Last night was my second to last weigh in for the sixty day challenge. It went about as I expected. I was down about 6 tenths of a pound for the week. I'm not discouraged, but sometimes you feel like you do all the right things and you don't get results is aggravating to say the least. My first week I lost 10 pounds. My second week I gained back 4 pounds. My old self might have quit seeing that bounceback, but I continued on my path. One more week wouldn't hurt me. I lost 3 pounds. Ok, great I'm back on the right path again. I weighed in again, I gained a 1 pound. Ok, What the F%ck is going on. Still pushing myself hard physically, working out at Tiger Schulmann's MMA at least 3 times a week. That should be good for at least 1 pound a week. I feel better, I need to eat more frequently. I'm getting too hungry, waiting too long for my snacks. This is not a good thing. I have too many things in my fridge that are leftover from previous meals, yech. Don't want them, can't eat them again. OK, so what's your effin plan, Einstein. Brought in my leftovers to Tiger Schulmann. Who wants Moroccan Meatballs? Who wants Hot and Sour Soup? Who wants Chili? Great had a bunch of takers, now the fridge is clean. Cooking more meals and enjoy eating them. Next weigh in, down 4 pounds. Weigh in again down 4 more. Ok so 7 weeks in and I've lost almost 22 pounds. Thats well ahead of my personal goal of 1-2lbs per week. I figured it would take six months to lose all the weight that I had gained from not being able to workout. Its moving faster. Part of that is exercise. Bigger muscles means more calories burned resting. Building muscles revs up metabolism. Fueling that metabolism on a regular basis keeps the internal body combustion engine burning. Most people eat three times a day with some sort of snack in between. Its the way the three meals are constructed that is getting to be our downfall. Dinner portions are huge. Just go out to any restaurant and take a look. Case in point, TGI Friday's has a few calorie counts on their menu. These are for items that are less than 750 calories. Seriously, if its not marked its more! That's probably half your necessary daily intake of calories. Seeing stuff like that only proves that cooking dinners at home is the way to go. Here is a favorite of ours in this house.
Chicken with 40 cloves of Garlic
Ingredients:
2 cups chopped onions
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
4 stalks celery, chopped large
6 bone in chicken thighs (skin removed)
6 drumsticks (skin removed)
1/2 cup white wine (do not use so called cooking wine, loaded with salt)
1 teaspoon of salt
fresh ground pepper
Dash of Nutmeg
40 cloves of garlic - unpeeled!
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Combine first 4 ingredients in bottom of 4-6 quart casserole. Arrange chicken pieces over vegetable mix. Pour wine over chicken and sprinkle with salt, a good dose of pepper and the nutmeg. Place garlic cloves around chicken. Cover with foil and then top with the lid.
Bake for 1.5 hours or until chicken is done. Yields six servings one leg and one thigh. 1/3 cup vegetables and 6 clove garlic. I usually just cook thighs for this dish because I like them better than drumsticks. This recipe clocks in at 300 calories and about 10 grams of fat.
For a healthy side add a portion of Lemony Barley.
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
Fresh ground pepper
1 cup pearl barley, rinsed
2 1/2 cups low sodium vegetable or chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
1 lemon juiced and 1/2 teaspoon zest finely chopped
In a 2-3 quart pot gently heat oil (heating olive oil too high destroys its heart healthy properties) and saute garlic. 30-40 seconds should be enough. Add a few grinds of fresh black pepper. Now add barley, swirl in pan, then add broth and salt. Cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower heat to low and let simmer 20 minutes. Stir occasionally. When water has been mostly absorbed add lemon zest and cook about 10 minutes more. Turn off the heat and add lemon juice. Start with half the juice and add to taste. You may or may not need the whole juice of the lemon.
1/6 of the recipe is approximately 145 calories, 2g fat and 7g fiber.
Add these two dishes together and you have 445 calories, 12g fat(3g saturated), 7g fiber, 38g protein.
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