After a few weeks of maintenance and smartly eating whatever I wanted, within reason….I lost 3 pounds! Woot! No weight gain over the holidays and a little bonus of a few pounds lost is definitely worth a celebration since it brings me to over 70 lbs lost! Now we dance…
Aaaand today is January 3rd. Happy Birthday Professor Tolkien! It’s a good day all around. Later, I will get today’s hardcore hobbit recipe up. First, I need to go torment my husband who is attempting to sleep in. Ha!
No updates this week as this hobbit family is going to explore a far away part of the shire for the week. Looking forward to celebrating a lovely yule by the fire with water views! Ofcourse, we picked a place with a kitchen so when we get back I will make up the lack of posting with a bunch of tasty treat updates.
Have wonderful holiday from this hobbit household to yours.
See you next week!
Posted in Babble
I’m considering going into maintenance mode for a bit. Allowing myself a bit more in the calories and fat department simply for the month of december while all these holiday cookies come out. It would be a great trial run for when I achieve my goal weight. I can’t believe I am just 16 pounds away! So crazy. Sheesh, if I had of known I could do this so easily and eat such nummy things I would have done this years ago. Such a silly hobbit I am. I don’t expect to see much weight loss this month, mostly I’m working on avoiding weight gain.
I can’t believe it’s been almost a year of eating this way. It certainly has paid off. Weight has been lost…granted, I find I get cold easier. I lost my cold protective layer! I knew I must have been keeping it around for something…thankfully I can replace it now with really cute sweaters and such. I have definitely found I am happier and healthier, I am definitely more willing to go out there and actually do stuff rather than slug around the house. Not that slugging around the house is bad, everyone needs to slug once and awhile. It’s good for your inner mollusc…admit it, we all have some mollusc tendencies. Have I talked about slugs enough yet?
Anyways, yes the recipes will continue. Afterall this is maintenance, not a hog wild omnomnom fest. I would really hate to undo all this hard work. Basically I am giving myself a little more but still watching. Let’s see how that works out shall we? Then I will hop back onto the weight loss train refreshed in the new year. I figure a year of working this hard deserves a small break. I really hope I can maintain without gain.
Wahooo! It’s official 60 pounds lost as of today! All while still keeping to my hobbit nature. At my goal I should make a hardcore hobbit feast of some kind to celebrate. Hmmm, need to think about what foods to do special for that. Any ideas?
So, its been awhile since I have gone shopping for clothes. I’ve gone in and out of style so many times it just amuses me these days. Well with more and more clothes becoming not suitable for public wear…unless I feel like randomly mooning folks. Which, don’t get me wrong can be loads of fun with the right group of people…though finding said right group is not likely to happen in the middle of a superstore. Belts can only do so much. My mom graciously gave me some shopping spree money to celebrate the progress so far. Today, I finally got around to spending some of it. It is desperately time to shop for a new sports bra. I am currently in agility training with one of my pups, Kaylee. With all the lifting, bouncing and running involved I was starting to find I was letting the wrong puppies free. If you get my meaning…so the journey begins.
First I went to the plus size store I’ve been going to for well, almost a decade now. She measured me up…then informed me they had nothing for me. I am too small around the torso for their sizes. This came as a surprise. Even though I’ve lost all this weight I don’t own a full length mirror and have always preferred my clothes baggy. The impact of it is lost on me I guess. So I left there…kind of weirded out. Since I have a lack of girl friends out here to shop with I’m sort of clueless as to where to proceed next.
I received word that a major clothing store in town was having a sale on all its workout clothing including sport bras. Skeptical that I was in their size range I waffled about going. My husband insisted otherwise, it was near the mobile phone place he wanted to visit anyways so off we went. I arrive to find that all the sport bras left on the rack were small and extra small. No way that miracle was going to happen even at my goal weight. I’m not an itty bitty titty girl sadly. So I was a bit sad. Until my husband and I discovered that some of the tank tops had built in bras. Atleast that meant this week I would have something to deal with the houdini puppies issue. Atleast until I figure out another place to brave getting a sports bra from (I sort of ran away in fear from la vie en rose simply due to new size fear). Then my husband points out the workout pants, and the cute shirt that could go over top…and then what do I think about that hoodie? Well with all these cute things before us…then loomed the big question.
What size?
In the past these things would not have fit me even at their largest. So this was a bit of a nailbiter for me. I grab an xxlarge, xlarge, and large (after some prompting). In the change room, as usual, I avoid looking in the full length until the clothes are on. I decide just for a lark to try on the large first…and to my shock, it fit. It fit attractively. I look in the mirror sideways and realize for the first time that I actually am thinner. It was kind of a shock really. The other shock being I actually liked the pink shirt a lot…but that’s another story. So the wii fit wasn’t lying to me, I actually have gone from omg obese to meh overweight. I will be sure to take back the things I said about its mother later. I will never be the svelte things my more celtic inspired sisters are, they get that from their dad. Hence my more hobbit like look but atleast I’m on my way to being a sexay hobbit! So I walked out of there with a tank top, shirt with reflective stuff for walks (which my other pup Godric adores), yoga pants (I have a cute butt! Who knew?), and a hoodie for cooler weather most of which was a size large. All for just 50.00…oh yeah. Still I felt indulgent getting all those workout clothes, after all I had a perfectly good t-shirt I have had for a decade and such. Husband has informed me this was not acceptable workout gear. Apparently cuteness is now required with working out. That and moisture wicking…pfft. New fangled clothing technology.
After all that, I walked away simply shocked. Today, I actually shopped for clothing in a regular store and didn’t even buy the biggest size available. With all my focus on food and numbers I kind of forgot that meant I was actually shrinking. I mean really, who loses clothing sizes eating poutine, deep dish pizza, potato skins, sliders, sloppy joes, blackberry tarts, lembas, etc? Heh, I guess hungry hobbits do. Go figure. Now to get over my fear of those clothing stores and their regular sized clothes. I’m not a clothes horse by any means. Most malls make me want to run away screaming within 30 minutes. This will be challenging but in a good way right? I so need a hobbit t-shirt.
So as part of our decompress after my parents left my husband and I decided to have a lovely little spa getaway. Part of our spa getaway had to involve a foodie indulgence ofcourse. Our indulgence was the endless tapas at a resort called Tigh Na Mara. Oh my! What an inspiring event. I love tapas, who doesn’t love tiny little tastings of delicious food? Such variety and so beautifully executed. It really gave me some great ideas of little tapas that I would love to recreate with my own healthier touch. I think I will now take the time to give a shout out to a few of my favourites from the experience.
Marinated Calamari
Cilantro Sticky Rice, Sesame Seaweed: I’m not usually a fan of Calamari but this was done perfectly…what started out as an “o.k. I’ll try it” quickly turned into an “omnomnom” clean plate.
Terrine of Smoked Salmon
Fromage Frais, Cedar Jelly: This was the first time I have had cedar jelly. I am in love.
Grilled Flatbread
Caramelized Red Onions, Goat Cheese, Smoky Bacon: A classic really. You just can’t go wrong with goat cheese with me.
Mipkozola, Musk Ox Prosciutto
Mountain Cranberry Compote, Pumpkin & Sesame Seed Cracker: This has inspired us to give a stab at making our own custom crackers. Looking forward to sharing a success with you guys!
Crisp Skinned Local Cod
Smoked Sea Salt, Edamame Beans, Shiitake Mushrooms: This was a black cod and it was delicious!! The beans and mushrooms with this were just divine!
Crab & Shrimp Roll
Avocado Mousse, Corn Relish: This roll was presented in a rice paper. I love rice papers and am always looking for more excuses to use them. I am definitely going to see about making my own version of seafood roll.
Caramelized Prawn
Vancouver Island Blackberry Port Reduction, Nanoose Organic Greens: The blackberry port reduction on this one stole the show! I am always making fruit based dressings and this one just blew me away.
Tamarind & Lime Marinated Lamb Chop
Lemon Cous Cous: I am almost always disappointed in lamb served to me at restaurants it is usually badly prepared. These guys were genius at it. It was cooked perfectly. Sadly the tamarind did not shine through as much as I would have hoped but they made up for it by having such beautiful lamb. The couscous was so full of flavour, I will definitely be adding lemon to my couscous in the future.
Alberta Game & Chipotle Meatballs
Grain Mustard & Honey Aioli: I heart aioli. This aioli was perfection!! It paired beautifully with the meat…and I probably could have licked the plate clean…if I weren’t such a lady…in public. Hehe.
Raclette & Yukon Gold Potato Croquettes
Smoked Tomato Jam: Oh raclette…how do I love thee? These little guys reminded me of miniature crunchy cepelinai (don’t worry if you don’t know them, it is a lithuanian dish of uber awesome with potatoes and lamb. My bobbi was the queen of them.) I think the big ground breaker here was that my emphatically anti tomato self loved this jam. I asked how it was done. They took cherry tomatoes, cut them up, smoked them, then made jam out of them. This must be attempted sometime I think. The smokey sweetness was just NUM!
Another shout out of course to the amazing staff out there especially Devillier (I imagine I have just destroyed the spelling of his name) whose knowledge and love of the food made the experience truly complete. Fantastic and inspiring. I must make tapas and one day return to the spa for another round of naughty endless tapas.
Posted in Babble
Oh my! I was getting ready to write up my latest nummy recipe and saw that yesterday was apparently my 100th post!!! Wow!
Better late than never eh? The first 100 really snuck up on my there. On to the next!
Posted in Babble
So my first challenge is over. In January I signed up to do this challenge which then inspired me to do this blog. It said it wanted me to lose 58 pounds by today. I lost 46…only 12 pounds off…I’d say thats pretty good! I may not have won that cross canada challenge but I really do think I’ve won overall. I have lost more weight than I thought I could and it is definitely fueling me on to lose more and reach an ideal weight. So, with this challenge ending I’m going to set myself up with a new challenge. Yes, that ofcourse means this blog will continue on. The tasty, healthy, geeky, gourmet food will keep coming. I still have so many ideas, how could I possibly stop now?
This first challenge was pretty easy I think. The hard times are soon to come. To reach a nice ideal weight I think losing another 38 pounds would be great. They always say it’s those last few pounds that are always the hardest to lose. We will have to wait and see. Granted, I did sort of have that mid weightloss slump there. There was a moment when I stopped and went…haven’t I lost enough? Can’t I just sit here for a bit and chillax. No! I can’t lose momentum now. I will get there…afterall, I’m already over halfway there! So after pondering it for a bit I figured giving myself a time frame was helpful. It gave me not only a weigh goal to reach but an estimated time line to reach for as well. So after some careful math (I counted, yay me) and Einstein like logic (didn’t you hear me? I counted. Yay ME!), I have decided that November 29th is my hopeful date for goal weight achievement. This gives me a goal and time to spare for some boxing day shopping the next month, Perfect for rewarding myself with a brand new wardrobe I should be able to afford. Last year when we went shopping I had expressed to my husband a wish that “next year, my boxing day clothes shopping will be for much cuter and smaller clothes.” I think, I’m going to get my wish…eventhough I did say it out loud and totally broke all those good wishing rules. Bad me.
So there it is. Three cheers really. A hurray for completing the challenge, a hurray for learning that yes I can do it, and finally a hurray for now having the momentum to finish the job. Hey why not add a fourth hurray for losing all that weight while eating like a hobbit, risotto, deep dish pizza, ice cream cake, strawberry tarts, curry, scones…oh wait, I haven’t posted those yet…hehehe. More fun foods to come and ofcourse more hardcore hobbit to be eaten as well. A big thank you to the folks who have been supporting me so far, your comments and encouragement mean an absolute ton to me (I mean it, there is squeeing…I have mentioned I am a huge geek right?). I hope you keep on visiting me here as I head for the final half! I always keep the fire burning and healthy snacks here just in case.
One Hungry Hobbit
Audra
Officially 40 pounds lost!
I may not be losing as fast as the challenge wants me to but atleast I am losing it and with the tasty foods and tasty gaming foods I want to eat. Eventhough I won’t “win” at the challenge, I definitely see it as a win. My mom informed me on the phone yesterday that during her visit in august she is going to buy me some new clothes to celebrate. Woot! Granted, when she gets here I won’t be at my ultimate goal yet. Still, definitely worth celebrating. I hope she notices a difference in me after all this work. I hope she isn’t expecting to come here and find me model thin like my sister. I don’t intend to ever get to that weight. I’m too solidly eastern european built for that silliness. My sisters were blessed with a more celtic build from their daddy. Freaking elves, they are taller than I as well. As most tend to be *sigh* ANYWAYS. Hurray for 40 pounds lost. Looking forward to 50.
Just a friendly note before you delve:
Hungry Hobbit recipes update when inspiration strikes. Things have gotten busy in the shire, something about a dwarf king wanting his kingdom back or something.
Any nutritional values I give in connection with my recipes are only approximate. I don't have a lab to go burning foods in hehe. I just use resources to look up the ingredients and divvy them up according to the portion sizes.
So my word on the values is not almighty...it is just approximately almighty...ya know.
The progress so far!
In the Food and Drink Catagory! Thank you so much everyone! You guys rock!
The Hungry Hobbit's Foodie Blog 