Oct. Challenge Week 2 Open!

Good morning fellow challengers.....

We've had a good bit of rain this week in NC, warm and humid UGH! I'm ready for cooler temps.d Hope all of you are doing well in your workouts and eating choices.

Challenges? I suggest we all try to burn 25-30 miles worth of calories for week 3. Maybe do 100 reps of ab work a day?
Stay away from white flour and pasta for a week?

Going to get in another run this morning, I only ran about 15 mins yesterday, my Golden Retriever HAD to come along and its difficult for me to concentrate on breathing when Im worried about him staying off the road etc.

The NC State Fair opens today, that will be a mega food challenge for me next week when I attend.

I'm doing tricep dips for another challenge today, but I will promise to not pasta for a week. As to white flour. i have to make a birthday cake for a friend; so I may have to nibble at that.

Already did 3.5+ miles this am on the elliptical. I had to do this because it was wat to windy and rainy to walk to work (my usual cardio)

Welcome everyone, Here's week 2 Challenge!!!

1. Pack your lunch all week. No eating out at work OR at home! We can do it!!!
2. If you work in a building with an elevator… don’t use it! If you don’t have an elevator, then park farther away from the door when you go somewhere, or do both!
3. 1 hour and 15 minutes of cardio! Oh my!!!
4. 45 minutes of strength training! We WILL have buns of steel! LOL
5. Try a new recipe this week and share what it was.

Ok here is how I am doing
1)packing lunch or eating at home great (we did order pizza one night because my wife the cook had a medical procedure)
2)parking away from all stores and walking in even in the rain no elivators
3)Cardio no problums I do about a hour a day some times more (did have to take 2 days off do to ankle sprain)
4)Strength training no problum I lift 3 times a week (had to cut out lower body due to ankle injury
5)New recipe is build your own stuffed pepers were doing this tonight Here is what mine will be:

Jennie-O Turkey Store - Lean 93/7 Ground Turkey, 6 Oz. (112 g) 255 0g 12g 32g 120mg 120mg 0g 0g
Produce - Green Bell Pepper 1 Whole (Correct) , 1 Bell Pepper 24 6g 0g 1g 0mg 4mg 3g 2g
Tomato - Red Tomato, 0.5 tomato 8 1g 0g 0g 0mg 1mg 0g 1g
Oil - Olive, 1 tablespoon 119 0g 14g 0g 0mg 0mg 0g 0g
Cheese - Sharp Cheddar, 1 oz 120 0g 5g 6g 30mg 180mg 0g 0g
Onions - Raw, 0.5 cup, sliced 24 6g 0g 1g 0mg 2mg 2g 1g

Cook turkey and drain little fat that comes out
fry in oil diced tomato and onions add meat
stuff pepper and add cheese
bake till cheese is golden

Happy Thursday everyone!! I didn't get to see the squat challenge yesterday but i will add 100 to my workout today! Since, I am starting the WAH Leslie Sansone 14 day Challenge(love the WAH/|WATP DVD's), the mini-goal for that is "2.5 MINUTES of PLANKS", so I am challenging everyone to do 1-2.5 mins of planks today!!!! WHO'S IN???????????

I love Leslie I'm in.

How do you properly do planks? Figured I ought to ask before I tried it.

This weeks challenge progress:

1. Pack your lunch all week. No eating out at work OR at home! We can do it!!!
(I didn't even do lunch when I went shopping with a girlfriend. Instead we headed home for lunch)
2. If you work in a building with an elevator… don’t use it! If you don’t have an elevator, then park farther away from the door when you go somewhere, or do both!
(All errands I had to do i parked on the far side of the lot)
3. 1 hour and 15 minutes of cardio! Oh my!!!
(92 min of cardio as of yesterday)
4. 45 minutes of strength training! We WILL have buns of steel! LOL
(35 min as of lunch)
5. Try a new recipe this week and share what it was.
(on Friday I'm trying a new beef stew recipe)

10 servings, about 1 1/3 cups each

Active Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 4 hours

NUTRITION
Per serving: 351 calories; 15 g fat ( 5 g sat , 7 g mono ); 84 mg cholesterol; 14 g carbohydrates; 26 g protein; 3 g fiber; 419 mg sodium; 637 mg potassium.

Nutrition Bonus: Vitamin A (210% daily value), Zinc (53% dv), Iron & Vitamin C (20% dv), Potassium (18% dv)

Carbohydrate Servings: 1

Exchanges: 2 vegetable, 3 lean meat, 1 fat

INGREDIENTS
BOUQUET GARNI
2 large green leek leaves, (about 6 inches long)
1 bay leaf
1 stalk celery
2 sprigs fresh parsley, with stems
3 sprigs fresh thyme
1 2-inch-long strip tangerine or orange peel
STEW
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 ounces pancetta, or bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3 pounds beef stew meat, such as chuck, trimmed and cut into 1- to 1 1/2-inch pieces
2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, divided
2 medium yellow or red onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 1/2 pounds carrots, sliced into 1-inch rounds
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 pound button mushrooms, halved if small, quartered if large
1 bottle (750 ml) full-bodied red wine, such as Burgundy or Pinot Noir
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
Freshly grated zest of 1 tangerine, or orange

PREPARATION
Preheat oven to 250°F.
To assemble bouquet garni: Place one leek leaf on the counter. Top with bay leaf, celery stalk, parsley sprigs, thyme sprigs and tangerine (or orange) peel. Place the second leek leaf on top and tie the bundle together in four spots with kitchen string. Set aside.
To prepare stew: Heat 1 tablespoon oil in an ovenproof Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add pancetta (or bacon) and cook until barely brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate, leaving any drippings in the pot.
Add beef in batches (do not crowd the pot) and cook until browned on all sides. Transfer to a large bowl and season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
Add 1 tablespoon oil to the pot and add onions and garlic. Cook, stirring, until the onions are translucent, 3 to 4 minutes. Add carrots and cook, stirring, until they begin to soften, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in tomato paste. Season with the remaining 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Transfer the mixture to the bowl with the beef.
Reduce heat to medium and add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the pot. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl; set aside.
Pour wine into the pot and bring to a boil, scraping up any browned bits. Return the browned beef, the carrot mixture and the reserved pancetta (or bacon) to the pot along with the bouquet garni. Press down on the beef and vegetables, making sure to submerge them completely in the wine; if necessary, add just enough hot water to make sure they are covered. Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the pot and press it directly on top of the stew, covering it completely.
Transfer the stew to the oven and cook, with the lid off, until the beef is tender enough to cut with a fork, about 3 hours. Check every hour to be sure the ingredients stay submerged in liquid during the entire cooking time. If too much wine evaporates, add a little hot water to make up for the loss. During the last 15 minutes of cooking, stir in the reserved mushrooms.
Remove and discard the bouquet garni. Combine chopped parsley and tangerine (or orange) zest in a small bowl and scatter on top of the stew just before serving.

So, this week has been horrible for me. I didn't really meet any of the challenges this week I'm still watching what I eat but I definitely have gone out too much. I went to visit family in another state and that threw my eating off for 4 days. I also had to deal with my grandfather is very sick, so I was not making very good decisions when I was there because we went to eat quickly and then back to the hospital.

I finally went to the doctor for my plantar fasciities (PF) and it turns out that I have a lot going on with my foot. I have PF, tendonitis, and a heel spur (I thought that was the same as PF but turns out it's not). I'm in a walking boot for 2 weeks. I have to do 5 weeks of PT, and no running for 8 weeks. I'm really bummed out. Running has been the best way for me to lose weight and now I'm not sure what to do. I don't really like swimming and it's my only option at this point. I will just have to get my butt in the pool. I'm sure it will all get better soon. I can't wait to run again. I will keep doing what I can to lose weight. It's all I can do. I just thought I would share my frustration.

Anyone have good swim workouts?

Feel like bashing my head against a wall lost so little it is basically maintaining *sigh*

So.....APPARENTLY I suck at PLANK! LOL I did three sets throughout the day(trying to improve), my times were 30/27/32 seconds. SIGH....lol I think i will try to do some everyday and try improving a little at a time. My kids (17/14) were trying to help me by cheering me on...and doing them with me, according to them its mind over matter. I will keep trying!

I did get my 100 squats in from yesterdays mini-challenge!!

I have completed over 320 minutes of cardio and 60 minutes of strength exercises including the mini challenges. I have posted a recipe and enjoyed reading and recreating some of the listed recipes.

I walk to work; so the parking thing was not a concern. I did go out to dinner with the family one day this week.

I posted my weight. I have been in the same 3 pound weight range since September 15 ( a month - ugh!). I guess my body is telling me that is where it wants to be. I was hoping to lose a little more as an "Insurance policy". Oh well, C'est le vive!

Good luck to everyone as we enter week 3.

For week 2 I lost 1 lb I'm down to 150 now. I'm still down with the flu so no exercising for me this past few days I'm just trying my best to log whatever I eat even if it's junk cause my body is not up to cooking just yet. I miss working out, it sucks! :sick:

Sorry for not checking in during the week...it's been a busy few days and I can only see it getting worse. Not a very good sign but I'm going to push myself to try my best and take it a day at a time. I'm only about 3 pounds from reaching my first mini goal of 85kg/187lbs, and I'm not going to allow anymore excuses!

Anyway, here's an update on the week's progress (or lack thereof)

1. Pack your lunch - Came home from class to cook lunch on Monday and Wednesday. Ate out on the other days but tried to make healthier choices.

2. Tried to do as much walking as possible during the day, eg: walk to my friend's house, to the shop to run some errands, etc.

3. Ran and played some badminton throughout the week, not as much as I would have liked cos I was down with the flu during the first part of the week, but still managed to get in about 3 hours of cardio throughout the week.

4. Strength training - Completed 4 days of 30DS Level 3 and am counting that as part of strength training.

5. Try a new recipe this week and share what it was - Just a simple recipe : Grilled some chicken breasts, marinated overnight in Garlic Peri Peri sauce and some herbs, and served with some sauteed asparagus and mushrooms. Pretty straightforward but super yummy!

Looking forward to next week...hope it'll be better!