Ginger-Sesame Noodles for Dinner

I recently found The Vegan(ish) Experiment again, which somehow I lost track of a few months ago. She has some amazing recipes that I plan to make in the next week (black bean and millet burgers? Chickpea piccata patties? I'm SO there), but last night I wanted to start with a slight modification of her ginger-sesame noodle salad. This was so delicious that the children all had at least seconds. Music Man made the pasta while I napped and didn't salt the water, so I needed to salt the final dish a bit for my liking. I also added a little Thai chili sauce at the end because I like that sweet heat thing. :)

Ingredients:

1-2-inch piece of ginger, peeled and chopped into a few big pieces
4 t. tamari (or 5-6 t. soy sauce)
4 T. apple cider vinegar
4 T. sesame oil
1/3 c. extra virgin olive oil
1/4-1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 box whole wheat spaghetti, cooked according to package instructions
2 bell pepper julienned into ~1/4-inch strips
2 carrots (I grated mine because they're too hard for the baby to chew)
1 onion, sliced thinly
3 cloves garlic
2 c. cauliflower steamed (recipe called for broccoli, but I was out)
2 c. fresh or frozen peas
2 T. sesame seeds, toasted*

Heather's Variation:
1. Mince the ginger using a food processor or high-speed blender, scraping the sides as necessary
2. Add the next five ingredients and blend until fully emulsified.
3. Saute' veggies in a bit of olive oil, add garlic for the last few minutes. This is a LOT of veggies that filled my smallish wok.
4. Pour sauce over veggies and let simmer a few minutes.
5. Pour veggies with sauce into your pasta pot and serve. Give your family seconds and even THIRDS so there's barely enough for your Music Man to take for lunch the next day. :)


Original Directions:

1. Mince the ginger using a food processor, scraping the sides as necessary
2. Add the next five ingredients and blend until fully emulsified.
3. Combine all of the other ingredients in a large container, add dressing, seal, and shake until well-tossed.
4. Chill in the fridge for at least a couple of hours.

*I put the sesame seeds into a dry pan and shook it over a high burner until they started to brown and become fragrant.

P90X--Day 8 and Weigh In

Start: 148.8
Week 1: 146.4


OK, I have a confession to make. I can't do pull-ups. It's a total bummer. I'm going to get there, but today I decided to use the assisted pull-up machine set to 80 lbs so I was only lifting 65 lbs (your weight-what you set it at=weight lifted). 80 lbs was pretty easy, so next time I'll try 70 (that's Friday).

Tomorrow is plyo in the morning, and I'm going to a low-impact dance class tomorrow night for kicks. Miss it so much!

Breakfast:
eggs and mustard (225)
peach (100)

Snack:
protein bar (200)

Lunch:
chicken breast (140)
string cheese (80)
banana (90)

afternoon snack:
almonds (110)
string cheese (80)
ice pop (15)

Dinner:
mac and cheese (280)
green salad with chicken (150)
peach (70)

Evening snack:
Protein bar (200)
green smoothie (150)
tortilla chips (50)
banana (100)
cheese and 3 crackers (100)
almonds (60)

p 25%
f 31%
c 44%

2200

water: 19

P90X--Day 7

Day 7, woohoo! Today is X Stretch, and it's a really wonderful DVD. Tomorrow I'll weigh in for the week, and I'm not excited. I was losing REALLY fast by mid-week, but I upped my carbs because lower carb was way hard for me. Sigh. Tony Horton says that P90X isn't necessarily a weight loss program, and I understand why I'm not losing as much, but it bums me out. I was hoping for less workouts and more food and still a reasonable loss. :) Dare to dream!

As it stands, I still plan to get back to a size 6 by mid-November. I'm hoping that when I can add in doubles M-W-F in month 2 that I'll finally start to shed some pounds. Even if I don't drop weight, I'm not going to quit. I can feel how this weight lifting routine is going to get me nice and strong, and I'm looking forward to that.

On to week 2!

Breakfast:
cheerios, dry (100)
eggs w/ mustard (225)
pear (115)

Lunch:
pizza (500)

Afternoon snack:
banana (70)
string cheese (80)
peach (90)

Dinner:
turkey sausage, peppers, and onions (300)

Snack:
protein bar (180)
peach (100)
banana (100)
cheerios, dry (100)


p 18%
f 28%
c 56%

1960

water: 17

*Went over my weekly calories by 250, which is totally fine with me. I didn't decide to start calorie cycling until Wednesday, so I think I did pretty well. I was just crazy hungry today!

P90X--Day 6

So we're almost done with this week of posts about P90X, aren't you glad? :)

Way overate yesterday and have to calculate cals to see what I'm "allowed"to have today and tomorrow to make the week come out even on my calorie cycle. Don't know what calorie cycling is? Well, it's adjusting your cals daily to a moderate degree so your body can't wind your metabolism down to expect 1800 calories a day. For me, this translates to:

S 1800
M 1800
T 1400
W 2200
T 1800
F 1600
S 2000

Only Tuesdays are hard, especially because that's the day I do plyometrics and have Pilates Reformer, but I'll adjust to it soon enough. I can't wait to see where my body is in 84 more days!

Today is Kenpo, and I've been dreading it because I have iffy knees and bad hip flexors. It was actually m-u-c-h easier than I anticipated. I burned about 425 calories, which isn't much given that yesterday, doing legs and back resistance training, I burned 450.

Breakfast:
cereal and milk (150)
banana (70)

Morning snack:
protein bar (190)

Lunch:
vegan stir fry and brown rice (350)
almonds (40)

Dinner:
naan with roasted red pepper dip (350)
ice pop (15)

Snack:
cereal and milk (225)

1385

Water: 15

P90X--Day 5

OK, so we're 5 days in and I'm feeling pretty good. I like this program because it's easy and streamlined, and I don't FEEL like I'm working all that hard but I'm burning lots of calories. I'll be interested to see what the scale says on Sunday, but until then, I'm just working.

Legs and back today was killer. I didn't feel terrible during the workout, but when I was carrying the Joyful Babe up the steps to the car after the gym, I darn near dropped her! I barely trusted myself to drive; can't wait to see what I feel like tomorrow. Soreness and kickboxing should be interesting! I just can't wait to get to Sunday, when I get to do an hour of just STRETCHING. Woohoo!!

Breakfast:
banana (80)
eggs (220)

P90X snack:
pear (100)
protein bar (230)
banana (70)

Afternoon snack:
ice pops (oh yes, THOSE water-sugar-purple ice pops from Madison Park) (30)
almonds (70)

Dinner:
vegan stir-fry with brown rice (300)

Evening snack:
green smoothie (250)
chocolate square (40)
manchego cheese (80)
almonds (100)

p 19%
f 26%
c 55%

1570

water: 16

P90X--Day 4

It's 8:15 am, and I have finished my 90 minute yoga workout for the day. That mess was HARD! I'm usually really good at yoga, but not having done it regularly for two months plus the muscle confusion going on because of the program made it pretty difficult today. Love!

Breakfast:
banana (75)
protein bar (200)
Life cereal (30)

Morning snack:
almonds (150)

Lunch:
eggs w/ egg protein and spinach (375)
banana (75)

Afternoon snack:
dried apricots (100)
baking bites (300) --no idea, could be less, but we'll go with that.

Dinner:
ww pasta and sauce (350)

Dessert for Ginger's birthday (200)

banana (100)

1950

water: 11

P90X--Day 3

Had Reformer last night, and it was then that I could really feel the P90X work. It doesn't feel awful when I do it, and I'm not like going-to-die sore, but I can definitely feel that I've been doing something different.


Arms and shoulders today was killer. I totally loved it, but I know I'm going to feel it tomorrow. I went to Pilates mat tonight, and my arms were shaking just in cat/camel! Tomorrow for P90X is yoga, and I can't wait to see how hard it is!

Breakfast:
banana (90)
eggs w/ spinach (225)

Morning snack:
Protein bar (200)

Bites during baking: 100
LOOOOTS of almonds: 250

Dinner:
quiche (200)
bread (125)
banana (100)
tortilla chips (150)

protein bar (210)

Whoops, also had a smoothie, and forgot the apple tart.
smoothie (150)
tart (350)


2150

Water: 10

No idea about my values, but I'd say probably 25p/35f/40c. No real idea, but I tried! I can tell I'm eating too much animal protein b/c the whites of my eyes are turning yellow. That's so freaking disgusting. Gah. Hopefully this month goes quickly, else I'm not going to make it on high protein!

P90X--Day 2

Pre-workout:
10 almonds (65)

Workout:
Plyo X. This wasn't nearly as bad as I expected. I'm not a high jumper, so it was probably a little less intense for me than for some others, but I still managed to burn 500 (actually 508) calories in that 57 minutes. That's totally respectable, especially given that I was at home and didn't have the space I needed to REALLY Get into some of those leaps. I'll try to reconfigure for next time, but it felt pretty good. Am wondering if P90X is intense enough for me. Perhaps I'm cardiovascularly strong enough that I don't need anything more intense? I am hoping that this focus on just 2 body parts for weights each session will help me see lots more definition, and I'm excited to try it at the gym with much heavier weights and less reps.

Breakfast:
banana (85)
eggs with spinach and 1 T egg protein (which makes them tough and gross) (230)

Morning snack:
protein bar (180)

Lunch:
chicken breast w/ 1 T. sour cream (160)
plum (75)
banana (120)

Afternoon snack:
2 bananas (200)

Dinner:
3 eggs with spinach and mustard (300)


Evening snack:
green smoothie w/ 1 T protein powder (175)
coconut M&Ms (100)
cereal and milk (225)
almonds (75)







p 117 24%
f 58 26%
c 252 50%



2020

water: 15

Other workout:
Pilates Reformer

P90X--Day 1

Day 1 workout was much easier than I expected. The abs were verging on easy, and the hour of push-ups and pull-ups wasn't easy. My arms were shaking and I didn't feel great, but I wasn't ready to puke or anything. Looking forward to tomorrow, which I'm sure is going to kill me!

So the diet. Sigh. Phase I is supposed to be 50p/30c/20f. This is hard for me as one who doesn't eat much meat. I'm just going to give it my best and hope to get 30-40% protein. If I'm being honest, my body responds well to higher protein, I just don't like it much. I FEEL better on 70% carbs, 20% protein, and 10% fat, but right now I'm looking lumpy and want to look more cut again. So here we go! I'm going to make my own protein bars out of organic brown rice protein b/c I refuse to buy the junk bars on the market. Will let you know how they come out!

Breakfast:
3 eggs w/ spinach and mustard (cooked in 1 t. butter) (250)
peach (60)

Lunch:
tuna salad w/ mustard and sour cream (120)
almonds (135)

P90X snack:
peanut butter (200)
10 grapes (35)
5 dried apricots (90)

Dinner:
grapes (50)
chicken breast (100)
1/2 kids' cheeseburger(250)

Evening snack:
green smoothie (278)
dry cheerios

protein: 546 34%
fat: 621 38%
carbs: 452 28%

1794 cals

water: 15 c.

P90X--"Before"

OK, so here we are, day 1 of P90X. I'm probably a little crazy to post these before pictures, especially since I gained all that weight with the pregnancy/miscarriage, but it is what it is (or as my husband has appropriated, "everything is everything").

No more dilly-dallying, here are the stats:

Weight: 148.8 lbs
Body fat: 24.1%
Chest: 35.5"
Waist: 33"
Hips: 43"
Thigh: 22"
Bicep: 11.75"












As the book says, "This is not just a before picture. It's a GOODBYE picture"!

It's Time To Get Extreme!

Yep, you guessed it. I'm starting P90X tomorrow. I have high hopes that it'll help me get the rest of the miscarriage weight off and get to a physical place I'm happy with. Plus, I'm supposed to leave for Russia in about 98 days and want to finish it before hand. Finally, a girl I went to high school with is going to start it with me so that I have some support. With P90X, there are three program options. First, classic, which is a mere 7 hours a week. There's lean, which is supposed to help you burn fat, but you don't get as strong, and finally doubles, which adds 3-4 hours of cardio a week on top of your regular P90X workout for the day.

I think I'm going to do doubles, but you don't add anything until week 5. I'm already used to 14-16 hours a week at the gym, so, while I know this will be more intense, I think I can handle it. I'll document here my stats and yes, probably even include the before/during/after pictures. Scary!


Stay tuned, tomorrow is an HOUR of chest and back. Ay!

Maiden Voyage

Y'all, my passport's in the mail. It's supposed to be here by Monday, and I'm totally excited. For about two months, I've been praying about a mission trip to Russia. When Ransomed Grace first mentioned it to me, there was just no way I could see to go.

I kept getting these nagging things that felt like confirmations, but I hadn't gotten a clear word from the Lord. Some counsel I got from both RG and my spiritual mama said that, to go to a place as dark as Russia, I would need to KNOW that I knew I was supposed to go. Well, so I spent some time fasting and praying on my face, and I felt like He said that I'm supposed to take the trip.

November 20-30, I believe I'll be in Perm, Russia. It means raising $2,000 in support. It means 15 hours of flying each way. It means not seeing my kids for 10 days. It means missing Thanksgiving with my family. It means that the Music Man will have to take days off of school; Music-in-laws will miss work and care for the kids a bit, too. And if I dwell on those things, I'm completely sad.

However, when I think about being asked to be part of a retreat on sanctification, about bringing light to my sisters in a spiritually bleak place, I am overjoyed. Then I laugh at the Lord's foresight in having me start learning Russian a few months ago, and applying for a passport before RG ever told me about the possibility of the trip. You gotta appreciate God's sense of humor.

So, It's Been A While...

Yeah, I know. That miscarriage threw me for a loop. Actually, I'm still in that loop. But the beautiful thing about walking through this with the Lord and people who love Him is that you're totally on a boomerang path.

You come back because there's nowhere else to go. You come back because there's no one else who loves you like He does. You come back because there's no other balm for your heart. And, once you mature and see through His lens, you come back because you love Him too, and you want to please Him more than you want to hold on to your bitterness.

I don't know yet what I was supposed to learn from those 5 weeks of trials (starting with finding that we were expecting, then losing my job, then losing my gym, then losing the Music Man's second job, then losing the baby). I know that it broke my heart enough to move me toward God and away from some unforgiveness. Why else? I may never know.

In other news, I may be going to Russia over Thanksgiving for 10 days. I have to decide by Sunday. Pretty well everything is in place, except that I need to raise $2000 in support. I've never raised support of any kind, so we'll see how this goes. I'm not 100% sure that God wants me to go, but He hasn't thrown up any roadblocks yet. He hasn't answered my supplications in that respect for two months now, so I'm going with the theory that not getting a "no" means "go ahead--for now". I'm good either way, really. I want to go, but ten days without my family, especially over the holidays, seems really hard.

You're pretty well up to speed. I'll try to be more consistent!

School Supplies!

Well, summer was nice while it lasted. It seems funny to say that when the high today in the metro area is 92 degrees, but the Music Man went back to school yesterday, and his students start next week.

I'll post an update on our summer soon, but (obviously) things in my personal life have been just a tad rocky since the miscarriage. I'm mostly OK, thanks for all the prayers.

Anyhow, so when I was a kid,I loved shopping for new school supplies. Even rounding thirty, I still love to buy new pens and markers and notebooks. What can I say? That love dies hard.

But you know what the BEST school supply giveaway is? Mary over at Owlhaven is giving away a LAPTOP! Seriously!! Go see her and enter (or don't, if you want me to win). :)