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.

The One Where I Just Go Off In A Million Directions

Been awhile since I blogged for blogging sake, without a specific motif in mind. I have a couple things to post about, none of which constitute a standalone post, so I'm just going to update lots of things in general

Shannon is setup for surgery on November 1st. We were hoping for a sooner surgery date, but they need to schedule two different surgeons for a whole day, so it had to be a bit longer. It works fine, just a long time to wait around. Still some uncertainty about how the cancer fight is doing, but she's fighting it hard, and there's still things to hope for, so we're continuing to hope, pray and fight. Some days, I'm downtrodden and get caught up in worries. But lately...something just feels better. Like something is reassuring me that we don't need to worry so much. I can't explain it, just lots of days where it almost feels this whole thing is starting to get behind us.

Noah is....every bit of a 3 year old. I love him, but he can really be a butt somedays. He routinely tells me he doesn't like me and wants me to go away. It hurts even though I know he doesn't really mean it. I know it's just him being three, but it gets tough to handle some most of the time. He doesn't act up at school, from what we can tell, so I won't complain much. He's a good kid. He went to a wedding on Saturday (Very proud that my kid experienced a same sex wedding at an early age), and that kid is a RIOT when he dances (See here). He's finally started on swim lessons. VERY cautious in the water, but he listens well.

Darcy is a major cutie. She smiles at EVERYONE. I am going to need a big ass shotgun....probably sooner rather than later. She can't sit up quite yet, but soon I can tell. Her weight and head have joined the "normal" world and are up to 25th percentile. Meanwhile, like Noah, her height is nearly off the charts.

Only two more pounds to lose to hit 50. I want that set of steak knives! I'm feeling thinner and though I don't notice any change when checking a mirror shirtless, I look thinner when dressed in clothes I think. I'm loving the progress I've made, because this is seriously so much more than I've ever done before. And it's such a big thing to hang my hat on. 210 isn't a good weight to be either, but 50 pounds off me probably added a year or two to my life, at least.

Remember my last post about Red Cross? So, I'm donating platelets. Friday. Super psyched to know I'm helping to save someone's life.

I'm getting back to my running strength, pre-blood donation. Shaved my time down to 10:30 per mile. I'm still running the Undy 5k, even though it's just 4 days after Shannon's surgery. Shannon told me I still had to run it. So you should either run it with me or donate or send it around. I bumped the team goal up to 1,000 after we smashed our last goal of 800. Friends of Shannon Hamilton Team Page

Apparently, I'm an Untapped Oil Well

So remember how in my last post, I mentioned that I was interested in donating platelets?

Got a call from the Red Cross today. Apparently when my blood work came back from my donation, they noted that I was:
1. Male
2. Blood type A+
3. High Platelet Count

Those three things means they marked my report with a smiley face and handed it off to the lady who called me. Because according to her, I am "a universal donor for platelets". You don't know how much that pumps me up. As soon as I can figure out the best logistics, I'm so donating platelets now. Especially when I see that platelets are only useable for 5 days. So any donations that come in now, HAVE to be used right away, otherwise they are unusable. So right away, I'll be helping 1-3 people per donation. AND platelet donations don't weaken your running like donating blood does. That's why my runs have been harder to finish.

So that just ends up being a happy irony. I was already thinking about doing it, then I find out I'm "in demand" to do it. Sweet!

I Feel Like a Human Juicebox...Hawaiian Blood Punch

I've never given blood before. I almost did once. Signed up for a blood drive in high school, but in the initial registration, they didn't like one of the acne medicines I was taking and said I couldn't give blood while on it. After that, I think the mental hurdle just kept me from it. I felt like I would pass out, it'd be bad, I'd be too unhealthy to donate...Just a million reasons not to do something.

Shannon had a blood transfusion back in July, when she was in the hospital getting the stent. It was done just as a measure to boost her iron, but it got me thinking about donating. Just because your blood goes to good homes. And really, how hard can it be? So, I made up my mind to do it, especially once the doctor said I was in good health.

So today, we were going to the mall to do some shopping, when I saw the Blood Drive sign. As we walked around, I found the place and they had no wait. So I said, alright, let's do this! Well, apparently, I got the one nurse who really didn't want to be there. She was totally cold and annoyed at everything I did. She said "Hold out your arms" so I held them out in front of me. Well, she really meant "Show me your arms so I can make sure you aren't shooting heroin", so she forcefully turned my arms over to see. Not asked, not explained, just took my arms and turned them kind've gruffly. And I was wearing a "special sticker" which was supposed to identify me as a new donator, so they'd explain things to me more. Yeah, that didn't happen. She just seemed annoyed at everything I did which didn't fit in the routine. But whatever, I dealt and after about 20 minutes, they got me back to a chair. She checked one arm for veins....Then she checked the other arm for veins....Then, "Vein Check!". So apparently, I also have pretty sucky veins. Shannon has bad veins too, but mainly because they roll when people try to take blood, and her return goes dry quickly. I was disheartened at this point and ready to just walk out. It'd been about 30 minutes and I still hadn't given a drop of useable blood (I gave a drop for testing my iron level)

But, new nurse came over and she explained what was going on. Apparently, I just have deep veins. Eventually, she found a decent one, marked it with a sharpie, and then stuck me. And once I was stuck, I bled quick. I filled my bag in about 8 minutes. She advised me to probably drink more water next time and that should help the veins. She was MUCH nicer than the other nurse. And I didn't get dizzy, lightheaded, or anything like that. Just very chilly as we walked around after. And then I felt annoyed at myself, because I forgot tonight was a running night, and so I have to wait until tomorrow night now.

Now that it's done, I'm tempted to go for donating platelets or plasma next time. It's more rare for people to do, so I know it's needed. The biggest challenge with that is time (Takes about 2 hours for platelets, not sure about plasma). But if I pick the right time, I bet I could do it. So, Red Cross, you gave us 1 pint of blood for Shannon, and now I gave you 1 pint of blood. We're even! No blood debt!

I'm Not a Gourmet Cook, But I Try: Salsa Chicken Lunch Wrap

I didn't take a picture of this, but I thought it turned out well, so I'm documenting it here for future tries.

So, lunch time today. Didn't want to do the normal turkey sandwich or anything. Two days ago, I grilled up some chicken that needed to be used, so it's been sitting in the fridge without any use. Ok, so let's go with that. I love wraps, tortillas are just awesome to me. So, chicken wrap. I also love tomatoes, so I diced up a good sized slice to top the chicken with. While doing the tomato, I thought...hmmm, Salsa Chicken, that sounds like a good idea. And to top it off, let's make it a nice lunch wrap with some lettuce, cheese, and mayo. Unfortunately, I realized then that when I got lettuce on Sunday, I had never put it in the fridge. It was hiding in a bag of dry stuff I had never put away. ICK! So no lettuce, but the rest worked. So, here it is....

Salsa Chicken Lunch Wrap

4 oz grilled chicken breast
1 burrito sized flour tortilla
1 large slice of tomato
1/2 cup of shredded lettuce
1 slice of Alpine Lace 25% Provolone Cheese
1 tbsp Kraft Olive Oil Mayo
2 tbsp salsa

1. Cut up the chicken breast into small cubes
2. Put tortilla in the microwave, with chicken arranged on top of the tortilla in the center, and the cheese on top of the chicken
3. Heat for 20-25 seconds
4. Dice the tomato slice into small chunks and put on top of chicken and cheese. Sprinkle lettuce on top of the tomatoes
5. Spread mayo and salsa on top of the pile
6. Roll the tortilla up like a burrito

Per 1 wrap

455 calories
15 g fat
41 carbs
39 g protein

Notes

• After looking over the ingredients I used, realized if I'd only had some hot peppers around, I could've turned this into a Chicken Cheesesteak Wrap, for about the same nutritional value.


• I had to throw this together a bit since Darcy was playing on the floor. In hindsight, might be better to mix up the salsa and mayo together, and spread that on the tortilla before putting the chicken and cheese on.

Dieting Challenge: Red Robin

Something I'm realizing as I'm in month 4 of my diet...you know what, let's stop right there. Diet implies that this is temporary. I know that this way of eating will need to stay with me for life. Maybe not as restrictive, but the choices need to remain the same if I want to keep the weight off. So, let's call this month 4 of my new eating ways. Anyway, something I'm realizing more and more is that I can't always research the exact nutrition in a place we're going to eat out prior to the meal. That adds probably about 15-20 minutes to the wait before getting to the place to eat. And with 2 kids, waiting 15 minutes means waiting like 30-40 because then Darcy would want to eat, or Noah would start throwing a fit. So, I'm realizing I need to be able to figure these things out on the fly.

So due to Shannon's treatment today, we both ended up skipping lunch. It ended right in the middle of lunch, so instead of running out and getting something which we'd have to rush to eat before end of treatment, or instead of running and grabbing something after, we just skipped. Not to mention, breakfast was pretty minimal too, due to the time we get there. So, all I'd had to eat today was a Special K Protein Bar in the morning. Lots of calories, carbs, and fat needing to be used. But, since this was a rare case, the challenge will be modified a bit...

The challenge: Find a meal at RR for 800 calories or less, 25 grams of fat or less.

The choice: So, let's start with some eliminations...
1. Beef. Beef is great, it really is. But unless you KNOW you're getting 93/7 or 96/4 ground beef, avoid getting it. High in fat, and processed.
2. Ask for no mayo. This stings a bit, because I love mayo on sandwiches. But rarely do restaurants use light or healthy mayo.

So, with those in mind, RR has a HUGE chicken sandwich menu. The one I targeted for this occasion was the Whiskey River BBQ Chicken Sandwich. Asked for no mayo, left on cheese. Ate the fries as well, but if it was a "normal" day, I would've subbed a side salad with a low-fat dressing for the fries, no croutons.

The result:
Let's start with the side -
Side salad w/o dressing is 85 calories, 5 g fat. Dressings listed on the website are all high in fat, but I'd be suprised if they had no low-fat/low-cal options. So let's round up to 150 calories, 9 g fat.

Sandwich-
734 calories, 27 g fat. Huh. I thought removing the mayo would be enough, but RR puts TWO slices of cheese on their sandwiches by default. Also, the onion straws add 122 calories and 6 g fat.

So, assuming those two, our meal would be 884 calories, 32 g fat. So this challenge is a FAIL.

Ways I could've done it:
1. Sticking w/ sandwich, take the cheese down to 1 slice of cheddar and remove onion straws. This takes the sandwich down to 527 calories, 14 g fat. That's 200 calories and 13 g fat lower, which would easily put us inside of our ranges. Or, removing cheese and mayo, but leaving onion straws...559 calories, 13 g fat.
2. Don't eat a side. I've done this before with fast food. Just get the sandwich and leave the sides. It's a tradeoff, you get a full flavor sandwich but you may find yourself hungry still.
3. Healthier sandwich: Simply Grilled Chicken Sandwich, starts at 420 calories, 8 g fat. Doing this sandwich, you can add on fries to get 854 calories, 26 g fat. Not great, but close enough to be decent. And if you sub a healthier side...