As most everyone in the world, I'm in love with pizza. But those pizzas you get from Pizza Hut and Donatos just won't fit in to my diet or budget. So Chuck and I decided that it was time we started taking matters in to our own hands... literally. I spotted some Trader Joe pizza dough on a visit there a couple of weeks ago and grabbed it. Here's a nice little review: http://www.yumm.com/2009/trader-joes-pizza-dough/. We picked up the herb dough and some toppings like pizza sauce, onions, tomatoes, banana peppers and mushrooms in addition to 2% italian blend cheese and turkey pepperoni. I love turkey pepperoni. We decided that because our tastes are so different in pizza, we would make our own personal-sized dishes. It was hilarious watching us both flour our hands and half of the kitchen as we stretched the dough in to not-so-circular shapes. They only took about eight minutes to bake. However, with all of the toppings, the crust on that side had some difficulty baking.
Because we split the bag for the first batch, we decided to have pizza again the next night. I baked the pennant-shaped pizza for a couple of minutes before we topped it to get that top side good and done then brushed on a little olive oil. It was so good. I'm craving it right now.
Keeping in the swing of things, we make homemade egg rolls last night using chopped grilled pork chops left over from Monday nights dinner, cole slaw veggies and onions. Again, slam-dunk. We deep-fried them but because the wrappers aren't grease-soakers, it keeps this meal low in fat. They were done in 20-30 seconds and it was hilarious watching Chuck throw stuff in there like banana peppers.
I really recommend making things like this at home because not only is it more healthy than store-bought varieties, it's less expensive and you get to do something fun with the people you love... or people who don't mind you throwing flour on them. Same dif.
Candy K.
My clothes smell like fried food today. Gross.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Boot Camp: Week Two Wrap Up
The workouts have gotten more intense but the soreness is relatively gone. We will be tight when we really get a muscle-blasting exercise. My favorite exercises at the moment are the ones done on a device called the TRX (see: http://www.fitnessanywhere.com/). A bracket is attached high on the wall with straps hanging from it. At the end of the straps are handles where we grab on for dear life and, using our body weight and angle as resistance, perform different exercises.Week Three we are beginning more intensive circuits. Focuses such as "killer legs" and "killer arms" are being introduced. Most of us are working on incorporating 8-lb weights in to the exercises when possible. I really need to buy a new set. I have metal 5-lb weights and I'm deathly afraid that I will end up dropping a sharp metal edge on my person. Also, when they've been sitting in my car for 24-hours, they tend to be 30 degrees colder than the actual temperature outside. Makes for an interesting workout.
I've been doing spectacular on my eating thanks to my fellow bootcamp ladies and Chucky. At work we are watching each other like hawks. It also makes things easier when you aren't the only one making a lifestyle change instead of watching co-workers smother their toast with globs of butter or mayo all day. I come home and Chuck is working on a healthy dinner and I'll make us some salads... which he is actually eating! I'm so proud of him.
I'm avoiding the scale at this point so that I don't become discouraged if I haven't lost any weight. I know things are already fitting looser but I can also tell that I've developed a lot of muscle especially in my thighs.
Looking forward to next week.
Candy K.
Hustlin'
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Day Two of Boot Camp: The Next Morning
9:36 AM - I got home last night and took a shower, had a bit of leftover spaghetti then hit the hay. Had a lot of problems going to sleep and then once I got to sleep, the achy muscles woke me up every time I turned over. It was awesome dripping with sarcasm. I took Tylenol before bed and again at 3:30 am. I'm not gonna lie, the aches and pains are the worst part.
The focus for last night: legs and shoulders. We really had a good workout. If this were an hour and a half session, I would have thrown-up. A lot of leg exercises, running and hurdles. In the oh-so-true words of Terra, "We didn't pay for nothin'."
Tonight's focus will be cardio and abs. My abs are so weak. I don't put any work in to them because out of all of the fat parts of my body, my stomach is the least of my worries. I always gain in my mid-section last and lose it first. This isn't to suggest I shouldn't exercise my stomach, I just have more pressing matters on my mind, like the fact that my right arm is a full inch larger around than my right.
All in all, things are going well. I feel great because I'm accomplishing more than I thought I could. Nicole walks up to me and goes, "I feel good. The only part that really hurts is from my shoulders to my knees." My sentiments exactly.
Candice K.
No weigh-in until the end of camp.
The focus for last night: legs and shoulders. We really had a good workout. If this were an hour and a half session, I would have thrown-up. A lot of leg exercises, running and hurdles. In the oh-so-true words of Terra, "We didn't pay for nothin'."
Tonight's focus will be cardio and abs. My abs are so weak. I don't put any work in to them because out of all of the fat parts of my body, my stomach is the least of my worries. I always gain in my mid-section last and lose it first. This isn't to suggest I shouldn't exercise my stomach, I just have more pressing matters on my mind, like the fact that my right arm is a full inch larger around than my right.
All in all, things are going well. I feel great because I'm accomplishing more than I thought I could. Nicole walks up to me and goes, "I feel good. The only part that really hurts is from my shoulders to my knees." My sentiments exactly.
Candice K.
No weigh-in until the end of camp.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Day One of Boot Camp
8:21pm - Chuckles made me a nice dinner for my first day at boot camp; salad (so weird for him), spaghetti with sweet rosemary spaghetti sauce and low-carb noodles and breadsticks. It was tasty and I totally appreciate coming home to a warm, tasty dinner. As it was, I couldn't lift my arms very much. They were like jelly.So, our first day. The theme was chest/back/arms. Going in to it, I wasn't sure what to expect. It is difficult to imagine how so many people of different sizes, fitness levels and age could all converge and work out at the same time.
We could instantly tell who were the veterans and who were the newbies. The vets had their mats rolled out against the wall and were sitting waiting for the session to begin. So we followed suit. After a quick intro, we were down to business with the warm-ups; a little jogging in place, jumping-jacks and other things to get the blood pumping. All the things that let me know I need a better sports bra.
Then we began doing exercises that focused on our arms. We broke in to groups and did a circuit of different exercises including push-up, tension band curls and pulls and kick-backs. We did each exercise for 30 seconds then rotated. On the third time around, we were DYING! We had a small water break and continued. The rest of the class we focused on standing and mat exercises mixed with some cardio. We were definitely feeling the burn.
Tomorrow, we hope to be outside to enjoy the slightly warmer weather and to get a little cardio in. Hopefully, it won't be raining too much.
Candice K.
Official Boot Camper
Today is the Day! Boot Camp!
I will be keeping a journal of our days at camp. Complete with the pre- and post-feelings of the day and the workouts. We are SO looking forward to this. I NEED this.11:25 am - The girls and I are starting the Columbus Fitness Boot Camp today. We will be taking some before pictures during lunch. I am personally quite freaked out because Terra saw Desperate Housewives this weekend and they went to boot camp. I guess they had some sort of a drill sergeant... We have a personal trainer running this. I met her Tuesday. She's very nice, but she's there to push us so I hope I don't bring out the mean in her.
On the agenda for today: Chest/Back/Arms along with a timed mile run/walk/jog and counted push-ups. This will be fun b/c I totally have NO upper-body strength. I'm pretty sure my arms are fat attached directly to the bone... no muscle in there... just fat. Fat that jiggles whenever I wave, laugh or have a good idea. Doesn't take much.
I'm ready and equipped with my Tylenol Back and Body. Let's see how this goes.
Candice K.
251 lbs.
Ready to Rock and Roll... lots of rolls; belly rolls, crescent rolls... I must resist the crescent rolls.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
A Little Off-Topic RAGE for Anyone Paying Attention
My new bfff, co-worker and Buckeye fanatic, Nicole, sent me this email detailing her morning commute here in Columbus, OH. She uses a little choice language but hey, who can blame the girl? Please read and enjoy.
So we are at a level 2 snow emergency. That means that you should only be on the roads if you
have to be. I feel like this is put into effect because Columbus doesn't know how to plow roads. Granted it has been snowing for eight hours +/- 2 days so there wasn't much notice so I understand. Maybe I'm just salty because it took me 25 minutes to chip all the ice off of my car. Maybe I'm salty because while I was doing that, my PJ pants froze to my parking lot. Really, who knows?
... and then there are the lovely drivers of central Ohio... I know it sucks out and it's scary to drive in the snow but give me a break. Some guy peeled out in front of me last night causing me to lose all control of my car. My options were a.) hit the asshole b.) hit the awful green minivan that was parked on the street c.) hit a nearby street sign which would not slow me down, possibly causing me to run into a house d.) hit a pedestrian. As I was screaming and sliding I picked the pedestrian (hey, he was skinny. I figured he wouldn't do much damage) but managed, by the grace of God, to stop before I hit any of the options. I get driving slow when it's like this, but is 15 on the freeway necessary? Oh and then when we see a car that wasn't driving carefully and ends up in a snow bank in the median, let's all slow down even more
and stare. We aren't going to help but we just wanted to see what happened so that we can chitchat with our coworkers about "that car on 270 that was fine but was in a snow bank in the median." Very interesting. Or, better yet, lets slam on our brakes when we get close causing more people to slide. Ya, I like that option. What I love about this "accident victim" is that they were in the median, up to their ass in snow, quite obviously not moving AND not in anyone's way but they put their hazard lights on. Right. Important. Good thinking. It was those quick wits that got them into that situation in the first place.
Now, as I was gawking at said car with the flashing hazards my windshield wipers froze causing them to wipe all areas of the windshield clean except for that little square that I needed to see out of. My visibility became zero. I began to laugh. I also began to wonder why I don't keep alcohol in my car for the AM drive.
May I also mention that today is only the third time in 35 years that THE Ohio State University has cancelled classes. THE THIRD TIME IN 35 YEARS!!! This means that the weather is awful. I went to OSU for 4 and a half years and there were plenty of times where I should have had a sleigh and some reindeer to go to class... or maybe one of the dog sleighs that compete in the Iditarod... either way the snow was bad and we still had school. OSU takes this shit seriously. If OSU is closed because of a snow emergency then the entire STATE should be closed. Just a thought.
The first snow day that I was a part of was the first snow day in 30 years. This was January 2003 (aka my freshmen year). The snow was up to my eyeballs. I got drunk and went to a boys house to play beer pong, have a snow ball fight and then... Just how every snow day should be. The second time was last year which I also got drunk and played beer pong, weird. Numero tres is January 28, 2009. That's today people. I am sober. I am not playing any kind of pong... not beer, not ping, not even pong for Atari. And I am at work. I am not a happy camper. I might throw a hissy fit.
It took me 40 minutes today to drive what normally takes me 15. I've had a lot of time to think about this. That also meant that I checked my phone 40 times to make sure I didn't miss the "Hey, Work is Closed" call. This also gave me 40 full minutes to get even more furious about actually going to work. Then I realized that I had been on 270 for several miles with my right blinker... I am an asshole...
Candy K.
So we are at a level 2 snow emergency. That means that you should only be on the roads if you
have to be. I feel like this is put into effect because Columbus doesn't know how to plow roads. Granted it has been snowing for eight hours +/- 2 days so there wasn't much notice so I understand. Maybe I'm just salty because it took me 25 minutes to chip all the ice off of my car. Maybe I'm salty because while I was doing that, my PJ pants froze to my parking lot. Really, who knows?... and then there are the lovely drivers of central Ohio... I know it sucks out and it's scary to drive in the snow but give me a break. Some guy peeled out in front of me last night causing me to lose all control of my car. My options were a.) hit the asshole b.) hit the awful green minivan that was parked on the street c.) hit a nearby street sign which would not slow me down, possibly causing me to run into a house d.) hit a pedestrian. As I was screaming and sliding I picked the pedestrian (hey, he was skinny. I figured he wouldn't do much damage) but managed, by the grace of God, to stop before I hit any of the options. I get driving slow when it's like this, but is 15 on the freeway necessary? Oh and then when we see a car that wasn't driving carefully and ends up in a snow bank in the median, let's all slow down even more
and stare. We aren't going to help but we just wanted to see what happened so that we can chitchat with our coworkers about "that car on 270 that was fine but was in a snow bank in the median." Very interesting. Or, better yet, lets slam on our brakes when we get close causing more people to slide. Ya, I like that option. What I love about this "accident victim" is that they were in the median, up to their ass in snow, quite obviously not moving AND not in anyone's way but they put their hazard lights on. Right. Important. Good thinking. It was those quick wits that got them into that situation in the first place.Now, as I was gawking at said car with the flashing hazards my windshield wipers froze causing them to wipe all areas of the windshield clean except for that little square that I needed to see out of. My visibility became zero. I began to laugh. I also began to wonder why I don't keep alcohol in my car for the AM drive.
May I also mention that today is only the third time in 35 years that THE Ohio State University has cancelled classes. THE THIRD TIME IN 35 YEARS!!! This means that the weather is awful. I went to OSU for 4 and a half years and there were plenty of times where I should have had a sleigh and some reindeer to go to class... or maybe one of the dog sleighs that compete in the Iditarod... either way the snow was bad and we still had school. OSU takes this shit seriously. If OSU is closed because of a snow emergency then the entire STATE should be closed. Just a thought.
The first snow day that I was a part of was the first snow day in 30 years. This was January 2003 (aka my freshmen year). The snow was up to my eyeballs. I got drunk and went to a boys house to play beer pong, have a snow ball fight and then... Just how every snow day should be. The second time was last year which I also got drunk and played beer pong, weird. Numero tres is January 28, 2009. That's today people. I am sober. I am not playing any kind of pong... not beer, not ping, not even pong for Atari. And I am at work. I am not a happy camper. I might throw a hissy fit.
It took me 40 minutes today to drive what normally takes me 15. I've had a lot of time to think about this. That also meant that I checked my phone 40 times to make sure I didn't miss the "Hey, Work is Closed" call. This also gave me 40 full minutes to get even more furious about actually going to work. Then I realized that I had been on 270 for several miles with my right blinker... I am an asshole...
Candy K.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Where Have All the Good Salads Gone?
First, let me say everyone needs to get hip to Eat This, Not That: http://www.menshealth.com/eatthis/index.php. It's astonishing how much saturated fat, calories and sodium is in the food served up by many leading restaurants. For example, it is better to eat a Big Mac than a Whopper. Save yourself 220 calories and 18 grams of fat by making this swap.Now begins my story followed by RAGE! Last week, Ashley, great friend and fellow dieter, sent me the Salad Hall of Fame according to Eat This, Not That as seen here:
Salad Hall of Fame
- McDonald’s Premium Asian Salad with Grilled Chicken
300 calories
10 g fat (1 g saturated)
890 mg sodium
- Panera Classic Café Salad
400 calories
11 g fat (1.5 g saturated)
270 mg sodium
- Au Bon Pain Butternut Squash Salad
280 calories
6 g fat (4 g saturated)
570 mg sodium
- Jack in the Box Southwest Chicken Salad with Grilled Chicken Strips
310 calories
12 g fat (5 g saturated)
840 mg sodium
-Carl’s Jr. Charbroiled Chicken Salad
330 calories
8 g fat (3.5 g saturated)
580 mg sodium
-Denny’s Grilled Chicken Salad Deluxe
290 calories
10 g fat (5 g saturated)
770 mg sodium
- Arby’s Martha's Vineyard Salad
272 calories9 g fat (4 g saturated)
609 mg sodium
No surprise to me that McDonald's Asian Salad with Grilled 
Chicken tops the list with a scant 300 calories and 10 grams of fat. This is a salad that I've lived and died by; delicious edamame, sliced almonds, mandarin oranges, mixed greens, snow pea pods, bell peppers and Newman's Own Sesame Ginger dressing (not included in the fat and calories but one packet at 90 calories and 2.5 grams of fat is more than enough to drench the salad). That is, until McDonald's DISCONTINUED the Asian Salad in the Columbus market. I've already emailed McDonald's for some sort of explanation. Just tell me the ingredients are too expensive and I'll pay MORE. Tell me the demand isn't high enough and I'll advertise! No, all I received (and why would I expect any more) was a form letter explaining how they cycle out the old for new, exciting product and they will contact the manager of my region. Who is this manager? Where is his office? Can I make an appointment to visit him? I've got the time. So my plan for bringing back the asian salad is in the works. Stay tuned for that. I might need your help.
Chicken tops the list with a scant 300 calories and 10 grams of fat. This is a salad that I've lived and died by; delicious edamame, sliced almonds, mandarin oranges, mixed greens, snow pea pods, bell peppers and Newman's Own Sesame Ginger dressing (not included in the fat and calories but one packet at 90 calories and 2.5 grams of fat is more than enough to drench the salad). That is, until McDonald's DISCONTINUED the Asian Salad in the Columbus market. I've already emailed McDonald's for some sort of explanation. Just tell me the ingredients are too expensive and I'll pay MORE. Tell me the demand isn't high enough and I'll advertise! No, all I received (and why would I expect any more) was a form letter explaining how they cycle out the old for new, exciting product and they will contact the manager of my region. Who is this manager? Where is his office? Can I make an appointment to visit him? I've got the time. So my plan for bringing back the asian salad is in the works. Stay tuned for that. I might need your help.
Ashley and I were planning another one of our Sunday Bloody Fundays aka SBF. The plan: get in a good workout and do a good lunch to follow up. The only other salads that are available to us here in Columbus is the Panera Classic Cafe and Arby's Martha's Vineyard. So we planned on the Martha's Vineyard. We get to Arby's... NO MARTHA'S VINEYARD! What is going on? Am I in an alternate universe and I am receiving Salad Hall of Fame's from the other universe I'm not a part of? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills! Thus, left with no option, I ordered the *NEW* Italian Chopped Salad and Ashley, the *NEW* Turkey Chopped Salad. I find that my salad comes filled to the brim with pepperoni, salami, banana peppers, tomatoes and a balsamic vinaigrette. Awesome dripping with sarcasm. Looking at the nutrition info, it's way more fat and calories than I wanted to take in. With 282 calories and 18 grams of fat before dressing, I could have gotten a regular roast beef and been happier. Ashley did smashingly with her 95 calories and 11 grams of fat and using fat-free dressing she had at home. All I know is that I've been burned. The great loves of my belly are disappearing and a few of them I really need. I lost 30 lbs. with the help of that asian salad. Every person I know who tried this salad fell in love instantly. Damn you, McDonald's! You broke my heart... and my diet.
Candice K.
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