Saturday, December 26, 2009

baked vegetables~!

In the name of Allah, compassionate & merciful بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ
Peace be with you السلام عليكم

I have been baking away my vegetables and I love it! So my newest test was to take brocolli and baked them, I added garlic salt, a little butter and onions. OMG. Knocked my socks right off.

Also after eating like POUNDS worth of the little trees I looked it up to see its nutritios content and was amazed. Check it out at World's Healthiest Food


ISN'T IT AWESOME! subhanaAllah

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

oh, oh spaghetio!

In the name of Allah, compassionate & merciful بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ
Peace be with you السلام عليكم

so i have been loosing weight and although I noticed that I weigh less on the scale my belly isn't getting any smaller. It's not a huge belly or anything but I just noticed that there was more of it so I turned to the hubs to ask his opinion. He looked suspicios and thought it was a set up. After giving him the "you are darned if you do and darned if you don't" look he complied and agreed.

SO what I think I have been loosing has been BAD weight. Meaning that I had lost MUSCLE weight instead of fat. crapiola! I need to start exercising. I know I have been saying it for quite some time but I want to get healthy not just loose weight.

ps someone emailed me the following pic and wanted to share with you.

The CORRECT way to weigh ourselves

Thursday, December 17, 2009

omg no weight gain!

alhamdulillah! I checked my weight yesterday and weighed in at 146.6lbs! yay! After eating SOO much these past couple of weeks I didn't gain any weight. Well technically I gained .6lbs of a pound. but whos counting?

Saturday, December 12, 2009

I refuse to weigh myself

I have been eating stuff that is not good for me in the first place and I have been craving PIZZA! I keep telling myself I will check my weight tomorrow to see the progress but I refuse. Mainly because I know what a naughty dieter I have been.

on the plus side am back to drinking about a gallon of water a day and I noticed an increase in lactation. So little dude is happy. Alhamdulillah.

and if you are wondering what the image on the right has to do with this post...NOTHING. I just liked it.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Back to the beans and a Food Journal Sample

I was watching the Biggest loser and they mentioned that if you keep a food journal you double your weight loss! SUBHANALLAH! I figured that is what I was doing but I really wasn't. So from now on this is the structure I am following. inshaAllah.

SO after searching the internet I found a sample food journal and I am sharing them with you in the hopes that inshaAllah we all benefit.

Journal Page

It is important to track your daily food consumption, feelings and progress.

MEAL PLAN: Start by planning and journaling what you are going to eat. This will ensure that you are eating smaller, frequent meals. This will help you understand your eating patterns and see how they affect weight loss and maintenance.

FEELINGS: Documenting your feeling can help you realize how your emotions and stress affect your eating patterns.

GOALS: Set both short-term and long-term goals and show them to someone you trust! This will make you more likely to stick to your plan and achieve results!

TIP: Make copies of the blank pages and keep them in a folder. Take before and after pictures to document your progress!

Sunday

Plan

Actual

Time

Morning

Lunch

Afternoon

Dinner

Evening

Monday

Morning

Lunch

Afternoon

Dinner

Evening

Tuesday

Morning

Lunch

Afternoon

Dinner

Evening

Wednesday

Morning

Lunch

Afternoon

Dinner

Evening

Thursday

Morning

Lunch

Afternoon

Dinner

Evening

Friday

Morning

Lunch

Afternoon

Dinner

Evening

Saturday

Morning

Lunch

Afternoon

Dinner

Evening




cheese cake.

My mother in law made a batch of cheesecake and gave each one of us a plate! subhanallah. For reasons I can't share I was forced to eat my part in one day otherwise there would be nothing left. :( and :) because I LOVE cheesecake but I didn't want to eat it in one sitting. I have to do some major damage control as soon as possible.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

SUFFERING!

my discipline has been lost since this very long (alhamdulillah) holiday weekend started. I am stuffing my face with homemade cheesecake. MAN! SO I am gonna weigh myself tomorrow to see how it has really affected me. dang.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

late follow up to my fast

I did feel weaker than usual but I did manage to get it in there and complete it! alhamdulillah.

I have a total of 3 fard Ramadan fasts done and 3 more to make up. I plan on starting after eid inshaallah.

Currently I am stuffing myself with some AWESOME turkey and some dishes that were just too amazing.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

so am fasting today (inshaAllah)

so I cooked my very first batch of brown rice! it was delicious. I consulted with chef google and cooked brown rice like a pro plus some butter. Butter DOES make the world go round ;) Hubs loved it and kept coming back for 2nds, 3rds and 4ths. Alhamdulillah!

He still refuses to eat most vegetables (do they ever grow up?) and wont touch my baked butternut squash if his life depended on it. That's ok because it means more for me :)

I am about to eat suhur (in like 2hrs) and I know a million other people will be fasting today as well. Whos fasting with me?

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Eating the Same thing Over and Over

I have been drinking MASSIVE amounts of water (and subsequently peeing a lot). I am almost done with my baked butternut squash (need to ge more!) and my beans are making me happy. I don't know how long people last with eating the same food over and over again before it makes them sick. I don't know when I will get sick of eating my beans and squash I mean its been 2 days almost 8 meals later and I am still craving my beans and squash.

I fasted today and I kept looking forward to iftar when I can dig into my beans!

Exercise: NONE (yet)

Monday, November 23, 2009

organic rocks!

I cut the butternut squash into cubes, sprinkled olive oil, garlic salt, ground ginger and black pepper. OMG it was so delicious! I have to confess. BECAUSE it was organic and it cost me more I actually decided to bake it, that way I didn't have to boil it and throw the water away. Instead it was cooked by its own steam and the water already inside the squash that I am adding to my rice. subhanaallah.

I also made a 2lb batch of bean soup. Maybe because I am such a beaner but I could taste the difference in the beans. They tasted way better almost like when I was in El Salvador. I say almost because the beans were grown by local farmers completely chemical free. (nothing beats homegrown). The beans I ate were organic but packaged so you have no idea how long they actually been in those bags. Tasted awesome none the less.

I still don't know how to cook brown rice but I'll google it tonight inshaAllah.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

organic shopping!

omg, organic food is so expensive! I guess its worth it instead of eating genetically modified food.

This is all I could afford
  1. Organic green tea (I HAD to try it)
  2. Organic Raspberry Leaf tea
  3. Huge Organic certified Butternut Squash
  4. 1lb Organic Pinto Beans
  5. 4lbOrganic Black Beans
  6. 2lbOrganic Long Grain Brown Rice from Cali
Oh yea! I was reading about the antioxidant properties of green tea. InshaAllah I am eating a lot so I figured I needed my black beans to help me out other wise I am going to balloon up.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Say what??

So I was looking at myself the other day glad that I am loosing some of that pregnancy/junk food weight. My little ticker above says my BMI is 25.9 so I wanted to know what it meant. Apparently I am overweight! WHAT?? (you can also calculate your BMI here)

Determine your waist circumference by placing a measuring tape snugly around your waist. It is a good indicator of your abdominal fat which is another predictor of your risk for developing risk factors for heart disease and other diseases. This risk increases with a waist measurement of over 40 inches in men and over 35 inches in women
dang. I don't have a measuring tape and I haven't purchased any new jeans so I wouldn't know. dang. Kinda deflated my weight loss bubble.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

11 lbs GONE BABY!!

so I lost an additional 4lbs! My mother in law helped me weigh myself (remember that old scale?) apparently I don't know how to use it. So I am currently weighing 146lbs! WHO THE WOMAN?? >>*points to self*<<

yeah BABY! want to know what is going on in my head?

"do a little dance, make a little.... get down tonight, aha, get down tonight!"

I know shameful but that's the truth. I STILL haven't added a workout to my life. I know shameful. But I have a perfectly good excuse....I have a baby. Yes and that baby JUST learned to walk and therefore I know have a TODDLER. So I figured, why start a workout regiment? Me chasing after a *hyperactive kid on steroids* child will get me in shape in no time. So not stressing it.

So far what I have done differently is to drink a lot of water and eliminate unnecessary snack times. I don't follow a strict diet seeing that I drank about 2 cans of soda this week and I may have taken a sip or two or three or half a litter of Hawaiian Punch. But whos counting?

I remember reading somewhere that no more than ONCE a week you splurge on things you have been avoiding in your diet. That way your metabolism is constantly getting challenged and doesn't get used to your one diet and it starts slowing down. Yeah. as soon as I find the source I'll post it. inshaAllah.

"do a little dance, make a little.... get down tonight, aha, get down tonight!"

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Scale less

I still don't have a scale so I am using the old scale. nOt cool.

In other news I managed to NOT overeat (yay) and stick to my water instead of all the junk drinks my hubs brought home. Have any of you seen Malcom in the Middle? there is this episode where the wife Lois played by (Jane Kaczmarek) is pregnant and gaining weight fast. The hubs Hal played by (Bryan Cranston) LOVES the changes in her body. SO Lois in an effort to control her weight gain goes on a diet. DESPITE her diet she is still gaining A LOT of weight. The reason was that Hal was PURPOSELY sabotaging her because he didn't want her to loose the figure he was loving.

I mean he was adding like a ton load of sugar to her drink, adding mayonnaise to things that didn't need mayo. Some of the things were pretty gross. yeah? well thats what is happening to me just slightly less conniving.



Friday, November 13, 2009

Breakfast

Lately I have been trying to eat breakfast as soon as possible that way my metabolism gets a jump start earlier. I also found out from a friend that you could loose about 10lbs just by switching your drink to water. SAY WHAT?? Thats pretty awesome. Just wanted to share with you ladies.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

water

Drank massive amounts of water (yay for the kidneys!) walked for about an hour (it was nice to have alone time). Alhamdulillah it also improved my mood and I got more things done today. I also passed by the pharmacy looking at scales and my friend on the phone tried to talk me out of buying one because they are EVIL. I hadn't laughed so hard in so long.

I am still undecided about the scale but I am noticing that I am loosing more weight so am happy. yay!

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Which kind of scale is the best?

I am looking for an inexpensive digital scale. The one I currently have belongs to my in laws and it may just be older than I am. It still functions but there is a lot of guesswork trying to figure out your weight because of the needle. Anyway any of you gals know of a good scale?

So far I am between these two.

CVS Digital Scale



SKU #487332
1.0 EA
6.60 LBS
$25.99

Weight Watchers Body Fat Precision Electronic Scale Ww33


SKU #333051
$31.99 SALE

The weightwatchers one sounds like a gimmick but am not sure. Any recommendations?

My weight

It wasn't 5lbs it was 7lbs! AlHAMDULILLAH

I am not sure if I posted here or in another blog my weight. OK so when I got married in 2006 I weighed 130lbs. Before pregnancy in 2007 I weighed 134lbs lost 4 lbs in the first trimester. At 9 months pregnant in 2008 I weighed in @ 152lbs. I lost nearly 80% or so of my weight once I gave birth but put it back on within 3 months just eating junk food and I mean junk food. I was downing chocolate candies and other processed food with 2liter of soda a day sometimes more. I actually calculated how much caloric intake I was having and it totaled over 4,000 calories A DAY! THAT BAD.

When I started this blog like a week before I weighed at 157 lbs (the heaviest I have ever been). So I weighed myself yesterday and I was 150 lbs. For some reason I thought I started at 155lbs because that was the second to last time I checked it. Alhamdulillah. So I had a bigger weight loss than I though. YAY!

Off to the bank and public library!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

OMG I Lost 5 Pounds!!

I just weighed myself and I have lost FIVE pounds. ALHAMDULILLAH!! However, hubs is sabotaging me again bringing 'sales' home of Hawaiian punch and their ilk. WHY?? oh WHY? oh WHY?? I thought we were going organic. I am also out of Organic raspberry leaf tea and I am not happy.

I am writing this post right now with a 1 gallon of Hawaiian Punch Made with 7 natural fruit juices and 100% vitamin c on my desk. NOT COOL.


S A B O T E U R !


*shakes fist at hubs who is STILL sleeping*
Maybe I should pull a total hater move and go jump on him while he sleeps?
I think I will.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

anyone?

what do you eat when you are sick with a fever and sniffles? I have absolutely NO appetite and am eating chinese food. Because it was available.

anyone?

Friday, November 6, 2009

sorry

I am going to complain. I am sick. I have the sniffles and the beginning of a flu. I ache, my head hurts, my nose is stuffed AND runny. I don't want to eat.

What is good food for someone who is sick and doesn't want to eat? besides chicken soup?

Thursday, November 5, 2009

ia m in pain

yes PAIN. my eyes are red and swollen and in so much pain!! please make dua for me.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

still blind

I am still temporarily blind so I am not able to type as well or as much as I would want. BUT anyway I burnt my 2lbs of beans. THE HORROR! I was nursing my little dude and forgot that I had left something in the stove. I was heartbroken but I knew I couldn't throw them out so I had to eat them. Instead of eating them by itself I started adding them to currys and OMG the burnt taste is GONE. SUBHANALLAH!!

I mean GONE. Alhamdulillah because otherwise it would have been a very long week.

Saturday, October 31, 2009

I couldn't help myself

I HAD to cook another 2lbs of beans. Yup and seasoned with only salt. Just the thought of it makes me want to go and grab a bowl. I think I ate for 4 days and it cost me under $5 to do it. SubhanaAllah. I am going to start tracking how much my food actually costs. I want to go organic but I missed the deadline for the local CSA (community supported agriculture) that my friend started. dang it. I guess wholefoods and the local farmers market it is.

Today
Breakfast: a bowl of chex cereal with whole milk.
Lunch: a steak cooked in whatever fat it had remaining and onions with white rice
Dinner: Most likely a nice bowl of beans with white rice.

For those who eat organic, how much does it cost?

Friday, October 30, 2009

Portions sizes

I tried doing research about what is appropriate portion sizes and I am baffled. So am I doing it wrong?

Meat Portions
Veggies Portions
Grains Portions
Fruit Portions
am I supposed to eat the tennis ball? whats up with that?

Dairy Portions
That wont cover a bowl of cereal dude. How about if you are a cheese head or are from Wisconsin?

Who are they kidding? I am eating smaller portions (not as small as the suggested size but still) and I am still hungry and I am hungrier faster. Honestly I would rather continue eating the way I am eating and implement an exercise regiment. I am tempted to try the whole portions thing but look at those servings. There is just no way a nursing mother could survive on that. Hubs is worried that I never used to obsess about my weight or portion so whats wrong.

Technically I look good for my weight and size as my body tends to hide any excess weight in 'good places'. However, I am 20lbs over my pre pregnancy weight and I am scared that if we do conceive again I will mushroom another 20lbs. I am trying to get back to my pre baby weight so that I can relax. Being 40lbs overweight for someone as short as me probably wont look to good no matter how good I am at hiding things.

He thinks the blogosphere is negatively affecting me but lets be realistic here. How much longer can I abuse my fast metabolism and not change my ways? I have seen the women in my family to be worried about my HORRIBLE eating and NON EXISTING exercise schedule. Plus I don't want to develop any medical conditions like diabetes (runs in the fam) or other issues. I am only 24 and my son is a year old now. I am in my baby making years and I don't want to be stressed during a pregnancy. I want to enjoy my pregnancy and try to have a healthy outcome.

but anyway I digressed from my rant. Do any of you follow suggested portions? do any of you follow the 1/3 water, 1/3 food and 1/3 air hadith dealing with food?

Thursday, October 29, 2009

moving on

Still NO processed foods! yay! I can't believe I ate nearly 2lbs of bean soup all by myself in less than 3 days. :( I am on my last bowl with white rice and steamed pumpkin. I actually thought it would at least last me for 14 days but man I under estimated my beaner potential.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

OoPs!

I think i mentioned on more than one occasion I love beans. Yeah. I forgot that beans cause gas. yeah. Not very sexy and probably not good for the environment. But what can i do? I LOVE BEANS. Cruel world.

It still didn't stop me from eating another bowl of rice with beans. :(

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

So I AM alwasy hungry

For a while now I have been feeling guilty and one of the reasons I started this blog and a commitment to get healthier was because I kept stuffing my face but drank little water. You see I would eat my food and down it with soda. I would keep a soda near my computer for easy access instead of drinking water or juice. When I got married I weighed 130lbs when I became pregnant I was @ 134lbs but lost about 3 lbs in the first trimester. By the end of my pregnancy I was weighing 154lbs. Not bad. Once my baby boy was born and I mean IMMEDIATELY after his birth I weighed 11lbs less. I slowly started loosing the weight while nursing ( I am still nursing).

In January 2009 though hubs started bring A LOT of junk food that I don't even like but because it was readily available I kept eating it. I did the math and I was actually ingesting about 4,000 calories A DAY for a whole month. I actually gained ALL of my pregnancy weight back. SUCKS. So recently I started leaving healthy stuff near my computer so when I reach out and stuff my face its good stuff. So when I did that I was STILL so hungry. I read that sometimes you are not actually hungry but thirsty so I started drinking a lot of water.

turns out that after drinking nearly 1/2 a gallon of water today (its only 2:21 PM) I am still hungry. So I started another bowl of rice with beans and that will probably hold me off for a couple of hours. Since I am nursing the amt of water I am drinking is good I also have kidney problems in the family and I suffered from them as well until 2006. I guess I have the metabolism and hunger of a teenage boy. Alhamdulillah I guess?

Day 3

I ate 1 small bowl of whole milk with Rice Chex cereal with no sugar for breakfast. Loved it. I also ate another bowl of my bean soup (with salt) with white rice for lunch. It was delicious. I made so much bean soup I will probably be eating it for almost two weeks and I am happy about it as I am a bona fide beaner. :)


It's not that I hate spices because I love spicy food but I prefer simpler meals for everyday consumption. I still haven't implemented any exercise regiment and I should. InshaAllah I will be able to go outside with the little dude once we decide on a stroller YAY!

It has been about 4 hrs since I ate my bean soup and I am hungry again so off i go :)

Monday, October 26, 2009

Good START

I ate a bowl of white rice and beans! OMG I forgot how much I loved beans. I also brought a big jug of water to have near my computer so I can drink more water. I want to go out and go for a walk but I can't do it without my little dude and its getting too cold for just a stroll. I think I might need to buy extra stuff to outfit the stroller to protect him from the cold air.

Other than that I am half way through my day without eating junk or processed foods.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

1st day

I am Hispanic and I can't live without beans so I cooked 1lb of black beans and 1lb of red beans with salt as the ONLY condiment (that's how I like it). It brought me back to me growing up in El Salvador in my grandpa's farm. Back then I used to eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner and I LOVED IT!

I also cooked some tilapia to eat with white rice and had a large serving of papaya, yum. All in all I was able to avoid stuffing my face when I wasn't hungry and I also drank a lot of water. My mother in law though (mashaAllah) bought me halal marshmallows. I couldn't deny her so I ate it. I love her though so I'll forgive her.

I need to bring in exercise in to my life. I did the laundry today and it was exhausting who knew a little baby had so much clothing. can I count that as exercise?

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Sabotage!

I am already being sabotaged in my quest for a healthier living. Hubs brought junk food home and I was so hungry and tempted that I ate it. This endevour of mine is gonna be harder than I expected. I also don't have a clue on how to begin a balanced vegetarian diet or how to figure out what fruits are in season or if there are any farms in my area.

this sucks.

In Search of..

I am looking for awesome blogs about vegetarian cooking or at the very least healthy cooking. I am off to explore if any of you have any suggestions please share :)

Friday, October 23, 2009

NO MORE!

I started this blog to keep a record as I try to change my health, weight and eating habits. It got started with me reading up and watching documentaries about food and how corrupt and unjust the system has become. So today is my first step towards a healthier more socially conscious me.

KNOW YOUR FOOD!