Trick o Treat or Good vs Evil

Hey guys, I realized when i  was going to bed last night that i had not written in here since tuesday night!  I really really thought that i had written something on Wednesday night but now i realize that i had gotten home too late on wednesday, just enough time to make my dinner and chill for a bit before heading to bed. It's been a tough week so far~even though work is getting easier~ fitting in my gym time has been tricky, but i'm doing it!  I didn't get to the gym until almost 7pm on wednesday, so that by the time i got home it was already 8:30 and i was starving.  So it was late to bed  again.  

The one thing that i have realized this past week is that i can not get by on only 5 hours of sleep a night!  Something's gotta change cause all the research shows that if you want to loose weight with a proper diet and exercise program.........you must get enough sleep!

I think i need to buy a new scale!  It's tricking me into thinking that i am doing great.  Let me explain!  I keep a piece of paper beside it and write down everyday what my weight is.........i know, i know.......obsessive i am!  I've just found for me that this works.  Wednesday it said i was down 2 lbs.....yippee.  Friday it said i was down another 2 lbs.......yippee again.  But then i got to thinking.  Hmmmmmmm something's not right, there is no way i have lost 4 lbs in 5 days.  I had lunch with a girlfriend yesterday who i have not seen since mid septemeber and she said i was looking slimmer.  So i told her i that something was wrong with my scale and what it said that morning.  She just laughed at me!

Well, this morning proves it.  I NEED A NEW SCALE, i think.  It said i was now 5 lbs heavier!  Damn, damn, damn.........not a way to encourage a girl i'd say!  Heavier than what i started at????

So how is it going with all you guys?  A few pounds lighter? Clothes fitting better? Looking and feeling better?  Or getting discouraged?  Please let me know.  Oh and have you done those measurements like i said?

I was like a kid in a candy store yesterday.  The 3 books that i ordered on-line from Chapters arrived just before i was heading to the gym.  I got 2 new ones by Tosca Reno and that weight-lifting one i was telling you about:  Lift like a man, Look look a goddess!  Which one to take with me to the gym, hmmmmmmm.  I decided on the weight-lifting one.  I'd either look like someone who doesn't know what they are doing or someone who is very dedicated.

I've had a few interesting emails from people asking me to go over their diet and exercise plans for them. Some of them work out a lot, at the gym 5x a week and riding bikes to work.....way to go, but then tell me what it is they are eating and why are they a few pounds over weight?  Well, i can't emphasize this enough and all the research out there supports this!  Diet and nutrition is 80% key to dropping weight and exercise only 20%!  And when i say diet........I DO NOT MEAN CUTTING CALORIES!  I mean eating clean!  Eating the 5-6 small meals a day and getting enough protein and complex carbs form all those veggies.

Keep a food diary if you must.  After a day or so, you will see a pattern, see what you need to cut out of the meal plan.  I don't keep a food diary as such but i do write down the things i shouldn't have eaten and that makes me feel guilty so i try harder the next day.  Works for me!

Are you ready for Hallowe'en?  Worried about all those candies in the stores and laying around the house just waiting for the little kids to come to the door on sunday night?  Are they screaming for you to eat them and by sunday you will have to buy more cause they are all gone?  It's ok to have one or two but not the whole bowl.  Don't feel so guilty that you give up but just get right back on track the next day!

I am including a few clean recipes that i thought you might like to make for dinner on Hallowe'en night.  They will get you in the spooky mood and fill you up (so you don't cheat).  I've made them both before and love them.  They are from Tosca Reno's Eat Clean cookbook.

Creamy Pumpkin Tofu Soup

2 tbsp olive oil

1 cup leeks, white only, thinly sliced

4 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1 cup fresh pumpkin, peeled, seeded and cut into 1 inch chunks

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp fresh ginger, grated

1/2 cup silken tofu (must be SILKEN)

sea salt to taste

Add oil to a small fry pan and saute leeks until softened.  In a large sauce pan, add broth, leeks and pumpkin.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and cook 30 minutes.

Add garlic, ginger and tofu.  Simmer for 15 minutes.  Using a hand blender, puree soup mixture until uniformly smooth.  And sea salt as desired.  Serve hot

Makes 2 servings

Stuffed Roast Pork Tenderloin

1/2 cup cooked broccoli

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1/2 cup fine oat bran

1/3 cup walnuts, chopped

1/3 cup dried apricots, chopped

2 tbsp water or low-sodium chicken stock (left over from pumpkin soup)

2 pork tenderloins

1 tbsp black peppercorns, coarsely chopped

1 tsp dried sage

1 tsp dried rosemary

1 tsp dried thyme

Sea salt

In a medium bowl, combine broccoli, oat bran, walnuts, parsley, apricots and 2 tbsp of water or chicken stock.  Mix well and set aside.

Place pork tenderloins on cutting board and butterfly them-cut them in half length wise but not all the way through.  Using the blade of a large knife, flatten the pork tenderloins.  Spoon the stuffing into each of the tenderloins.

Fold one side over and tie with kitchen twine, starting at one end and moving to the other.  Sprinkle with the dried herbs, crushed pepper corns and sea salt.  Place in a shallow casserole dish.  Bake in preheated 350 degree F oven for 25- 40 minutes (depending on size) or until a meat thermometer reads 160 degree F.  Remove from oven and cover with foil.  Let stand 5 minutes.

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