Last Weigh in for November 2012

So it's Friday again!!! That means that it's time for another weigh in. And this time I can actually be proud of myself. And we have my cousin Katie weighing in today as well. Yay! And I've decided that next week, being that it will be the first weigh in of the month, we'll post pictures of us in the same outfits so you can actually see our progress. We'll continue this on the first Friday of every month until those outfits no longer fit, then we'll find another smaller outfit and use that until we don't fit and so on.

Danielle Hughes

This is me, Danielle Hughes, age 25 on the 30th of November, 2012, and I weigh in at 193.0 pounds. I have lost a total of 7 pounds since my first weigh in.

My cousin, Katie

This is my cousin Katie, age 22 on the 30th of November, 2012, and she weighs in at 126.8 pounds. Katie has lost a total of 5.6 pounds since her first weigh in.
I'm so proud of us! Here's hoping we keep up the good work! Til next time..

Black Friday Weigh In

Well, it's Friday which means weigh in time has come again. This week only I will be weighing in as my darling cousin Katie is out of town with her mother for the holidays. Yay Katie! But continuing, I've got to say that I am pretty ashamed of myself. I had been doing good all week and was down to 195.4lbs which meant I had lost 5lbs, Yay me. But then comes Thanksgiving. The sad thing is that it started Wednesday night, I was hosting this year so well before dinner time my kitchen was pretty well occupied by Thanksgiving stuffs. So I was like screw it, let's eat out, I deserve Chinese food one last time before I go all crazy diet again. And then it was Thanksgiving and I was like I'm not going to be able to eat like this again until Christmas! And then my dad brought over this lovely wine, Gnarly Head Old Vine Zin, if you're a fan of zinfandel you should give it a try, and when I drink I have this tendency to eat more and I went nuts. Like my fingers are still swollen and I think I ate half a turtle pie. Yeah. It was like that. So I really really blew it last night. But for the part everyone's waiting for... The weigh in. :(

On Friday, the 23rd of November in 2012, I, Danielle Hughes weigh in at 201.2 pounds.

Yeah. I gained 1.2 pounds. Not good. I have a feeling that I am retaining quite a bit of water and that tomorrow or the next day I'm going to magically lose 5 pounds (that's how it worked when I started the diet) and that will be all good and well, though I still feel like crap today. Here's hoping that tomorrow will feel less crappy and that next week I'll actually have some results for you guys. Til next time, buh bye! 

Pre-Turkey Day Rant

So it's like officially holiday time with Thanksgiving being only 2 days away, and I've got to say it makes me hate dieting. It has me all frazzled about dieting and holidays. I'm currently leaning towards "ha ha, screw it I'm going to eat whatever I want on holidays!" but there's that sick little voice inside of me saying "but you have a weigh in on Friday and how totally embarrassed would you be if you slowed your progress?!" So as you can see, I'm pretty torn. So far I have been sticking to my diet like what and I've lost 5 pounds, which has me pretty happy. I mean I have given my daughter cookies without so much as licking my fingers! I am really trying to actively lose weight, why should a holiday be any different than a crappy Monday? Oh yeah, because my family expects me to cook them a lovely Thanksgiving dinner and I would cry if I slaved over a stove for 4 hours to pick at the turkey breast and munch at some celery while watching my family devour the super awesome yummy food I made. And I can't change the menu at this point either. The menu was already posted to my family, everyone has something to bring, there's just no changing it. I don't know. I suppose I'll just diet up until it's time to eat Thanksgiving dinner and then on Friday start up with the diet like nothing ever happened. Then on Christmas I'll just plan something healthier I guess. But I'm still eating a flippin Christmas cookie.
That was my little rant, and I'm done. See you on Friday!

A Little Help From My Friends

Okay, so I know that I totally suck and have neglected this blog hardcore but that's all going to change. Recent events have pretty well flipped my life upside down and made me realize how pathetic I've been acting. I've been super lazy about dieting and exercising and I still have the nerve to bitch about how I'm fat and not losing any weight. Pathetic, right? Yeah. But no more! I am going to be taking charge of my life and accepting that I am responsible for my weight gain. It's not my husband's fault for wanting pizza, it's my fault for ordering it and then eating half a large pizza and a bunch of breaded wings and a liter of soda.
But moving on from how pathetic I've been to some quick updates. My super awesome cousin Katie has come to stay with me for a while and we've pretty well been partying for the past 2 weeks. And in those 2 weeks, we have both managed to put on about 10 pounds and we like freaked out. So I mentioned my little weight loss blog (she only knew about my makeup blog) and we got to talking and now she's going to help me with this a bit. Well, maybe help is the wrong word... She's joining me in my goal for weight loss (though she does have a lot less to lose than me) and has given me permission to document her weight loss as well as mine. Which, for me, is very helpful. It's just like additional support for me and it will totally help me stay on track.
So last night Katie and I decided to go to Meijer and pick up some of the things we needed to achieve our goal. We picked up a scale and tons of healthy groceries. We decided to do the South Beach Diet because it seems like just a really healthy lifestyle and I have read a ton of reviews from various magazines and blogs about how the South Beach Diet is extremely effective and super healthy all around.
This morning we started our day with a weigh in. Every Friday we are going to weigh in and post our current weight to monitor our weight loss over time. I'll also include exactly how much weight we've lost since starting this. So heeeeerrrree we go!

Danielle, 16 November, 2012; 200.0 pounds

This is me, Danielle Hughes, on the 16th of November in 2012. I am 25 years old and stand at 5'6" and weigh in at 200.0 pounds. I need to lose 50-60 pounds to be at a healthy body weight. This picture really depresses me to be quite honest. I have really let myself go. I mean, for real, I look like crap when I'm not sucking in my gut and wearing clothing layered in such a way as to hide my fat.

And from the side.

And now I'm more depressed... This is like the way I looked when I was 7 months pregnant, no joke. And no, I am not pregnant, and yes, I am sure. 

Katie, 16 November, 2012; 132.4 pounds

This is my cousin Katie, also on the 16th of November, she is 22 years old, stands 5'2" and weighs in today at 132.4 pounds. She is currently at a healthy body weight, she just wants to lose a few pounds and be a little healthier.

And the side

So far things are going pretty well, though considering we haven't even made it through 24 hours yet, that should be expected. The first 2 weeks of the South Beach Diet kind of suck, pretty much just protein and veggies, which is a bitch to adjust to. But we shall persevere!!!! Haha.. But we got this. After the first 2 weeks is up we can have bits of other stuffs to give a bit more variety to our palettes. 

I suppose this is all for now, I'm going to order a Pilates tape this week and I'll let you guys know when we get it and set up a work out schedule or whatever. If I come up with any kick ass SBD recipes I'll post them. But if I come up with nothing, I'll at least talk at you next Friday for our next weigh in!

Kick Ass Kale Soup

I am a total sucker for soup; I just love it, especially this time of year. I found this recipe a few years ago and being that it is super healthy and totally delicious I thought sharing it seemed appropriate. And if you've never cooked with kale, it's really easy. You just rinse the kale really well to make sure there's no dirt hidden in the folds of the leaves and then rip the leafy bits away from the spine. Afterwards just rip the kale into little pieces. Totally easy.
Now fair warning, this soup has a fairly long prep time because there is a LOT of chopping involved, though if you have a food processor it will probably only take a few minutes. I don't have a food processor so the prep time on this is based on chopping by hand not when using a food processor.

Prep Time: Approximately 30 minutes
Cook Time: 25-30 minutes

Ingredients
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 large bell pepper chopped (I like orange bell peppers because it just brightens the soup up a bit)
1 large onion chopped
1 cup carrots chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
2 cups red potatoes diced
6 cups kale ripped into bite size pieces (approximately one bunch of kale)
1 - 16 ounce can white kidney beans rinsed and drained
4-6 cups chicken stock
Salt and black pepper to taste
Approximately 1tsp each of thyme, sage, oregano, rosemary, and basil. I don't measure it, just add to taste.

1. Heat olive oil in a heavy bottom soup pot over medium high heat. Add onion and cook for 5-7 minutes or until lightly browned. Add bell pepper, carrots, and garlic and saute for 5 minutes.
2. Add potatoes, kale, beans chicken stock, salt, pepper, and spices and bring to a boil. Cook for about 10 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
3. Add additional stock or water if soup becomes too thick. Let sit for about 5 minutes after cooking and serve. Enjoy!