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Review: AJ Bombers’ #fitmke menu items

It’s official, the Fit Milwaukee team asked me to be a regular contributor at the blog and I’m super excited. They even have my bio posted on the site. :)

I just wrote my second post, and this time it was a review! AJBombers has three #fitmke menu items and I tasted them all (it’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it). Here’s a sneak peek:

Baked ‘Shroom Burger: 475 calories*, $5.50

The Baked ‘Shroom Burger isn’t your typical burger offering. It’s a big ol’ Portobello mushroom topped with cheddar and munster cheese, lettuce and tomato. It’s also my favorite item on the AJBombers menu. The Baked Shroom is juicy, flavorful and a little on the messy side, so make sure you have some napkins handy. I cannot rave about this burger enough. I’ve never been a big mushroom person, but you can hardly tell you’re eating a giant mushroom instead of beef. The Baked ‘Shroom is very filling and sure to satisfy your taste buds.

For the full post, head on over to FitMilwaukee.com. Oh, and yes, I did use the phrase “Don’t butter my buns” in this post. You’ve been warned.

*Note: I paid for all of my meals and was not compensated in any way by AJBombers for this review.

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A test in self restraint

Today, a tasty cupcake sat on my desk for more than 3 hours before I ate it.

The fact that I was able to see it there, taunting me, for more than 3 hours without eating it is a huge accomplishment.

As you can see, it was a yellow cupcake with marshmallow fluff topping dipped in chocolate, topped off by a conversation heart.

I wanted to see how long I could go without eating the cupcake. So I took pictures and tweeted this morning. My goal was not to resist the cupcake forever… it was to see how long I could resist it. You see, normally I would have eaten something like this in less than 5 bites and I wouldn’t have savored every bite. I wanted to teach myself that just because something is in front of you, doesn’t mean you have to eat it.

  • #1: 9:15am Look at that beauty.
  • #2: 10:15ish I pushed in the heart candy so it wouldn’t look so appetizing.
  • #3: 11:15ish I bumped it (by total accident) and had to lick part of the fluff off my finger. darn.
  • #4: 12:00ish I ate the candy heart and squished that fluff so it would look gross.
  • #5: 12:20ish I licked one side of it.
  • #6: 12:40ish I couldn’t help myself, I licked the fluff and chocolate off the top of the cupcake. And then something magical happened. I didn’t feel like finishing it. So I threw the bottom part away.

Sure the marshmallow fluff wasn’t super healthy, but I don’t want to keep myself from eating the foods I enjoy, but just less of them. Sure, I ate the candy heart, the fluff and the chocolate, but I didn’t eat the cake.

Baby steps.

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My workout tools and my aching knees

Here’s what I’m using right now – my brand new Asics Gel Kushon 2 running shoes, Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day shred DVD, a yoga mat and a pair of 2 lb free weights.

I just got the shoes yesterday at Kohl’s. Already I can feel a difference… the gel cushioning is great for shock absorption, which, let’s be honest… when you weigh 267 and you’re jumping around, there’s BOUND to be some stress to the knees and ankles. I’m hoping that these shoes will help alleviate some of that stress, because my knees are killing me.

I thought that a day of rest would help, but it didn’t. I tried just walking the past 2 days, but it hasn’t gotten better. I’m sure that standing for four hours on cement at the Pettitt didn’t help, but seriously, WTH.

I’ve been using biofreeze and that helps, but I’m not sure what else to do. Do I rest another day? Do I push through it?

I’m sure they just hurt because I haven’t worked out in so long and carrying around 267 pounds can’t be easy.

Le sigh.

Ok, enough complaining. Today I did day 6 of the shred and it was ok. I haven’t done the shred since Wednesday, so I feel like I went backwards a li’l bit. I will have to be more diligent with it to complete my 30 day shred challenge.

I’ve been doing pretty well as far as my diet goes… Friday night I went to Comet Cafe with my sis and I got the Baked Chili Mac… which was ahhh-mazing (see below). I ate less than half of it and felt sick the rest of the night. Lesson learned.

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Weigh-In Wednesday (a day late) plus yummy food porn

It’s Weigh-In Wednesday, Thursday edition because I didn’t get a new battery for my scale until today… drumroll please…..

272.0…for a total of 2.2 lbs lost in one week.

HOLLER! That’s even WITH my not-so-good weekend.

So before I do a li’l celebration dance, I have a few more things to share.

First, I bought Jillian Michaels’ 30 day shred DVD today at Target (bonus $2 off coupon = $8 investment, not too shabby). I did level 1 today. It’s about a 20 minute or so workout… and boy am I feeling it. But I know I done good… so I’m happy about that. Hopefully I won’t have to stay at the level 1 “easy” stage for long.

Second, I found an awesome app for my Droid that will help me keep track of weight loss, calories, etc… AND it has this cool barcode scanner feature… which will look up your food item in its database. I’ll have to do a video blog about it someday, but until then, check out Calorie Counter from Fatsecret.com.

Third, we have food porn.

I sauteed a chicken cutlet from Whole Foods in some Wildtree Grapeseed Oil and Garlic & Herb Blend… along with a shredded zucchini. Then I added some cherry tomatoes and some fresh mozzarella. ZOMG. Soooo good.

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Weekend away not so great for the new me

I got back from visiting my friend Holly in St. Louis late last night. I had a great time catching up with her and all my STL friends, but the weekend was not necessarily kind to my new lifestyle.

I tried to eat as healthy as I could (getting a salad instead of fries, a grande latte instead of a venti, etc), but I still made some poor choices. I was on vaca though, so I get a free pass, right? Right?

So I’m home now and working on my food/exercise plan. I’m hoping to join a gym this week and today I spent a small fortune on veggies and other healthy goodness from Whole Foods.

Here are some of my ideas…

  • Go vegetarian or vegan approximately 1/3 of every month (just to switch things up a bit)
  • Eat mostly organic or natural foods (no artificial fillers, preservatives or other yuck)
  • No more fast food
  • Cut back on eating out
  • Pack lunch the night before
  • Meal plan a week at a time
  • Make better choices
  • Still enjoy my favorite foods, just less of them (PORTION CONTROL)
  • Continue drinking lots of water
  • Do yoga with my #fitmke #wlc buddy at least twice a month
  • Go to the gym 2-3 times a week (working up to 4-5x/week by April 15)
  • Workout with a partner 1-2x/week
  • Try some workout dvds (yoga, pilates, 30 day shred)
  • Run a 5k in 2010 (RUN… not walk)
  • Keep a food diary and work hard to have a balanced diet
  • Buy new gym shoes and workout clothes
  • Not be afraid of the scale… which means I need to change the batteries.

I’ve also joined DailyMile… you can follow me here. I tried SparkPeople but I think it might be too much for me to keep up on.