Moving Sucks!

My husband and I, being apparently crazy, have finally gotten serious about putting our house on the market. We bought a wonderful lot last year in Timberwood Park and have been dragging our feet about getting our current home on the market. The rule of common sense being that it is more financially prudent to sell our existing home before we start building a new home. Thus we have been working like fiends to get this house in shape while working full-time jobs and watching a 2 year old.

As fun as this has been, we finally decided to part with some of our hard earned money (thank you bonuses) and are paying experts to paint and do some repairs around the house. My super optimistic dream is that we can whip this house into such fab shape that it will sell within 2 weeks. We definitely are relying on prayers to help with this.

Obviously working on the house has made keeping up our diet difficult. I have mostly been good this week. That is until tonight. What can I say, I'm an emotional eater and apparently a working eater. Whatever, that means. The next two weeks will be challenging as well. Next week I go to Boston for business and the following week is our cruise vacation.

Cheat Day - 4-Hour Body 3rd Cheat Day

So yesterday was my 3rd cheat day! All I can say is YAY! For me, this is what makes this diet liveable. During the diet portion of the week I look at my food pics and remember that on Saturday I can eat what ever I want. Unless it has corn, because I have a corn allergy. But that is for another blog entry.

So after weighing myself I started my fabulous sugary eating. So the hubs and I took the offspring to the movies to see Gnomeo and Juliet. It was actually really cute and she did such a good job of sitting through the movie. There we shared peanut butter fudge, dark chocolate fudge, and mexican vanilla gelato. Yummo! For lunch, I had clam chowder soup. (forgot to take pics of these....)

For an happy hours went out with the girls to StoneWerks which is a bar grill chain. So I had a super fab extra dirty martini and a baked crab dip with pita strips. Then I went home and had a romaticish dinner with the hubs while watching inception on video. This was fettucine alfredo and zuppa toscano from my fav the Olive Garden! I wish I could quit you Olive Garden! And of course had to end the day with cupcakes. This time we got the cupcakes from a place we had never tried before called Gigi's. I was pretty impressed. So I got a red velvet cupcake, kentucky bourbon pie cupcake, wedding cake cupcake, and midnnight chocolate cupake. The kentucky bourbon and the weddding cake cupcakes were fab squared. However, the other two were just average.

                                                                   Dirty Martini

                                                          Hot Crab Dip with Pita Strips

                                                                   Fettucine Alfredo

                                                 Cupcakes from Gigi's (2 Fabulous Views)

 

4-Hour Body 3 Week Results

So this week I lost only 0.2 lbs. I'm trying not to be disappointed with this. I mean ultimately it is still progress and I am still losing weight. Yet, I see other people's amazing weight-loss and get a bit jealous. I am trying to remember that this is a journey and that next week is another week. Plus, per the book for women it may take longer than men. As suggested by another gal's blog I think I need to take out the big guns and am trying the ice packs. I am not desperate enough to try the ice baths. God alone knows if I will ever hit that low. But ice packs for 30 minutes 5 days a week I can manage. : ) I posted my results in the tab named 4-Hour body results.

4-Hour Body Staying Strong

For some reason this Wednesday has been easier than most. I even went out to dinner did OK. It was italian so no beans, but I did a shrimp salad. My hope is that this is a sign of things to come. That this diet will become automatic, and dare I say it, a lifestyle. Others who have been on the diet, let me know if this is true. On Sunday I was soooo over beans. As I am from Texas, that is saying a lot. We normally eat beans in quite frenquently. Here is where I do my imiatation of Bubba from the movie "Forest Gump...there is borracho beans, refried, cajun red beans (as in with ricce), black-eyed peas, black beans, .....and so on. And trust me we have tried them all...vegan, seasoned with salt pork or bacon, canned,  or made from dried. But today I seem to be accepting my fate and am trying to get my inner bean chef on. I'm thinking of taking out the crockpot and making some sort of bean soup over the weekend. Maybe that will rekindle my luv for the humble bean.

In terms of exercise, I am happy to report that I have gotten myself up and have worked in the morning. Yay me! Wishing all of my other 4-hour body slow carbers the best the rest of this week.

A New Week on 4-Body Slow Carb Diet

So Sunday not only starts a new calendar week, but also starts a new diet week for the hubs and I. So we did our weekly pilgrimage to Whole Foods and spent a crazy amount of money for one week of food. At least for us it is. I gather we could eat out every dinner for the same. That said, this is about health and not economy.

I picked the brain of the author of another blog that I read on the 4-hour body (this is the link to her blog http://slim4life.pbworks.com/w/page/34786781/My-Diet-Log) bout whether to the second lunch/snack was an important part of the diet. I honestly have not been hungry for it. AND let me be clear here I am sick to death of BEANS. BEANS three times a day is hard enough, but four times a day??? But, missing the fourth meal could be why my weight loss numbers are lack-luster. This weeks goal is to eat the second lunch and to pick up the workouts. I am continuing with my kettlebell three days a week and am hoping to get my bootie up to do cardio before work.

BTW - tonights dinner was chicken cacciatore, with lentils, and cauliflower rice.

2 Week Results and 2nd Cheat Day

So this week I lost another pound and am down to 139lbs. However, my body fat has only gone down 0.5%. WTF? That is really what motivated me to do this diet was to lose the body fat. I'm tired of seeing my arm chub wiggle when I wave. And lets not even get into my wide (birthing hips). Shizzle! I'm trying to stay positive. In the 4-Hour body book the author notes that if you are over 40 (I'm not but I physically feel like I am - does that count) and have had children (which I have) then it could take 4 weeks to see dramatic results. Ultimately, I'm going to keep working the program and keep up with my kettlebell exercise. Although, I think I'm going to include my cardio in an attempt to restart my daily exercise routine. See my tab titled 4-hour results for more detailed measurements.

Now on to the favorite part of the Saturday edition of my blog, cheat day and of course the food porn pics. So today we went to BJ's roadhouse and I had a bowl of clam chowder and a strawberry martini. For dinner cheese soup and a baked potato with butter/sour cream. And would for my late night snack - cupcakes! I know shocker, but it would it be Katy's cupcake obsession without them?


                                                                    Clam Chowder

                                                                      Strawberry Martini

                           Red Velvet Cupcake (with hand for scale - This is a BIG cupcake)

Thursday - Keeping Strong on the 4-Hour Slow Carb Diet

So today was a better day in terms of both work and diet. I'm not going to say that I'm still not fighting temptation but I seem to be obssessing about the food I can't have left. One side positive side effect that I have noticed from this diet is the ability to sleep. I have had problems with insonmia since last year. Suddenly, I find myself sleeping deeply through the whole night. So much so that am having a hard time waking up. I'm super excited about this bonus benefit to the slow carb diet.

Tonights slow carb dinner was salmon with lentils and green beans. See pic below.

Tonight's Dinner - Meatballs with Shirataki Pasta

For tonight's dinner I decided to be a little adventurous and try organic spaghetti sauce with grassfed beef meatballs. For the pasta (drum roll please) we were brave and tried the tofu shirataki noodles (aka miracle noodles). I realize that in the 4-Body Tim Ferris doesn't really care for tofu, but we decided to give it a try and look at it as a rare cheat.

For the kids at home that wondering just how the tofu shirataki noodles were: Hmmm! Let's just say that the texture of this product brings to mind rubber bands. That said, if you can get past the weird texture it's not bad. Like most tofu products it really doesn't have a taste of its own. Instead it picks up the flavor of what is served with it, in this case tomato sauce. Would I eat it again? Absolutely! But keep in mind that I'm the gal who has made black bean brownies and black bean fudge.

Here is a pic of the leftovers from our dinner

Getting Back Into the Workout Habit

Before Thanksgiving, I would wake up every morning at 6:45 and workout. My workout at the time was the 5-Factor Fitness and then 30 minutes of cardio. Just before Thanksgiving I got sick and had to keep going to my job and to do the whole Thanksgiving thing for 20 people. Fast forward to Christmas and it was the same story. I was literally sick for 6 weeks and and to take oral steroids in order to get better. This of course means that my well-established workout routine was no more.

Now that it is February I am struggling to re-establish my workout habits. So far I have failed miserably. I have never been one of those people who enjoyed working out. It has just been a necessary evil to help me manage my anxiety. The 4-Body's kettlebell routine is super easy. However, I think I need to do more. Its not all about weight loss for me, better overall fitness and mental well being is really what I strive to attain.

I'm think the solution is start fresh on Monday and to set goals. Babysteps. My first goal will be to get up, get dressed, and do something. They say it takes 30 days to establish a new habit. I wonder how long it takes to re-establish a lost habit. I guess I will know in the coming weeks.

My question for my two followers and anyone else who wants to comment: How do you successfully establish a new habit? Any tricks to successfully working out every day? Any fun new workouts anyone has found?

Just Another Manic Monday

OK maybe I'm being overly dramatic, but today was a sucky Monday. In terms of my diet I was faced with constant temptation and gave in twice. At work today we had vendors come in for the upcoming Valentine's Day holiday. Among these (cue music) was Godiva chocolates! And guess who was giving out free samples! I could not resist a piece of smooth, dark Godiva chocolate. This is another one of my weaknesses. And there frozen chocolate drinks...are pure heaven. It tasted yummo, but now I have the typical guilty feeling that follows a food cheat. Oh to be one of the lucky gals who can eat what they want and be the perfect weight.

So on top of my guilt from cheating on my diet with one of my old lovers Godiva, I also had a sucky work day. I realize that this is not the smartest forum to air such issues...so I want but I am working on trying to find the positive and move on. And let me stress that this is a work in progress. In a book I recently read it recommended praying for the situations/people who cause you anger/strife. Again, I'm working REALLY HARD on this.

Anyways, as Scarlett O'Hara said "After all tomorrow is another day". Here's to hoping for a smooth work day and no cheating on my diet.

Day After First Cheat Day

So today is the first day after a cheat day. Ultimately, Ryan and I are both super hungry and tired. From reading other blogs it appears that this is a common occurrence after the massive eating of carbs and sugars that occurs on a cheat day. I am working hard to stay the course and to not cheat!

So far today's main course we are having beef cabbage soup which I adapted from several recipes found on the internet. It really hit the spot. It won't replace the chips and dips we would normally be having on a Super Bowl Sunday, but it is pretty good.

Katy's Slow Carb (4-Hour Body) Beef Cabbage Soup
- 2 lbs grass fed ground beef
- 1 large onion
- 1 head cabbage, chopped
- 2 cups sliced carrots
- 2 cups frozen peas
- 2 boxes of 32 oz beef broth
- 1 - 28 oz can of diced organic tomatoes (I like Murglen)
- 2 -15 oz cans of kidney beans
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- pepper
- tablespoon olive oil

Brown ground beef and onions in the olive oil. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer until done, about one hour.

4-Hour Body - First Cheat Day

So today was our first official weigh in and cheat day on the 4-hour body slow carb diet. I lost 2 lbs, but my body fat did not change at all. Overall I'm pretty happy with the results and of course I'm glad that it is cheat day! Yay us!

So for cheat day we got a late start which meant that we didn't get to "cheat" as much as we would have liked. After our normal slow carb breakfast we had a donut which wasn't quite as rewarding as I remembered it being. For our main meal we went cajun and I had wonderful seafood gumbo.

The best part of cheat day was the desserts which of course included cupcakes. I decided if I was going to have a cupcake it was going to be super fab so we went to "Kate's Frosting" and got an assortment of mini cupcakes. Hopefully these will hold me over until next Saturday's cheat day. I also made my world famous black bean fudge (no I'm not kidding). I swear it is really good! Google the recipe and give it a try. Anyways, it was a good day and ultimately we had fun.

4 Hour Body Slow Carb Garlic Shrimp with Cauliflower "Rice"

For dinner tonight I decided to get creative with cauliflower. So tonight we had garlic shrimp with cauliflower "rice". See pic below. It was actually really good and a nice change from the monotony of chicken and beef. The cauliflower "rice" was the perfect addition. It taste exactly like rice, but had the correct texture. Overall, I would say dinner was a success!

Katy's Slow Carb Garlic Shrimp with Cauliflower "Rice"

- 1 lb raw large shrimp
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- Juice of one lemon
- Fresh parsley
- 2 garlic cloves, minced

Heat garlic in large pan in olive oil. Add shrimp. Cook until pink. Add lemon juice, parsley, and salt/pepper to taste. Serve over cauliflower "rice".

Cauliflower "Rice"
- 1 head of cauliflower
- 1 teaspoon ghee
- 1/2 teaspoon salt

Process head of cauliflower in the food processor until you get a course rice like texture. Do not over chop or else you will get a puree. Melt ghee and add to cauliflower with salt. Microwave for 6 minutes. Stir. Microwave for 2 minutes or until done. Check frequently so you do not overcook.

Why Start A Blog?

So why am I starting a blog? God alone knows, but it has been something I have been wanting to do for a long time. I have always enjoyed reading other people's blogs. It could be that I'm a massive voyeur (sadly it's true - I luv to people watch), but I also think that I have been able to learn from other people's journeys. Ultimately, I realize that there are a lot of people who are going through what I'm going through in life and it is nice to know that I am not alone.

So why the title of my blog? Katy's blog was already taken as were almost all derivatives of my name. My hubby Ryan suggested cupcake obsession because we have recently started "The Four Hour Body" slow carb diet from Tim Ferriss' book. We started this diet last Sunday and so far so good. In this diet you are allowed to have a cheat day, which for us will be Saturday. Needless to say, I have been dreaming about cupcakes, cupcakes, and yes more cupcakes. As part of this diet we are also opting out of our normal workout routine and are incorporating his super fab kettle bell swing workout. We are hopefull that this work.

I have been a long-time (read 10 years) member of Weight Watchers. Let me say that it does work, but I have a hard time working it. Weight Watcher's changed their points systems to the Power Points system which means that I no longer know all of the points values by hearts. As such, it seemed like a good time to ditch Weight Watchers and give something new (and hopefully easier) a try. OK - sort of ditch. I have already paid for this month so I'm still logging in food to see just how many points I have actually eaten. Can we say obsession!

Anyways, this is my blog about my life and my current journeys, whatever they may be.