Weigh-in Wednesday

Holy Mackerel I am so glad I took "before" pictures when I first started Weigh-in Wednesdays. When you're losing weight, like anything, it's usually so gradual (unless you're one of those crazy motivated exercising types that lost your baby weight in a week - Kristie... :p) that you never really notice the changes. I mean, you feel your clothes get looser and so on but part of you convinces yourself that it's just stretched out. It's not until I look at the photos below that I go HOLY CRAP, 18 lbs is a lot of weight! I notice it most in my waist/tummy area, especially in the profile shot... it's really no surprise that's where most of my weight was seeing as I was PREGNANT (duh!). Literally, when I took those before shots I thought it was useless. I remember I used to post pictures every few weeks and never looked any different so eventually I just gave up posting them. I'm kind of glad I did because right now I'm feeling pretty good about myself which is a pleasant surprise and a rarity for some of us post-baby Mommas (scratch that, most women are overly self-critical of themselves, it's not limited to Moms).

I finally got my new properly-fitted running sneakers on Friday and they are awesome! I ran on them the first time Monday morning and was so relieved that I didn't have any joint pain, foot pain, etc. when I was done... I specify types of pain because the rest of my body hurt like heck but not my feet and joints! :p tee hee hee.

Dan and I ate like crap last week - I've been super stressed about finding a job and sleeping like a** as a result. Excuses, excuses, I know but c'est la vie... I'm an emotional eater (who's not?). Anyways, I was pleasantly surprised to see I had dropped a half pound on the scale this week... and by pleasantly surprised I mean SHOCKED. Typically, with only a half pound lost I would say I didn't lose any weight but seeing as I'm only 2.5 lbs from the goal now, half-pounds are starting to become more significant!

I got a new recipe for you this week... good for Mommy and Baby! Now, similar to my Black Bean Brownies, don't get caught up in the ingredients - be open minded.

Cauliflower Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

1 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Flour 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/4 cup dried cranberries 1/4 cup chocolate chips (I used dark) 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 1/4 cup canola oil 2 eggs 1 cup banana puree (a.k.a. mushed) 1 cup cauliflower puree 1 tsp vanilla extract

(1) To make cauliflower puree, I boiled a 1/4 head of cauliflower for 10-15 mins until soft, threw it in the food processor (without water) and voila, that's all.
(2) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
(3) Mix all your dry ingredients together in a bowl, excluding your sugar - flour through to cinnamon.
(4) Mix remaining ingredients together in separate bowl with a large whisk.
(5) Combine two mixtures and stir until well mixed
(6) Spoon into muffin pan to make 16 muffins.

Each muffin is about 125 cals. They taste pretty yummy (definitely not like cauliflower - which I hate) and this is a great way to sneak veggies into food for your babes, makes a great snack for them. You should see Jane's face when she tastes the chocolate!

Here are the details in case you need to see it clearly laid out:
Starting weight: 157 lbs
Current weight: 139.5 lbs (officially saying I'm in the 130's now)
Pounds lost: 17.5 lbs
Pounds to lose: 2.5 lbs (basically like a good pee) ha ha ha