Brownies at the Reads

Everyone who participated is invited for brownie sundaes from 6 to 8pm this Sunday. See you there! We'll be giving out great hair tips. Bring a wide-tooth comb and some hairspray.

CNN article about exercise.

I'm not sure I go along with everything this article has to say, but it's an interesting idea and worth reading.

There are good tidbits and links buried in it like, "10 kid foods to avoid" and a video link to Jillian on  "how to lose weight like a real loser."

No doubt exercise makes you more fit and healthy, though, and that's nothing to sneeze at. 

In college, my roommate and I would go jogging at the Smith Fieldhouse and then . . . order a pan pizza from Pizza Hut. Hmm. I don't recall losing any weight, come to think of it. But I did get an 'A' in Fitness for Life.

Group Activity Challenge

Hi Everyone,
We are in the last month of this Biggest Loser contest! Barbara mentioned coming up with ideas for challenges. I have one. I love the group activities. It's always more fun with a group. So my challenge to everyone for this last month is to come up with a group activity. I'll have a prize for anyone who plans 2 group activities this month. We have 3 weeks left so this includes last week too.

Here's the group activity info from previous emails:

"Organize a group exercise activity" As originally stated, you only get to organize one event a week for one bonus point. You can attend as many as you like (for one point each). Organizing a group exercise event should be something special that requires creativity or extra effort to earn bonus points. To be a group activity for points, there need to be an "organizer" who is getting a bonus point. This limits us to 10 potential group activities a week (one each), which should be plenty.
If you haven't planned one yet, give it a try. Here are some ideas: go on a nature hike, meet at the church for an aerobics video, walk/jog the historic dexter walking tour, bring your roller blades to hudson mills, walk a stretch of road and pick up trash (. . . aww, come on, it would be exercise and a service project at the same time).

Why RED CARPET MOMMA has fallen off the wagon a bit!

Yes, I have fallen off the wagon. I do not in anyway want to bring down the positivity of this blog, because I love reading it and about all of your success!!! But I did want to share my secret. Yes...I am pregnant. So for the last 6 weeks I have 1.) NOT WANTED TO EAT VEGETABLES 2.) NOT WANTED TO EXERCISE and I have 3.) NOT BEEN LOSING ANY WEIGHT. I have been a bit sick, so eating healthy and exercizing has been the last thing on my list. I have been just trying to stay out of the bathroom.

I am definitely getting LOTS of sleep and I am NOT eating sweets. Those are 2 positives right now. But I wish you all the best of luck. But if you see me going the other way besides down in the weight category, don't think I have just been chowing down...THERE IS A BABY IN THERE!!! We are very excited.

Video Exchange

My new and improved Mom

Hi! This is not a Read kid. I was over at their house and we started blogging. 

Here is the real thing.

My  mom is looking a lot healthier and thinner. And she's getting a lot more sleep.  I think so. at least. She acts like it.  The meals are healthier and sometimes tastier. Much tastier than frozen pizza.

 

Love, Not a Read Kid

A Kid's View

I think my  mom is the biggest loser ever. 

I have enjoyed exercising with my mom. But my favorite time had to be when she carried me on her back to burn extra calories

I also made a virtual model of myself when I'm an adult. I think the virtual models are cool!

Mango Chicken Salad

Hi Everyone, I've been gone for a while and it was SO nice to be back at church today. I thought I'd share a recipe with the group. This is one of our favorites and if you don't add chicken I think it can count as a vegetarian meal with the beans and corn. But either way it's yummy and tastes like Summer to me (and reminds me of Dallin's birth, but that is because someone in my ward brought this to us for dinner one night - ha!).

Mango Chicken Salad

1/2 head of lettuce, torn into bite size pieces
1 chicken breast, marinated in teriaki sauce for an hour
8 oz Jack cheese, grated

the salsa
1/2 a mango diced
1/2 an avacado diced
1/2 a can of black beans
1/2 a can of white corn

dressing
1 cup of sour cream
1 pkg ranch dip mix
--or I just use ranch dressing

Grill (or broil) the chicken breast and cut into strips. Mix all the items for the salsa in a medium size bowl. To serve put salad on your plate, top with the salsa mix, chicken, cheese and dressing. You can eat this with tortilla chips if you desire.

Slam-dunk for slimming down.

I'm going to be a little sad when this is over. I have done better than I would ever have thought, and I'm worried about what will happen when I'm not earning points for exercising.

I've tried really hard not to do anything dramatic and unrealistic, so hopefully, I will keep it up.

Something that really works:  stop eating 3 hours before bedtime (whenever that is--for me it's 1 am so I stop eating at 10). If you're looking for a new goal for next month, it's a slam-dunk for slimming (and sleeping better!).

Plus, it's one I think I can keep up. The first week is white-knuckles, but after that, you get used to it.

And here's a BMI calculator.

Blog Challenge

Well . . . here's how I'm doing.

I'm like that cartoon commercial where the husband loses all that weight and the wife's chest shrinks. I had to get a smaller bra.  So I guess that's good (?). And for pants, my usual size is a little loose, but the next size is a little tight. Hmm.

I read online that about 8-10 pounds is a pants size, but less when you are smaller and more when you are bigger to begin with. And it depends on other things, too.

But I feel more fit, definitely, and that's the best part. Exercising is easier and I'm even jogging a little. I used to love jogging, then I got out of shape.

I'm going to make a new person with my new weight. I'm not sure it's enough to show the difference, but anyway.

We Rock!

We lost about 17 pounds as a group and earned 882 daily/bonus points! That's a lot of veggies. And a lot of sweat. And a lot of ZZZ's. Congratulations, everyone!

Jeanie Johnson is in the lead! Go Jeanie!

Gina Di Vitto and I are tied for second place! 

And to everyone who turned in points, the numbers are very close!! The leading half is very tight and it's ANYONE'S game. 

Remember, every pound is worth approx. 15 points! There was one person who was fairly well behind in daily points, but made it up in weight loss. 

Calculating Percentages & the Daily Point Challenge

Hi everyone,

Remember this is the final week of the first "month," so your percentage weight loss or starting weight and pounds lost need to be recorded. Here's the formula to get the number to turn in:

POUNDS LOST ÷ STARTING WEIGHT = PERCENTAGE WEIGHT LOST (turn this number in to Tanya) 

Don't worry about multiplying it by 100. We'll do that later.

Point Challenge this week:

Anyone who gets 21 daily points the week of July 6-12th (not including bonus points) gets a prize at the next book club meeting.   (The value of the prize depends on the number of people who complete the challenge. No purchase necessary to qualify. Enter as many times as you like, but we will only count you once and probably put you on the spam-blocker list if it gets out of hand.)

Time for a new monthly goal.

If you want to choose a new monthly goal, the new month starts July 13th. You can also keep the one you already have if you are happy with it.

7 hours of sleep

Every now and then I get an email for Jillian Michaels (we're buds, j/k) from her online training program and this was today's email. I thought that it was interesting considering our current adventure and points for 7 hours of sleep a night.

Get Seven Hours of Shut-eye for a Healthier Mind and Body
A full night's sleep is not a luxury — it's a basic necessity for healthy hormone balance. Once you dip below seven hours a night, you are increasing your risk of diabetes, cancer, heart disease, stroke, depression, and obesity.
Some researchers believe that slow-wave sleep — the deep, dreamless sleep that you ideally sink into about three or four times a night — may actually regulate your metabolism. Sleep researcher break down sleep into five stages. Stage 4 slow-wave sleep, which begins about an hour after we fall asleep, is when we release our greatest pulses of growth hormone, the hormone that prompts the body to burn stored fat. When we're young, we spend about 20 percent of our time asleep in slow-wave stages 3 and 4. But as we get older, we may only spend about 10 or even 5 percent there.
Sadly, just two nights of bad sleep will cut your satiety hormone leptin by 20 percent and increase your hunger hormone ghrelin by 30 percent. That one-two punch makes you much more likely to snack on high-carb treats, which couldn't come at a worse time for your insulin levels. In a recent study, University of Chicago researchers found that just three nights of poor sleep made the bodies of young, healthy test subjects 25 percent less sensitive to insulin. This level of insulin resistance is comparable to that brought on by carrying 20 to 30 extra pounds.
In order to block fat-storage hormones and allow the full release of fat-burning hormones, you need to get at least seven hours of sleep a night

No Carbs Before Bed
To slip into stage 3 or 4 sleep, you need to have a high level of ghrelin before bedtime. Carbs depress ghrelin faster than any other nutrient, so eating anything, especially carbs, before bed can delay your entry into deeper sleep for several hours. If you don't get enough restful sleep, you're likely to be hungrier and eat more. So to help you sleep well and deeply, let the hormones do their thing and don't eat after 9 p.m.!

It's finally working!

Well, the first two weeks (and two days) were a total bummer. I did feel better and I craved sweets less, but I didn't lose any weight at all. I thought about giving up. Before this started I was so excited, I could hardly wait. But then to not see anything happening, I was not happy.

So now almost 3 weeks into this, I finally lost some weight! Whoohoo! Because even though "this isn't about weight loss" that is the best way for me to measure whether it's working or not.

I am not doing anything special, but just really following the plan, and it's finally working for me. So if you are feeling discouraged, don't give up, just keep at it and really do the stuff. The excitement has worn off and I'm sick of vegetables, but I'm feeling better about it again.

Vegetable Favorites

I forgot how yummy this simple recipe is until I pulled it out this week. It's a great way to use garden vegetables:

Tomato Cucumber Salad

3-5 diced tomatoes
2-3 sliced cucumbers
1 red or green pepper (optional)
1-2 green onions
2 T oil (I usually add some water to make 2 T)
1 T vinegar (rice vinegar is the best - it's mild)
1 small clove garlic
1 t salt (this is half what the original recipe called for and could still be decreased)

Chop every thing and mix well. Do not refrigerate if you serve it soon enough. Fresh cilantro is good on top.

Another favorite of ours is Spaghetti squash. If you haven't heard of it, it's a squash that comes out in strings similar to spaghetti noodles. We use it in place of pasta. It has a little crunch to it and doesn't leave that heavy feeling that pasta does after eating it.

Just cut it in half, scoop out the seeds and place cut side down on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 45 - 60 nimutes.

Vegetable Suggestion

I thought that I would share one of my new favorite vegetable combinations. Are you ready for it? Salsa and Cucumber slices. I know it might sound a little weird but it tastes good and cucumbers have way less calories than tortilla chips (1 full cucumber with the peel is only 45 calories whereas 1 serving of tortilla chips is over 100 calories and you only get a few). It does taste best with homemade like salsas. Here's my favorite salsa recipe if you're interested.

Erica's Salsa

1 bunch cilantro
5 green onions
1/2 yellow onion
1 jalapeno seeded
3 -14 oz cans diced tomatoes
1 clove garlic
juice of 1/2 lemon and 1/2 lime
salt and pepper

chop the cilantro, onions, and jalapeno in the food processor (sometimes you have to add some tomatoes for a medium so that it will all move), place in bowl. Place tomatoes in food processor and chop for about 15 seconds. add to bowl. Add garlic, lemon and lime juice. Mix. add salt and pepper to taste.

Slice those cucumbers and enjoy.

I also like this salsa with pretzle chips from trader joes, the serving size is pretty big and the calories are minimal (I wish that I had some at home so that I could tell you for sure).

More recipes to come soon.

Fattest States in America

I thought that this was interesting! You'll have to click on the picture to be able to see it better.

Here's my source.

This is a good week to try a vegetarian meal!

Hi everyone, 

I know that group activities are on a temporary hold, but you can still get 2 weekly bonus points by preparing and serving a vegetarian meal. I just wanted to remind you while there's still time. My family is getting rice, black beans, cheese and tomatoes tonight! Add some salsa and chips and it's a party!

Also, you should know that the daily points matter. People are plugging along and it shows. I think of them as tortoise and hare points. The tortoise carefully gathers daily points while the hare strides ahead in weight loss. It's anyone's game.

With love, 

Barbara (or am I)?

P.S. This is the video I am using. I really like it. They have 4 workouts you alternate between for 6 weeks. You can also mute the trainer and keep the music. They have it at the Dexter Library, if you want to check it out.

Vegetable suggestions?

I'm looking for new ways to incorporate a vegetable with meals before I turn into a giant tomato. I never realized how salty some tomatoes are, but if you eat enough of them you start to appreciate the unique differences in each tomato variety. Grape tomatoes? Not as salty.

If anyone has a vegetable plan that works for them without causing too much, shall we say, ahem, gas, I would love to hear about it. Raw broccoli tastes good and is easy, but is too rough for me.

Any veggie suggestions? I can't seem to get past tomatoes, broccoli or carrots eaten totally boring as a side.

Dinner Idea

Chicken Cheese-Steak Wrap
The Biggest Loser Cookbook

Hint: shave the chicken as thinly as possible
Make sure that the pan is hot and that it is lg enough for the chicken to lay flat when pulled apart

¼ lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, trimmed of visible fat
¼ c onion slivers
1 whole-wheat flour, low carb tortilla (7.5 inches in diameter)
1 wedge laughing cow original light Swiss cheese
1 Tbsp low-sodium hot Chile peppers

Place the chicken on a cutting board. With a sharp knife at a 45 degree angle, cut into very thin slivers.

Set a med nonstick skillet over med-high heat until it is hot enough for a spritz of water to sizzle on it. Mist with olive oil spray. Place the onion and the reserved chicken in the pan. Cook, separating the chicken shavings with 2 wooden spoons or spatulas, for 2 minutes, or until evenly browned and no longer pink. Remove the pan from heat. Set aside.

Meanwhile, place the tortilla between 2 damp paper towels. Microwave on low power in 10 second intervals until warmed.

Place the tortilla on a serving plate. Spread the cheese, leaving about 2’’ bare on one end, in an even strip (about 3’’ wide) running down the center of the tortilla. Top with the chicken mixture, the ketchup, and peppers. Fold the bare end of the tortilla up over the filling, and then fold the sides of the tortilla over the middle.

Makes 1 serving
264 calories, 33 g protein, 17 g carbs, 6 g fat, 76 mg cholesterol, 4g fiber, 620 mg sodium

Lunch Idea

Gourmet Roast Beef Roll Ups

The Biggest Loser Cookbook

1 Tbsp fat free cream cheese
1/4 - 1/2 chili garlic sauce
1 whole wheat flour, 96% fat free tortilla (8" diameter)
Scant 1/4 c roasted red bell pepper strips
1/4 c loosely packed chopped fresh basil leaves (I don't add these but it would be good)
3/4 c (3oz) lean, low sodium deli roast beef

In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese and the chili sauce to taste. Stir to mix well. Place the tortilla on a cutting board. Spread the cheese mixture evenly over 2/3 of the tortilla to the edges. Top the cream cheese mixture with the bell pepper strips , basil and roast beef. Starting at the filled end, roll the tortilla tightly into a tube, being careful not to tear it.

Space 8 toothpicks evenly across it and poke them into the tube so they go through and touch the cutting board. With a sharp knife, cut between the pics to make 8 pieces. Take 1 piece and push the toothpick through so that the roll is evenly spaced in the center. Repeat with the remaining pieces.

Makes 1 serving

226 calories, 26g protein, 30g carbs, 5g fat (1g saturated), 35mg cholesterol, 3g fiber, 409mg sodium

Breakfast Idea

Breakfast Parfait

1/2 c Kashi Go Lean Crunch Honey Almond Flax* Cereal
1/2 c vanilla or fruit flavored yogurt
3/4 c frozen berries

Mix all in a bowl and enjoy.

Total Calories: 215

*You can use granola instead but it has about twice the calories

Week 2

This week we had 3 people tie for the most points with 26 points each. Don't give up, there's still plenty of time to earn lots of points!

Week 1

All the points for week 1 are in and the most points earned was..... 10. Great job everyone! Keep up the good work!