Cucumber Tomato Salad

One of my favorite salads, I make a batch (2 servings) in the morning and then either eat both that day or eat one the next day. It’s something very easy to make eat while holding a baby, which is what I need right now 🙂

Serving Size – 1/2 cucumber, 1/2 tomato, 1/8 onion, 5 T dressing
# of servings – 2
Calories: 195
Carbs: 17
Protein: 2
Fat: 11
Sodium: 525
Fiber: 2

Ingredients:
1 large cucumber
1 large tomato
1/4 large yellow (sweet) onion
10 tablespoons Ken’s Balsamic Vinegar Light options salad dressing
pepper

Directions:

1. peel cucumber. Slice tomato, cucumber, and onion into bite sized pieces (I remove the seeds because I don’t like the texture but make it how you like it!)
2. Mix together, add dressing and eat!

When I make this before hand I make 2 separate containers and then add in the salad dressing when I am ready to eat it. It was still just as delicious 24 hours later (I haven’t tried going further than that).

BBQ Chicken Sandwich

BBQ sandwiches made in the crock pot, very good, and you can freeze the cooked meat to dethaw later for a quick lunch.

Serving Size – 1 sandwich
# of servings – 16
Calories: 215
Carbs: 40
Protein: 7
Fat: 2
Sodium: 498
Fiber: 2

 

Ingredients:
3 large boneless chicken breasts (raw)
1 bottle of sweet baby ray’s BBQ sauce
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
garlic and pepper to taste
Sara Lee’s Soft and Smooth whole grain white hamburger buns

Directions:

1. mix bbq sauce, vinegar, sugar, garlic, and pepper in the crock pot
2. add in raw chicken
3. Cook on low 8 hours or on high 4 hours.
4. Shred chicken with 2 forks (shreds very easily) and pour the remaining sauce over the shredded chicken
5. Serve on toasted buns

I also make this as a freezer meal, combining ingredients raw in a freezer back and freezing it. Then dethaw in fridge, make the next day. Leftovers can then also be refrozen for a quick lunch later on, just keep the meat separate from the buns until serving.

I’m BACK!

So I had a little hiatus from the blog, and from dieting, but I do have a good reason:

Yep, Femara brought me a second little miracle and we couldn’t be more thrilled! David was born April 23, 2012 and weighed 9 lbs, 3 oz, and 21 inches (which is small compared to our first son who was 11 lbs, 2 oz, 22 in at birth). But now that he is 3 months old, it’s time for me to get my butt in gear so I will be around to see him grow up. I ended up gaining 20 lbs on the fertility treatments and when I finally got pregnant I weighed 285. The day I delivered I weighed 317 (ICK) which is the highest I have ever weighed, so my new “highest weight” has been changed, unfortunately. 3 months later I am now 275, so I am 10 lbs over my last weigh in, but down 42 lbs total (and 10 under prepregnancy).

The “diet” I am now on is the one I should have always been on, a complete lifestyle change! I have been watching my portion sizes for awhile, trying to get in 5 minutes here and there on the elliptical, and just overall trying to eat a little healthier. But the soda was killing me (literally) and so I am now on day 3 quitting soda completely. I allow myself a cup of coffee in the morning for my caffeine and sugar, and then drink 2-4 liters of water a day. I am using myfitnesspal to keep track of my nutrition, following the guidelines to lose a healthy 2 lbs a week. So the results won’t be as fantastic and fast, but hopefully they will be long lasting. I also have a Fitbit that I will start using as soon as things start to calm down with the baby.

I don’t know what my overall plans will be, I don’t think I’ll have the time to keep track on the blog my daily stuff, but I’ll find a way to link to myfitness pal which I will update every day, and then I’ll try to do a weekly weigh in. And again, once things get settled with the baby I will try to post more.

***ok the link to my myfitnesspal is http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/rachgarm  the password if it asks for it is “apples” ***

I will also be attempting this:

And of course, my current pictures:

3 days after the c section, I was still about 317 even after having the 9 lb baby because of all the fluids

12 weeks PP, about 275 lbs

Weigh in #5

Last Week’s Weight = 269 lbs
Current Weight = 265 lbs (-4 lbs)
Total Weight loss = -50 lbs

Big weigh in today, I have now lost 50 POUNDS!!!! I have now lost about 1/3 of the weight I need to lose, so I still have a long way to go, BUT it’s a giant step in the right direction! I have also now lost 14 pounds since starting this blog, which is pretty darn good for 1 month, especially since I’m on fertility treatments!

Weigh in #4

Last Week’s Weight = 273 lbs
Current Weight = 269 lbs (-4 lbs)
Total Weight loss = -46 lbs

I wasn’t able to take my pictures today, so I used the same ones from last week with this weeks scale.I also started my fertility treatments on March 31st, so there might be some weight gain and bloating over the next few weeks (and then hopefully this blog will be put on hold for another 9 months, lol).

Change of Plans

For those of you that don’t know, I am currently trying to conceive my second child. I have been diagnosed with PCOS and Endometriosis, which not only make losing weight incredibly difficult, they also cause it to be difficult to get pregnant. I had an appointment with my Dr. today and told him about my current diet, since we will be starting fertility treatments. He suggested that I go off the low calorie diet, so that my body is as healthy as possible when I conceive. Although I’ve heard conflicting things about this (being pregnant at a lower weight or starting out on a healthy diet), I have decided to alter my diet.

I signed up for Weight Watchers Online tonight and I am excited to start it! I’m not sure how all of this will change my blog, but I’ll figure it out, lol. I will still be drinking my Cambridge Shakes for nutrition and during times that I just don’t have time to make a meal.

Food Diary – Wednesday

Breakfast: Cambridge Shake
Lunch: Subway turkey and cheese on flatbread (lettuce, pickles, 1 tomato, mustard, and lite mayo), 1 apple
Dinner: 2 apples
Snack: WW Strawberry Smoothie Yogurt Bar, 80 oz of water

Calories: 742 (554-810)
Carbs: 120 (45-100)
Protein: 32 (51-140)
Exercise: 26 minutes on my Elliptical!
Today’s Mantra: “One bad apple spoils the bunch” Proverb

***Well it was mostly the apples that messed up my goals today, so yes I didn’t stay in my limits but it’s much better to fail with apples than candy, right?***