we gryffindors ROCK!!!!!

we gryffindors ROCK!!!!!

Heck yeah we do!!!

I maintained this week, but I'm still almost 9 lbs away from my February goal. It's a bummer, but I know I'll get there. I really just have to focus harder, that's all there is to it. I make excuses, but we all know where those get us, right?

I'm officially back to logging my food, and boy is that a tough transition! I have some organizing of my meals and recipes to do, but I'm going to keep logging while I work on it a little bit at a time. I don't think waiting for the exact perfect time to start something is the healthiest attitude for me anymore. At least with most things. It makes it too easy to put it off if one thing is out of place. Not good for me!

How are you all doing? How did we do with the challenges last week?

It was a rough week emotionally for me, so I admit I didn't even do them, but I'm ready to go this week! I'm going to give it my best shot! Are you guys with me?!

Sorry for the late checkin Bron!

Are the challenges up for this new week? Thanks! :-)

Sorry about that! Somehow I missed the 2nd page of this discussion board! HAHA! Thanks

MARCH WEEK 2:
(Starting after check-in between 3/2-3/5
and ending with check-in between 3/9-3/12)


OWL (exercise): Invisible Chair! http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/fitness/fitness-plan-two-weeks-oct06#slide-8

I'd probably set a time goal for these since they aren't really reps. Possibly, a goal of how many reps of 30 seconds or 1 minute in a day could be good, too!

Each day you reach your daily goal you earn 5 OWLs, you earn 3 OWLs for reaching half way to your goal, and 1 OWL for trying but not reaching half way.

NEWT (food): Share a new recipe! Search google or Pinterest, or your favorite blog for a new recipe you've been meaning to try. Give it a try this week, share it in the Common Room, and let us know what you thought! Bonus points if you post some pics of how it turned out for you.

5 NEWTs for trying a new recipe this week. 5 NEWTs for posting the recipe in the Common Room and telling us about it, and 5 NEWTs for posting your own original pic of it! 15 NEWTs possible for the week.

SPEW: Earn 1 point every time you post something encouraging or motivating or how your day is going in the Common Room (ANYTHING BUT A CHECK-IN POST COUNTS TOWARD YOUR SPEWs).
Up to 5 points possible per day, 35 points possible for the week.

***Remember to double check the dates for this challenge! Don't start early and lessen your progress for the current week!

Here's the blog: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/bronwenhilary/view/march-gryffindor-owls-newts-215946

I am so back in the swing of things with the woodchops this week. I set my goal at 100/day. Hopefully I will be back to where i used to be, earning newts and owls. Good luck Lions!!

Wow! Big goal. Hope it's going well for you!

Also, don't forget to check in on the spreadsheet!!!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AgqIcbJ240bVdFBBNFlUUjFPOUFmUjJRZ0R0RS04MEE#gid=7

Hey Bron -

My weight last week was 176.5, but for some reason on the March screen it says 181. Should I go ahead and change that myself?

Oh, no! That's my bad. It's left over from last month's numbers when I copied and pasted it. I'll copy the new weights when I calculate everything next week

Oh and I tried a new recipe today and it was super yummy so im going to share

Tuna Cakes (makes 6 small cakes)
2 x cans tuna in brine (approx. 130g drained wt per can)
1 medium carrot, grated
1 egg, beaten
breadcrumbs (I used 50g, can vary)
grated cheese, optional (I used just 20g)
salt, pepper, spices (optional)
1tbsp olive oil

Combine all ingredients (minus olive oil) in a bowl, mix well. Shape into 6 small cakes, place on plate and refrigerate for an hour if you have time (I put mine in freezer for 30mins). Heat olive oil in a pan and fry cakes both sides for a few mins or until nicely brown. And its as simple as that! Serve with salad or what ever you want really. I had a dollop of ketchup....YUM!
And approx. 250 cals per 2 cakes low carb, high protein! Everyone loved them!
Enjoy!

I am so back in the swing of things with the woodchops this week. I set my goal at 100/day. Hopefully I will be back to where i used to be, earning newts and owls. Good luck Lions!!

Wow! Big goal. Hope it's going well for you!

Yeah, well... I got a late start because I didn't check the challenge. The first day I got in 80. Then I was so sore I took the next day off. Today I got in my 100. I will have to see what tomorrow brings.

Good morning! I didn't do so well this week. :grumble: I gained a pound. I did well with my exercise, but I just love sweets! I also had a busy week with school. We had our second nurse theory exam and I also started my clinical roatetion. It had been a crazy week. But this week I have SPRING BREAK! yay! So hopefully I qwill be able to find and try some good recipes! Hope everyone else had a good week!

You were updating the spreadsheet the same time I was. I could see your numbers go in. That was weird.
I had a gain too. It will be temporar though for both of us.Enjoy your spring break.:flowerforyou:

Yaay, 117.9, just over a pound under my target weight, it looks like it was all that sodium that was partly responsible for messing my weights up.

HUGE sigh of relief!

Awesome! It really is amazing how much sodium can affect weight.

Another new recipe I tried from Happy Herbivore: Hawaiian Teriyaki Chickpeas

http://happyherbivore.com/recipe/spicy-teriyaki-chickpeas/

Ingredients:

15 ounces chickpeas, drained and rinsed
¼ cup teriyaki sauce
1 tbsp szechuan sauce
1 tbsp raw sugar (optional)
2 cups cooked brown rice
1 cup salsa

Instructions:

Combine chickpeas, teriyaki, szechuan and sugar in a large frying pan. Allow everything to sit and 'marinate' at least 5 minutes (the longer the better). Turn heat to medium and cook, stirring regulary or until most of the liquid has absorbed, about 10 minutes. Spoon chickpeas over rice and top with fresh pineapple or mango salsa.

The recipe in the cookbook is slightly different than this one. Instead of szechuan you can use any hot sauce. I used tobasco and about 3/4 tbsp. I like things spicy, but 1 tbsp would have been too much; 3/4 was just right with the rest of the dish helping with the heat. Also, the cookbook says if you want a lighter dish to use steamed greens. So in the one I made there's 1/2 cup brown rice at the bottom of the bowl, then some steamed kale and steamed snap peas. We (my roommate and I) used premade mango salsa from Whole Foods (not the jarred stuff, but the prepared foods stuff). While it's really easy to make your own mango salsa, it was cheaper for us to buy a small container than a mango, pineapple, red onion, cilantro, lime and jalepeno. We used about 1 1/2 tbsp each. This was soooo amazingly good and really, really simple to make, especially if you already have cooked rice.

Here's my new favourite vegetarian recipes, it's originally from the "New Covent Garden Soup Company" cookbook, and a friend cooked it for a dinner party last week.

I didn't follow it exactly, I only used a tiny amount of olive oil to cook the onion and it really doesn't need the cream, but I did add a huge dollop of very strong cream of horseradish sauce, which does contain oil, simply because I don't have any horseradish growing in my garden. Must plant some.

Broccoli Soup with Lime & Horseradish

Serves: 4
Preparation and cooking time: 1 hour
15g (1/2oz) butter
1 small onion, chopped
110g (4oz) potato, peeled and cubed
270g (10oz) broccoli, chopped
850ml (1.5 pints) vegetable or chicken stock
1 lime, zest plus juice
2 tablespoons parsley and chives, chopped
2 teaspoons fresh horseradish
2 tablespoons double cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
To Garnish: Chopped herbs & Croutons

Melt the butter and cook the onion and potato gently for 5 minutes.
Add the stock and the zest and juice of lime.
Cover, bring to the boil and simmer gently for about 20-30 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Meanwhile cook the broccoli in boiling water for 10 minutes, or until tender but still green.
Cool the potato mixture a little then puree in a liquidiser and pass through a sieve.
Return to the liquidiser and add the cooked broccoli.
Liquidise briefly so that you can still see bits of broccoli.
Return to the pan and add herbs, cream, enough horseradish and seasoning to taste.
Garnish with chopped herbs and croutons.

Here's a cut and paste of the nutritional value per portion (apologies for the lack of formatting) this is the amount for two large bowls! The sodium is high, but that's because I was using up part of a high sodium Knorr chicken stock pot, I'm not buying them again, I'm going back to using good old OXOs.
Great as a warming snack, but bugger all protein so no real potential as main meal. At the dinner party it was served with freshly baked cheese and chilli muffins, which were LOADED with cheese - they were delicious but I forbade him to share the recipe with me, it's one that I definitely shouldn't have! :bigsmile:

Calories Carbs Fat Protein Fiber Sodium
Garlic - Raw, 2 g 3 1 0 0 0 0
Oil - Olive, 0.3 tsp 10 0 1 0 0 0
Tesco - Organic Brown Onions, 84 g 32 7 0 1 0 0
Knorr - Chicken Stock Pot As Sold, 0.1 pot/ 28g 3 0 0 0 0 298
Tesco - King Edwards Potatoes, 72 g 57 12 0 2 0 0
Oxo - Chicken Stock Cube, 0.3 cube 4 1 0 0 0 210
Tesco - Broccoli, 196 g 65 4 2 9 5 0
Morrisons - Hot Horseradish Sauce, 16 g 16 2 1 0 0 1,067
Lime Juice - Fresh Juice of 1 Lime, 11 grams 3 1 0 0 0 0
Total: 193 28 4 12 5 1575