Twelve Years of Rust: How Far I've Come...

Been awhile since I've posted about my fitness/health. I'm still doing the diet and I'm still working towards my goal, but sometimes the progress is a bit slowgoing, and I only want to post when I hit a big milestone or have something big to say.

So weight wise, I've hit the halfway mark. I'm getting real close to leaving the 200 level behind, but whenever I want to hit a mark, it always seems to take some roller coaster hills to get through it. So I've dipped to as low as 203, went back up a few pounds, am now hovering around 204. I'd like to still go for 160 by April 2012, but that goal might fall a bit short. No matter, if I'm 170-180 in April, that's still a HUGE leap forward. And then I can just stick with the diet a few extra months, hit my goal, and transition to the maintain diet.

Now, running. I took a running/jogging class in college, but I can't remember my mile time, or whether I could actually sustain a run for a full mile. I do remember gym class in high school. I remember running with Andy Bruchey, both of us pondering if we'd need crash carts at the end of running a mile. I remember falling to the ground after the mile was up. It felt like such a labor to get through a single mile. With Shannon's surgery being a few days before the 5k, and her not likely to be released from the hospital before the 5k, my last chances to run would've been Thursday (I had a minor surgical procedure on 10/21 and was limited from running until then). So on Thursday, I broke out the cold weather gear (performance tee, long sleeve white tee, track pants, gloves, thermal hat) and decided to do a practice 5k. I did it in 34 minutes and felt pretty decent. I planned to do one more practice/tune-up run this weekend. Was originally going to try it yesterday during the snow, but I was too tired and ended up going to sleep early. So tonight, I said I need to do this. Originally planned to just do 20 mins of running...

I did a 2nd 5K. I did 10K in 4 days.

And you know what? I did not need a crash cart. I did not fall down at the end. I felt good.

I think I see the corner and I've rounded it. In just 5 months since I started tracking my runs, I've:

Run 90+ miles

Run 18+ hours

Burned 74+ donuts off

Powered nearly 15 TVs

Shaved about 2:30 off my mile pace

Just a note to my friends out there who say they need to start exercising but put it off, or think they can't do it...I did it. I went from 260 pounds to almost 200, and from struggling to run 1.5 miles to pulling off 5K in almost no sweat.

I'm Not a Gourmet Cook, But I Try...: The Chili Recipe

I need to take a minute to describe how epic this post/recipe is. Chili is, by far, my favorite thing to cook. #1, there’s a lot of mixing involved, so it’s a big undertaking. #2, it’s less the “cut, dry, color, repeat” type recipe that I usually make, because you have to taste it as it cooks, adjust the seasonings here and there, etc. And #3, chilis is just awesome. Shannon doesn’t like it, and Noah won’t eat anything spicy like that, so I’m relegated to making it for my co-workers a couple times a year. Over the years, I’ve gotten compliments from them, and I don’t think it’s just patronizing, because there’s usually not much left at the end of the day. I’m not going to go out and say this is the best chili recipe, but I think it works well. Not too crazy spicy, but has a kick to it.

Now that I’m counting calories, it was good to add everything up and see that this doesn’t break your back on a diet. I used to make it with 2 pounds ground beef (Usually 80/20) and 1 lb pork sausage. Instead, I went with turkey sausage, 1 lb 96% lean ground beef, and 1 lb 93% lean ground turkey. If you modify the recipe to throw those in instead, each bowl serving is 24 grams of fat. And keep in mind, I usually had two bowls on the days I made it. 48 grams of fat, in one meal, and that’s not counting in cheese to top it, or chips on the side. Wow.

So, without any more ado…here is my chili recipe.

Lean Hearty Chili with Beef and Turkey

1.25 pounds 93/7 ground turkey
1 pound 96/4 ground beef
1 bag Jimmy Dean’s Fully Cooked Turkey Sausage Crumbles
1 28oz can diced tomatoes, drained
1 29oz can tomato sauce
1 14.5oz can diced tomatoes with green chiles, drained
1 15oz can kidney beans
1 cup chopped green peppers
1 cup chopped onion
8 oz beer
4 tbsp chili powder
4 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon

1. Peel and dice onion and green pepper.
2. Open and drain both cans of diced tomatoes
3. Open, rinse, and drain kidney beans
4. Pour tomato sauce, both cans diced tomatoes, kidney beans, green peppers, and onion into 5 quart crockpot
5. Brown all the meat together, drain, then simmer in beer for 5-10 minutes.
6. Add ground beef and beer to crock pot. Stir well
7. Sprinkle about 2 tbsp chili powder, 2 tsp ground cumin, 2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp garlic powder, and 1 tsp salt into crockpot, stir
8. Cook for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high. If cooking unattended, repeat step 7 before turning on crockpot. If cooking attended, add seasonings in to taste.

Per 12 oz of chili:

248 calories
7.5 grams fat
20 carbs
26 grams protein

Notes:

• Remember, I said the old recipe was 24 g fat per bowl. From 24 to 7.5, just by switching up the meat a little…
  


• I’ve cheated a bit before and used a chili seasoning mix packet to add some more flavor to it. Didn’t have one this time, and I’m still pleased with the result
  


• If you want to go spicier, I would add in some chopped jalapeno peppers.
  


• I tried this before with light beer instead of my go to beer, Yuengling. Do yourself a favor, don’t do it. I would say the same for non-alcoholic beer.