SparkPeople

First of all there's an update on my weight. I'm now 185.4 lbs! Woohoo!

Second, here's my lenten vows: Give up meat, sugar, sweets/desserts, and I vow to exercise at the very least 15 minutes each day.

Third: So Liza gathered up the troops in hopes to spread the movement of living a healthier and longer life. We reached out to several family members and friends and joined up on SparkPeople.com. If anyone is on there, please friend me under "Robese".

This is a good way for all of us to track our food intake and our exercise. We can monitor each other's weight, provide motivation, and discuss everything from being healthy to our every day lives.

OK, off to get a veggie wrap from Jason's Deli!

Finally Back!

It's been 13 days since I last posted. Reason being is that one of my coworkers is out on maternity leave and the other one was sick for a day. I'm both of their backups so needless to say, I've been really busy.

So how's the diet been? Well tomorrow will officially be one full month of eating meat-free! But like I said before, being a vegetarian doesn't exactly mean it's healthy. The amounts of cheese I eat is pretty rediculous. Plus the Valentine's week really put my sweet tooth into action.

Tomorrow is lent, and I'm going to give up all sugar, sweets, and desserts. Time to put this diet back into gear as I'm STILL just -12 lbs. I'm still juicing 1-2 meals a day, but think a cleanse is needed pretty soon.

Liza may have some guinea pigs candidates for our juicing experiment. Besides us two, we would love to turn someone's life around. Someone who is lacking energy, who is overweight, on meds, and who is looking to change their lives. Not going to name any names now until he/she consents.

Anyway, check out a killer dish: Veggie Quiche!

It's actually really awesome! Inside: Portabellas, zucchini, yellow squash, onions, garlic, cheese, eggs, milk, salt, pepper. Bake at 375 for 40 min and be sure you don't overcook it. So damn good, I'm craving more now!

I'm sexy and I know it

My coworker took this pic of me at Silver Diner during lunch a couple months ago when I housed an entire milkshake while I waited for my food. And yes, I crushed the tin refill also! I've also been known to go to Five Guys for lunch and then head out to Cold Stone Creamery for dessert!

 Liza took this lovely lovely picture of me last month. I look like such a blob!

 Me and Haley at VA Beach a few years back. Look at that gut just stretching out my shirt!

 Trying to see how many chins I can get. I don't have to try hard to get a lot!

 Christmas family portrait just a couple months ago! My sweater is being stretched beyong intended use!!!

 What do we all have in common in this picture? We all have tits!

Vegetarian Super Bowl

Unfortunately I don't have pics, but the Valentin's and Saliendra's loved every dish I cooked. And that's because it's food that's nto too far out of the ordinary. I didn't make meatless meatloaf or anything like that. Just things they would normally be served.

1) Took my cheese grated and shredded up some zucchini, yellow squash, carrots, sweet onions, and a potato. Salted and let it sit in a salad spinner for about an hour to drain all the liquids. Added salt, pepper, soy sauce, 4 eggs, and flour. Fried up some super yummy zucchini fritters!

2) Haley loves nothing more than making her own pizza. We took 4 mini Boboli's and added tomato sauce, baby spinach, fresh mozz, and sauteed portabellas! I loved it, however, everyone else devoured their version which consisted of a ton of pepperoni.

3) My famous veggie sammich: toasted Italian bread, hummus, guac, sauteed portabellas, fontina, onions, cucumbers, and lettuce. Even Kristine loved it!

I ate like a pig and loved everything. Determined to keep the vegetarian movement spreading.

This week, I should get my punching bag delivered and then we'll start the hardcore exercise!

By the way, I bought some Chik'n and Gruyere patties made by Quorn. Aside from being mega expensive ($3 a patty), it was pretty rockstar awesome. Crunchy, cheesey, and since real chicken nuggets are pretty much generic, this tasted exactly like it! It's kinda like unhealthy vegetarian food cuz of all the sodium. Andrew stated these kinds of foods are transitional vegetarian since it's like faux meat. Not bad tho...I even bought another pack!

So long Braun, Hello Breville!

With the BBB 20% off coupon, I was able to spend some cash and upgrade from my borrowed juicer. The Breville is superior in every aspect over the Braun.

• The pulp that's spit out of the Breville comes out dry. The Braun spits out mushy, wet pulp. Veggies are expensive. I hate the fact that I'm throwing away all that juice that's still in the pulp after using the Braun.
• The feed hole in the Braun is mega small. I'd spend so much time chopping an apple in 6-8 pieces, and then feeding them through the small hole one by one. I'd have to cut cucumbers and carrots in half length-wise. The Breville can swallow a baseball whole. So no more chopping! Just throw in apples whole...seeds, stems, and everything!
• The Braun's juice spout is so low to the ground/counter. I'd have to hold up my glass against the spout in an angle with one hand, while feeding veggies with the other. The Breville is high up and also comes with it's own juice container that's splash proof and it can also remove the foam!

Granted $150 is a lot to spend on a juicer, but this will save me money (in the very long run) and also a lot of time!

Day 26 - Vegetarian to a whole new level

I find it funny how this whole thing started as a weight loss blog, which turned into a juicing blog, and then eventually a vegetarian blog? Funny how striving to lead a healthy lifestyle brings so many changes to your every day habits...EVERY day.

Yesterday was a big strive for me in my vegetarian movement. I had lunch with Andrew and Liza. Andrew is a more dedicated veggie, but Liza's just like me. We both love food (including meat), but we're also conscious of our health. We went to Sunflower. The last time I was there was for Maricel's birthday about 100 years ago. Last time I had the General Tso's Chick'n, which was good, but I remember it jacking up my stomach afterwards. This time we went family style and we shared a Songbird (spicy Asian type of dish) and a Curry Special. It was motherfucking awesome. The more I ate, the more I loved it. I even had it with brown rice, which I used to absolutely hate! Open your mind, and you'll be more than willing to eat what's right for you.

I was more than amazed by how good this tasted. Granted the texture of the Soy Protein product wasn't the same as real meat, it was still very tasty. We all got into a discussion of faux meat and recipes. Before I was happy just eating vegetables either juiced, raw, or cooked. But now I'm venturing into a whole new world of Soy Protein products, a food that I'm still quite confused about. Anyway, I decided to be a bit adventurous and buy some fake meat.



I've gotta be honest with you, I'm quite scared. Especially about the veggie cheese! It's one thing if you get this kinda stuff from Sunflower where professional chefs prepare a gourmet meal for you. It's another thing if you buy it from the grocery store yourself and attempt to cook something that you've never dealt with before. I'll be sure to let you know how it goes.

So for dinner the Saliendra's and Valentin's came over for dinner. It was my night to cook. I made them chicken quesadillas, and made myself some tofu and black bean quesadillas. DJ's parents were open enough to try the tofu and black beans also! It was quite simple: I just took some firm tofu, drained it in a colander for about 10 min, cubed it, add it to a sautee pan with a little bit of water and a touch of taco seasoning. I also made a salsa made of corn, avocadoes, tomatoes, red onion, lime, salt, and pepper! YUM.

The Saliendra's are also coming over tomorrow night for Super Bowl Sunday. They absolutely love the menu I'm going to prepare: vegetarian pizza, and vegetarian paninis! On a day that's generally reserved for manly dishes consisting of animal protein, I can't believe I'm serving nothing but vegetables!

Day 24 - Still a vegetarian...

...but at a standstill at my weight loss! Being a vegetarian doesn't exactly mean that you're eating really healthy. I cooked pork chops and rigatoni with a meat ragu sauce for my family, but I never touched it. I don't want to. Unfortuantely, the things I do touch usually come with a lotta cheese and salt. I understand that dairy products are bad for me as well, and I'm trying to categorize dairy with meat. After all, milk is an animal based protein, isn't it?

But get off my back! I already gave up meat, how can you expect me to give up dairy also!? So today I went to Panera and got a Tomato and Mozz Panini with a Cheddar Broc soup. YUM! I plan on subbing food for juice at least for breakfast and lunch, but sometimes I cheat and go out for lunch while drinking my juice as a "snack". My palate is satisfied, but I'm not happy with this habit. It might be time to get back in kick ass mode and do nothing but juice all day long.

But this vegetarian thing is pretty cool acutally. Last night I had these pre-packaged Indian chick peas. It's unbelievably good! My only problem is thinking of a menu for Valentine's day.

As for exercise, thinking about getting a punching bag and hanging it in my basement. This way I can exercise and only be a few feet away from the family in case Max is crying out for me.

I feel like I'm slipping. It's definitely time to get my ass back in gear. Tomorrow: lunch with Liza at Sunflower!