Mel Gets Fit

As promised, I’m here today to announce the winner of my giveaway for an autographed copy of Rocco DiSpirito’s Now Eat This cookbook. There were a total of 38 entries, so I plugged 1 to 38 in over at random.org to let them pick the winner. Without further adieu, here’s the result:

Congratulations, Audrey! I guess you’re in luck and don’t have to hit up Amazon now after all. Please drop me an email with your mailing address and I’ll get the cookbook out to you next week.

Until next time …

Tags: Giveaway

Before I get to the Thursday Three, I want to post a reminder that tonight at 11:59pm PT is the deadline for entering the Now Eat This cookbook giveaway. So, if you want a chance to win, this is the last call for entries.

Christy put out a call on Twitter last night asking for suggestions for this week’s Thursday Three over at the Sisterhood. She got some great suggestions from lots of folks and settled in on using ideas this week from Heather, Nancy, Brooke, and Kristen.

From Heather (@Mama_Sass):

What are your three top A-ha moments?

1. The first major a-ha moment I had to begin this whole weight loss journey was when my mother had a heart attack at 58 years old. While she was carrying a bit of extra weight at the time, it was nowhere close to my weight. Given the history of cardiac issues on that side of the family (her father & brother also both had heart attacks in their 50′s), I realized it was time for me to do something.
2. The next major a-ha moment for me came during a business trip recently to Washington, D.C. I realized that if I didn’t do something again about getting the weight off that I would likely have to start requesting a seat belt extension when flying. I absolutely.do.not want to go there.
3. Like many people, I had a photo a-ha moment. Seeing photos of myself from the San Diego Rock ‘n Roll half marathon as a part of Team Shrinking Jeans definitely got me back on track and restart this journey in earnest.

From Nancy (@bacrdimama):

What are your three top motivations quotes? (Ok, so I put four, sue me. )

1. Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another.
   ~Walter Elliott
2. When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.
   ~Lao Tzu
3. Although no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.
   ~Roberta Brenick
4. Forget past mistakes. Forget failures. Forget everything except what you’re going to do now and do it.
   ~William Durant

From Brooke (@smartstrongsexy) and Kristen (@girlstrong):

What are three of your favorite easy/healthy recipes?

1. Bulgur with Peas and Pomegranate
2. Mexican Slow Cooked Pork Carnitas
3. Lemon Garlic Chicken Crock Pot Recipe

Ok, so what about you? Chime in on your blog or hit me up with comments here. I would love to hear your responses as well!

Until next time …

Tags: Sisterhood, Thursday Three

Tags: Food, Fruit, Wordless Wednesday

I had the day off today, so life is good! Since I knew I would be off today, I’ve been planning all week to make one of my favorite recipes from Rocco DiSpirito’s Now Eat This cookbook which has quickly become one of my favorite cookbooks.

Yes, I was indeed fortunate enough to receive a complimentary autographed copy from Rocco earlier this year and have tried several of the recipes since getting it. I haven’t tried anything yet that I didn’t love which is pretty amazing. He has done such an amazing job of transforming some classic comfort food favorites into much healthier versions. Every recipe in the book is less than 350 calories, and a good portion of them come in under 300 calories! There’s even a section near the back of the book with healthier versions of some classic sauces (Hollandaise, tartar sauce, salad dressings, etc.) which is really nice.

Anyway, as I was cooking the dish this afternoon, I began to question why on earth I waited for my day off to make it. This recipe is so quick and easy that I could easily have done it any night after work in no more than a half hour. That’s my kind of recipe for weeknight cooking.

No Cream-No Cry Penne Alla Vodka:

Now, you may be asking yourself how it looks so rich and creamy without any cream in it. Well, Rocco substituted lowfat Greek yogurt in place of the heavy cream one would normally use in this dish. Genius! It helps this notoriously unhealthy recipe come in at only 320 calories and 5g of fat while still retaining all of the wonderful thick and creamy properties of a vodka sauce that we all know and love.

I do need to mention one thing at this point. I completely spaced and forgot to pick up the fresh basil called for in this recipe when I was at the market earlier this week. I substituted some dried basil instead. As a tip, just remember the 3:1 rule for substituting fresh and dried herbs. For every 1 tbsp (3 tsp) of fresh herbs, substitute 1 tsp of the dried version. Conversely, if a recipe calls for 1 tsp. of dried herbs, you could substitute and use 1 tbsp of fresh instead. In the case of this recipe, it calls for 1 cup (16 tbsp) of chopped fresh basil. The math works out like this:

16 ÷ 3 = 5.33

I rounded down and used 5 tsp of the dried basil. It wasn’t quite as good as when I’ve made it in the past with the fresh, but it still worked just fine.

For my dinner tonight, I paired the pasta with 5 ounces of a nice Riesling from Chateau Chantal and a green salad (not shown in the photo below). Riesling wines go quite nicely with Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, so it worked well with this dish. The pasta comes in at 6 points on Weight Watchers, and my 5 oz. of wine was another 2 points. Since I only used a tiny bit of balsamic vinegar on the greens, that was 0 points. So, I ended up with a really nice meal (with wine!) for only 8 points. Gotta love that!

If you are interested in this recipe, you can find it online on Oprah’s website. If you want to compare it to Rocco’s original version of Penne Alla Vodka, check it out here. Holy Smokes, no wonder it’s so good with all that heavy cream!

On the other hand, if you want to get ALL of the wonderful recipes from this cookbook (listing of recipes available here), then you are in luck! Not only did Rocco send me a signed copy for myself, he also sent a second signed copy for me to give away here on my blog.

Ok, let me say right now that I can’t believe I’m actually doing a giveaway right now considering I’m moving in two weeks! Oh well, at least it will be one less thing to move, right?!

Here are the rules for entering this giveaway (please be sure to follow the rules or you won’t be entered):

1. Check out the list of recipes in the book and then leave a comment letting me know which one you would like to try (Minimum entry).
2. Receive an additional entry by Tweeting about the giveaway including both @MelGetsFit and #noweatthis in your Tweet (leave a separate comment letting me know).
3. Receive an additional entry by blogging about the giveaway and linking back to this post (leave a separate comment with the link to your blog).

As you can see, there is the possibility of having a total of three (3) entries for the drawing. Please remember to leave a separate comment for each entry. Contest ends on Thursday, August 26, 2010 at 11:59pm PT. The winner will be selected using random.org and will be announced in a separate post here on my blog on Friday, August 27, 2010.

I do have a version of comment moderation enabled on this blog to help minimize SPAM. If you’ve not previously commented on my blog, your comment will be held for moderation. So, please don’t panic if you don’t see your comment appear immediately. I will be processing comments several times per day. Once I approve your comment, it will then be visible. Thanks!

Good luck!

Until next time …

Disclosure: I received two copies of “Now Eat This” for purposes of review and this giveaway. No monetary compensation was provided. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.

Tags: Giveaway, Now Eat This, Rocco Dispirito

It’s Wednesday, so that means it was Weight Watchers and time for another check-in for the Down & Dirty in 30 challenge over at the Sisterhood. I was down 0.6 this week. While it’s definitely less than I had hoped for, it’s still a loss and that’s all that matters.

Here’s my weekly stats update:

I love how eTools on the Weight Watchers site shows you the average weekly loss now after you enter your weekly weigh-in information. I don’t remember that being there when I was a member in the past. I think it will definitely help me keep small losses or gains in perspective in the overall scheme of my weight loss journey.

So, how was your week?

Oh, one last thing before I go … I’m going to be posting a giveaway on Friday for an autographed cookbook. I thought I would give you all a little cover tease to whet your appetites. Yes, pun intended.

Until next time …

Tags: Down & Dirty, eTools, Giveaway, Progress

Ok, is it just me? Ever since I’ve started seeing ads and previews for the new movie “Going the Distance” starring Drew Barrymore and Justin Long, I’ve had this song stuck in my head.

Hmmm…just listening to this song really makes me want to go for a run. However, I’ve promised myself I would wait until I get some more weight off first in order to reduce the risk of injury. That’s a big motivator for me right now with my weight loss journey. I.want.to.run.again!

Until next time …

Tags: Movies, Music, Running

Thanks to a tip from a fellow Weight Watchers member, I found out that tanga.com is offering Weight Watchers Magazine at an incredible deal today. It’s only $2.99 per year! The normal subscription price is $14.99 per year, so this is an amazing offer. Click the image of the magazine to go directly to the WW deal on Tanga. Oh, and if the regular $14.99 price shows up for some reason, just use the coupon code “LOSE” to get the $2.99 price.

The big catch is that you need to order quickly because it’s one of their Product of the Day deals. You can order up to 4 years at this price ($11.96 total) with free shipping.

I had been a subscriber to the magazine on and off over the years, but eventually dropped it when I moved to California in 1997 because I just no longer found it very appealing. The magazine had been sold off to an outside publishing company and it was just never the same after that.

I learned a couple of years ago that Weight Watchers had repurchased the magazine and was once again publishing it themselves. I picked up a copy at the newsstand to see if things were any different. I was pleasantly surprised! The magazine was back to being the wonderful resource I had once known and loved. Each issue comes with plenty of tasty recipes, exercise workout plans and tips, and the ever-popular Success Stories (my personal favorite!). Tory, the person from whom I learned about this deal, has been a featured Success Story on the WW website and has even been in some of their commercials.

So, if you haven’t checked out Weight Watchers magazine in a while, this would be a great time to do it. For less than the cover price of a single issue at the newsstand ($3.99), you could enjoy a full year (6 issues) of a great magazine.

Until next time …

Disclosure: I was in no way compensated, nor did I receive free merchandise, from either Weight Watchers or Tanga for this review. I’m just a customer who wanted to pass along a great deal to my readers.

Tags: Deals, Tanga, Weight Watchers Magazine

Yes, in case you missed the big announcement yesterday by Roni, registration is now open for FitBloggin’11! The festivities will be taking place in Baltimore, MD at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront on May 20-21, 2011.

I was so disappointed that I wasn’t able to attend FitBloggin’10, so I hopped right to it and registered for FitBloggin’11. I can’t wait! I’m really hoping to get a chance to hook up with some of the gang from Team Shrinking Jeans while I’m there, too.

Of course, knowing I’ll be meeting up with a bunch of amazing fitness bloggers is definitely motivation to make sure I stay on track. I would love to lose 50 pounds between now and then. If I’ve counted correctly, FitBloggin’11 is 40 weeks away, so my goal seems very realistic. That would also put at over 100 pounds down from my all-time highest weight back in 2001.

It’s actually kind of ironic that I would now have a reason to come up with a weight loss goal for FitBloggin’11. Setting goals was actually the topic at my Weight Watchers meeting this week. Here is a photo of my leader discussing the ABC’s of goal setting:

Anyway, will you be going to FitBloggin’11? If so, please leave me a comment with a link to your blog and/or your Twitter @name, so I can follow you and get to know you before the conference. If you’re here, you already have my blog address. You can also follow me on Twitter as @MelGetsFit.

Until next time …

Tags: FitBloggin'11, Goals

Wow, I can’t believe how quickly this month is passing! It’s hard to believe it’s already time for weigh-in #2 for the Down & Dirty in 30 challenge for the Sisterhood, so I headed over to my Weight Watchers meeting on my lunch hour. I had another successful week managing to drop another 1.2 pounds. This brings my total loss since giving myself a fresh start up to 10.6 pounds so I got my 10 pound star today!

I always wanted to apologize for going nearly a week since my last update. Work is just incredibly busy these days. I’ve been working 10-12 hours days trying to get myself up to speed with my new job responsibilities since my recent promotion. Hopefully things will settle down soon so I can get back to posting at least a few times per week.

Until next time …

Tags: Down & Dirty, Life, Sisterhood

Oops! I’m a day late with my Thursday Three, but better late than never, right?

April posted this week’s Thursday Three over at the Sisterhood. We started our new Down & Dirty in 30 challenge for the month of August. For this week’s Thursday Three, she asked everyone to share three things about themselves that other folks in the challenge might not know about us. I’ve done another post similar to this in the past with embarrassing moments/fun facts, so I really had to put on my thinking cap to come up with three new ones.

Here goes:

1. I used to choreograph color guard routines (flag & rifle) for marching band. I was the co-captain of my high school color guard, and got to help out a little bit with the choreography. While I was in college, I spent part of each summer teaching at band camps and also choreographed the routines for the high school where my brother was the band director.

   If you aren’t sure what I’m talking about, here’s a great example from the best of the best, the drum & bugle corps of DCI (Drum Corps International). Back in those days, I used to dream of being a part of the Madison Scouts (my favorite corps). Unfortunately, they were, and still are, an all-male corps, so that left me out. Hmmm…perhaps this point should have just said, “I was a band geek.”

2. I’ve been on a hot air balloon ride. A friend of mine booked a surprise wine tasting and sunrise balloon flight over Temecula Wine Country when he was out for a visit. It was gorgeous!

   

3. I am obsessed with a fan of University of Tennessee sports, especially football. My love of UT sports developed when I was just a little girl. My grandfather was a student at UT before having to drop out of school in 1930 due to the Depression. One of my fondest memories as a child is sitting with my Pap in the living room on a autumn Saturday afternoon watching UT football and eating King Leo Soft Peppermint Sticks. The funny thing about that is that I don’t actually like peppermint anymore, but I loved it then.

What about you? What are three things about you that I may not know? Please post about them in your blog and leave me a link in the comments. If you don’t have a blog, just leave them as a comment. I would love to know more about my readers, too.

Oh, and speaking of the Sisterhood, I just want to send out a massive welcome to Ryan of No More Bacon. He is the newest contributing member to the site and will be adding the male perspective. Welcome aboard, Ryan!

Until next time …

Tags: Fun Facts, Sisterhood, Thursday Three