Tools

These are my favorite, most used tools in making meals for myself.

Food scale. It measures in both grams and ounces. I used to use a postage scale and converted from ounces to grams. This is a lot easier on the math!

Measuring spoons. While I have a whole set of those stacking measuring spoons (and measuring cups), the ones which get the most use are the tablespoon and the 1/4 cup spoons. The 1/4 cup one also measures to 1/8 cup.

Measuring cups. The smaller glass measuring cup was an impulse purchase several years ago, but it proved -- even then -- to be very valuable. It measures teaspoons and tablespoons, and individual ounces up to 4 ounces. Incredibly useful. This one is a replacement for the first one, which my daughter broke. It wasn't until then that I realized how much I used it, even before I was watching my food intake. The larger glass measuring cup goes to 1 cup. I do use a larger 2-cup measuring cup, but these are the two that get used daily, and usually at every meal.

The plant. His name is Charles. He's just there for moral support.

Weighing in

BAH HUMBUG! PHOOEY! RAWR!

I'd love to report a nice loss -- even a small one -- but I can't. The whole point of this is keepin' it real, yo. So the truth of it is this: I gained 1.4 pounds.

BAH! ARGH! BOO!

I could tell over the last few days that I was losing focus. I've had a few stressful things going on. In the past I've just walked while I mulled things over. Lately I've been sitting on my (apparently BIGGER) behind while mulling.

No more! I am not a quitter! Onward and downward, right?

Banana Nut Muffins

I've been making this recipe for years (adapted from a now-out-of-print breads cookbook), so this week when I entered the recipe into the recipe calculator on My Fitness Pal I wasn't expecting good things. When it calculated to be only 112 calories per muffin, I squealed with delight!

The original recipe is as a loaf bread, but those tend to be messier for my little urchins, so I skip the loaf pan and put the batter into muffins instead.

Enjoy!

Banana Nut Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 egg
4 tablespoons canola oil
1 large soft ripe (or overripe) banana (about 3/4 cup)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Mix in pecans.

In a smaller bowl beat egg with milk and oil. Blend in banana. Add banana mixture to flour mixture.

Spoon batter into muffin cups and bake until done (about 25 minutes). Makes 24 regular sized muffins.

If you opt for the original loaf bread, the cooking time is about an 70 minutes.

Truth

If quitting is an option, then succeeding was never your plan.

Harsh reality

Maybe it's the "I'm back from vacation" slump. Maybe it's just laziness. Maybe it's because I've had multiple people mention how noticeable my weight loss is now. I'm not certain of the reason, but I've been feeling ... lax ... lately. Not on the nutrition really, but in not wanting to take the time, put in the effort of working out. Mid-loss crisis?

So this morning I decided to see where I really stand in the scheme of it all. I did some number-crunching this morning using the CDC website's BMI calculator.

Woooo. That was a huge dose of reality. I may be down almost 45 pounds from where I started, but I still need to lose almost 30 pounds MORE before I can get into the "overweight" category.

That's right. I was 75 pounds into the "obese" category when I started. I don't believe I had ever thought about it in those terms before, probably because I didn't want to see it or face it. And it might have seemed a little overwhelming. Or possibly a LOT. Now it seems a little more manageable since I'm looking at it from the "I've gotten this far" perspective, but still. That's a toddler-sized chunk of weight I need to lose to get there.

So ... I had been floundering and waffling without realizing it. Now the floundering is over, and I have a specific goal. The next hurdle is to get into the "overweight" BMI category, far enough out there that I'll have to work for it, but not far enough to be discouraging.

Lunch

Salad greens ~ I think it was the "herb mix"
Cucumber ~ about half of a cucumber
Tomato ~ 1 whole Roma tomato
Strawberries ~ about 5, sliced in half lengthwise
Prunes ~ about 5, cut into quarters
Zucchini, squash, and onions ~ maybe half a cup (?), leftovers from grilling this weekend, grilled with olive oil spritz
Steak ~ about 2 oz, cut into about 1/2 inch cubes

And for the dressing, I used 1/4 cup of Hannah Tabouleh. I don't like salad dressings, and this gives it a great flavor without being heavy.

The bread is ciabatta bread from Trader Joe's spread with a garlic herb goat cheese. Tasty, tasty lunch, all for under 600 calories.

Oh, and there is coffee in that cup. Don't judge me.

Weighing in

Down 1 pound since last week, which brings my total weight loss to 44.6 pounds. Kind of exciting!

My next mini-goal is to get 50 pounds down. I'd like to be there by October 6, but that's a bit ambitious for me. I've been doing some calculations, and I have (over the last year or so) averaged about half a pound a week. It's a bit lower than most people who are actively losing, but I am fine with it.

My activity and intake are sustainable, which is what is most important to me.