) 35 minutes on the elliptical, 20 minutes core and lower body strength

3/15
Breakfast: Banana and 1 hard boiled egg

Lunch: Small salad, carrots and green peppers
Snack: Orange
Dinner: 4 scrambled egg whites with onion, green pepper, and reduced fat cheese, and a fruit salad (grapes, orange, grapefruit, and bananas)

Water: four 24oz bottles of water

Exercise: (morning) 30 minutes on the treadmill, (lunch) a couple laps around the building with my girlfriends, (evening) 45 minutes on the elliptical, 20 minutes core and upper body strength

Day 59 - I think I can, I think I can, I think I can

Thank you Thomas for those encouraging words!

Throw backkkkk

Now that I've officially passed my initial goal of losing 13.5%, my newest goal is to lose a total of 30 pounds! I'm only 3 pounds away from that goal and even if I don't lose the 5 more pounds needed to secure first place, I think 30 pounds is nothing to shake a stick at!

The end is so close...I can almost taste it! (And by taste it I mean I can almost taste the delicious McDonalds breakfast that I'm planning on inhaling right after I weigh in next Monday!!!!)

But don't worry....I'm not yet at my ideal weight so I will NOT be quitting after the competition is over. That being said, I'm also not going to be a food nazi and gym junkie like I have been!

Yesterday' Recap:

3/13

Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs
Lunch: Small salad with some leftover steamed broccoli
Snack: Mixed nuts

Dinner: (thanks my love) Tilapia and green beans
Water: four 24oz bottles of water

Exercise: (morning) 30 minutes on the treadmill, (lunch) a couple laps around the building with my girlfriends, (evening) 1 hour run/walk with Jasper

Day 58 - Just Look Away

WARNING: do not continue to read this post if you are dieting and do not have strong will power to resist temptation.

OK...you've been warned.

99% of the time I LOVE Pinterest.com. I think it's a great site. For those of you who aren't familiar with Pinterest, here is my best attempt at explaining it: Pinterest is like a virtual pinboard. You can "follow" people and view all of their boards and things that they have pinned to their boards, like recipes, DIY ideas, clothing, etc. You can repin something someone has pinned or you can pin an image or video of something you've seen on the web. Get it? Well anyways, my favorite boards are my "Yum-O" for all things delicious (see below for examples), "My Dream Wedding" for great ideas, tips, and tricks for my upcoming nuptials, "Biggest Loser Motivation" where a lot of my motivational images on this blog come from, and "If I had free time" board for all the stuff I'd like to make if I ever find the time.

Now back to that 99%....well that 1% is today, when I'm feeling especially vulnerable and craving chocolate like it's my J-O-B.

But, honestly, who could blame me after seeing stuff like this:

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownie

or THIS:

Smores on a stick

or THIS:

Banana Nutella "Spring Rolls"

SOMEBODY SHOOT ME!!!!!!!!!

must stay strong
Must Stay Strong.

MUST STAY STRONG!

Yesterday' Recap:

3/12

Breakfast: 1/2 cup cottage cheese
Snack: Unsweetened applesauce with cinnamon
Lunch: Progresso Light Soup: Maryland Style Crab
Snack: Apple and some mixed nuts

Dinner: (thanks Sefffff) Chicken thighs marinated in Fat Free Italian, some leftover cauliflower "potato" salad, and broccoli
Water: four 24oz bottles of water

Exercise: (morning) 30 minutes on the treadmill, (lunch) a couple laps around the building with my girlfriends, (evening) 1 hour of ZUMBA!