Beer Drinker Appreciation Society - Closed (Page 59)

Good job getting the miles in. 

A cure (or at least temporary pick-me-up) for February blah's:

Genius Chocolate-Chip Blondies  - (makes an 8×8 pan)

• §  1 1/2 cups chickpeas or white beans (1 can, drained and rinsed) (250g after draining)
• §  3/4 tsp baking powder
• §  1/8 tsp baking soda
• §  level 1/4 tsp salt
• §  3/4 cup brown sugar or coconut sugar (See note below, for substitutions)
• §  2 tsp vanilla extract
• §  1/4 cup ground flax or quick oats (20g)
• §  1/4 cup peanut butter (or other fat source) (see nutrition link below, for lower-cal options)
• §  optional: 1/2 cup chocolate chips (Not “optional” if you’re CCK!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Blend all ingredients (except chips) until very smooth in a food processor (not a blender). Mix in chips, and scoop into a greased (or tinfoil-lined) 8×8 pan. Optional: for “prettiness” you can stick some chocolate chips on top of the batter as well. Bake for around 30 minutes. They’ll look a little undercooked when you take them out, but they firm up as they cool, and you don’t want them to get hard.

 (based on 15 squares)  Calories: 95

• §  Fat: 2.5 g
• §  Carbs: 15 g
• §  Fiber: 3 g
• §  Protein: 2.5 g

And:  

No-Flour Black Bean Brownies  (gluten-free)

• §  1 1/2 cups black beans (1 15-oz can, drained and rinsed very well) (250g after draining)
• §  2 tbsp cocoa powder- dutch or regular (10g) (add a little extra if desired)
• §  1/2 cup quick oats (40g) (See nutrition facts link below for all substitution notes.)
• §  1/4 tsp salt
• §  1/3 cup pure maple syrup or agave (Honey will work, but not for strict vegans.) (75g)
• §  2 nunaturals stevia packs or 2 tbsp sugar (or omit and increase maple syrup to 1/2 cup)
• §  1/4 cup coconut or vegetable oil (40g) (See “nutrition facts” link for all substitution notes.)
• §  2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• §  1/2 tsp baking powder
• §  1/2 cup to 2/3 cup chocolate chips (115-140g) (Not optional. Omit at your own risk.)
• §  optional: more chips, for presentation

 Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine all ingredients except chips in a good food processor, and blend until completely smooth. Really blend well. (A blender can work if you absolutely must, but the texture—and even the taste—will be much better in a food processor.) Stir in the chips, then pour into a greased 8×8 pan. Optional: sprinkle extra chocolate chips over the top. Cook 15-18 minutes, then let cool at least 10 minutes before trying to cut. Makes 9-12 brownies.

 Per Brownie:

• §  Calories: 115
• §  Fat: 5.5g
• §  Carbs: 15g
• §  Fiber: 3g
• §  Protein: 2.5g

They taste like real brownies, at half the calories.  You can eat the whole pan and it's still only about a thousand calories.  The blondies especially blew my mind.  

Great recipes Charles, I will definitely try those brownies!  Last night the wife, oldest son and I all went to the gym for about 2 hours.  It was great, the wife was doing arms with a friend, I did my cycling and some legs workouts and our son just had to try every piece of equipment in there!  Ha ha he thought it was so awesome getting to go to the gym for the first time!  

Today, I have an appointment with a personal trainer to get an assessment of where I am at and going to have him evaluate my current training and hopefully recommend a strength training program to add in with my run and bike training.

Everyone get out there and get your training in today stick with your nutrition plans and lets meet our goals together!  Hope everyone has a great day! 

From my experience, I think we fall into the trap of deleting food groups or things that we love in order to lose weight. We reach a breaking point and go off the rails, sometimes for a day or a week or a month. We have to keep in mind that whatever we do to lose weight has to be sustainable. I think portion control is key. I have a digital scale in my kitchen that is well used. I eat all the things I love good and bad, just not as much as the bad. I have salad or veggies etc.(watch the dressing!) before I dig into the main whether it be steak or kentucky fried chicken. 

Stay with this great group and we will all help each other be successful! Any gains that I have made have been a result of the groups I have been in. Accountability! 

Now stop having a pity party,  suck it up, start counting calories and get out there and do your workouts!!! 

Have a great day everyone!!

A good point.  I would add that a lot of it is adjusting to new foods.  Two years ago, the only seafood I would eat was the beer-battered kind.  Now, the seafood I eat is limited by my wallet, which means lots of tilapia and pollock, and not so much shrimp and mahi mahi.  Dinner tonight is ten ounces of pollock and some cous-cous.  Ten ounces for 200 calories and 45g of protein.  Those cheap, generic, boring fillets are going to hit the broiler with some salt and garlic and are going to be flaky and awesome.  

Another substitution was bread - I spend a little more on the Sara Lee 45 calorie whole-wheat, but compare that to 110 calories in the old bread, per slice - a savings of 120 calories, for the same net nutrition.

Here is another that I find that helps me. Leave the food in the kitchen or on the stove. I find if it is on the table with me, I will keep eating it!

Thats a great idea thor, now that I think about it helps me too.  This topic aligns with a visit to our doctor this morning.  I got into a conversation with the doctor about diet and weight gain.  Essentially the american diet is ridden with high sugar carbs (bagels, pasta, white bread....) that are full of preservatives.  Our culture tends to eat these foods late at night when our body is tired and doesnt have the energy try and break them down. She suggested that if you are going to eat these foods try to eat them early in the day and dinners should be mostly protein with a small side of carbs. 

My first response was "cool pizza for breakfast!" but in all seriousness it makes sense. With this and portion control you shouldnt have to completely remove things from your diet.

I just started doing this, at least when veggies are offered.  I go to these lunches with tasty sandwhiches and cookies and veggies. I used to take, like, all the sandwiches and all the cookies.  It was obscene.  So now, I take a couple sandwiches a load of cut vegetables and a cookie.  The vegetables take me a good 20 minutes to get down.

I need a technique when vegies aren't offered though, like tomorrow when I go to my god daughters 6th b-day, pizza and cupcakes.  I stand no chance.

fwiw, it wasn't until I realized I could really only make one long lasting change or change one bad habit at a time that I was able to make progress.  There are people out there who can crush a diet and an exercise plan all at once and drop a lb a week.  I think those people are very rare

.......and possibly psychotic.

swim today. p90x stretch. I love that DVD!

Knee still sore and ITB still tight. 

Keep the faith and let's all have a good weekend. I head to dog land in East Texas Saturday. It will be easier for the dogs to eat me if my leg does not get better! Maybe that well help me get below 200lbs!

Question for the group.  My wife got me a beginner road bike for valentines day and im looking for a cycling computer.  Any recommendations?

I only used it once.  But, my buddy has the 610 and  has been running with both since he got the switch up and says they are similar performance wise.

For me, I think the switch up has a 8 hours of battery life compared to the 310s 20 hours.  The 305 has 12-14 hours I think.   For me, sometimes with biking and running I go through 4 hours in a day, I would be charging all the time.

Also, for a longer race 8 hours isn't enough.  That said, the switch up has that battery pack for an extra 16 hours which would be sweet for sure.  It also means that if the batter dies you don't have to buy another frigin watch, which I have done with the 305 every year for 4 years.

The only thing that really bugs me about the switch up is that they have a special usb cord.  So if you lose that you got to get a new one.

I am looking forward to taking both watches out for a hill workout to see how the barometer in the switch up dials stuff in.

Like I said, I got it for 100 bucks.  I couldn't say no.

also concider trying both on.  They have a different feel on the wrist.  Probably just because I am far more used to the 305, but I prefer how it feels significantly.

Oh, also cool with the switch up is that you can set it to vibrate instead of beep at split times, which I think is kinda neat.

It's going to get better AND there is always going to be beer.  The Hal Higdon plan is great and will help you avoid injury while getting you to the start line. Once you get back to exercising - I believe your eating will fall in line.  Good luck on the 200 pound goal and let me know how I can suport you.

One suggestion on volume is to use smaller plates.  Stop using the big dinner ones and go with something small.  You're eyes will be fooled and you'll be in a better position to control your portion sizes.  And know that the long you do it - the easier it gets.