Leveling Up: Achievement Unlocked – Five Pounds Down
Sorry I haven’t been writing Leveling Up posts lately. It’s been a lot of “stay the course” boring stuff like counting calories and working out. Although, I have to admit, my working out motivation has been low lately. I need to get my butt into gear and work on my off skates training. The season is just around the corner and I need to have my overall strength up to prevent injury. But I digress.
I have recently met the first major milestone in my weight loss journey, and that is I have past the five pound mark. I passed it about a week ago and am actually 6.6 pounds down today. This puts me slightly ahead of my one pound a week goal. This boring stuff actually works.
One of my biggest temptations is snacking, especially at work. We have carby snacks of all sorts throughout the office, just waiting to be picked at. It seems there is an endless parade of bagels, doughnuts, and cakes. To prevent eating all these yummy treats all the time, I have to make sure I’m full. This means having a well packed lunch.
I found the idea for mason jar salads on Pinterest. It’s been awesome for me. I can pack all my lunches on Sunday, and not have to worry about it the rest of the week. The one pictured here has (in the following order) balsamic vinaigrette, chickpeas, cucumbers, onion, orange bell pepper, and mixed baby greens. Just shake and eat. It takes me about an hour to chop and layer everything on Sunday, but like I said it’s only that one day. Protip: For some reason, organic baby greens seem to last longer when prepared in this way.
I don’t only eat a salad of course. I supplement it with an apple, 100 calorie pack of almonds, string cheese, and cottage cheese. All of these high protein, high fat snacks (with the exception of the apple) keep hunger at bay.
What are your tricks to avoid all the office food?
Week 5
Weight: 146
Body Fat: 29.3%
Cal a Day: 1309
Can’t speak enough to the power of chickpeas. There’s a recipe for oven roasted chickpeas I’ve played around with that make an awesome snack to keep on hand that helps at home or at work.
Sounds amazing! Care to share?
Here goes! Hope you enjoy 😀
1–3 cans chickpeas (as much as you feel like having around)
and the below to your taste:
salt
pepper
cayenne
garlic powder
olive oil
garlic
Parmesan
Rinse chickpeas and spread out on towels to dry. Let them get really, really dry, so that they are roasting, not steaming, when you put them in the oven.
Set oven to 425º, and when the chickpeas are ready, put them in a bowl and toss them with just a little olive oil, only enough to coat them lightly. (We’re not frying them.) Add a dash of salt, pepper, cayenne, and garlic powder to taste. Line a baking pan with parchment paper, spread the chickpeas out in it so that there is only one layer, and toss it in the oven.
Stir/turn chickpeas every ten minutes. While chickpeas are cooking, mince as much garlic as you like, and grate Parmesan. Keep chickpeas roasting until they are firm with a slight crisp, about 35–40 minutes. Pour into a bowl and toss with the garlic and Parmesan, stirring to coat with the cheese. Salt and pepper to taste, and serve.
These are outstanding hot; they also make a good nosh for several days afterwards, though they will lose their crispness.
Sounds fantastic! Thank you!
I have to do this!!! What a great idea!