Architectural Drawings for Our New Home

Posted by on December 13, 2011 No comments

We are finally finished designing our new home in Lafayette, LA.  We hired an architect (Longo Architecture) to design the home, which took about 5 months from start to finish.  As of today, we are closing on the construction loan and construction will begin shortly (our builder is LR Mitchell and we have had a great experience so far).  We are expecting it to take between 8-11 months.  I will say that the process has not been easy and I would not recommend it for the faint-hearted :)

Our house is going to be built in the Fernewood Subdivision of Lafayette, LA.  Here is a map.

Here are a few pictures from the architectural drawings:

Front of the Home

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Watermelon Smoothie Recipe

Posted by on May 30, 2011 No comments

This is a great summer smoothie when the seedless watermelons start appearing in stores.  It’s only 105 calories and very addicting.

Ingredients

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a blender and turn it on.  Drink. That’s all.

How I Lost 30lbs By Having Fun & Eating Food I Enjoy

Posted by on May 28, 2011 2 comments

Today, I hit a new milestone – 30 pounds lost since I started the process of getting healthier 117 days ago.  I’ve also left the BMI zone of “obese” (hopefully forever) and now I am only “overweight” (I’ve graduated from fatty to fatso).  It’s also the “halfway” point to my total weight loss goal of 60 pounds (154lbs target).

Since I’ve been doing this for about 4 months now, I think I have a good idea of what works for me and what doesn’t.  I think some people are in the same boat as me, so I thought I’d share what I’ve discovered.

Here’s my weight graph, starting from when I began at 213 pounds:

Track your food and exercise

You’d be surprised what you learn when you start writing down what you eat and how much you exercise.  Certain foods made me go “yikes” (like potatoes and cheese) when I found out how caloric they are.  Other foods (like beans and chicken) made me go “more please” because they are low calorie and very filling.

Studies have been done that show that people who write down what they eat lose more weight than people who don’t, even when they aren’t trying to change their diet.

I use MyFoodDiary.com to track my food intake and exercise.  It works.

You don’t have to exercise to lose weight, but you’ll probably be hungry all day

Once you figure out your calorie goal for the day, you can lose weight by simply meeting it.  But, you’ll probably be hungry.  My goal is around 1700 NET calories a day (or less).  That means if I don’t exercise, I can eat that many calories in a day.  However, let’s say I burn 200 calories by briskly walking for 2 miles.  Then, I can eat 1900 calories and lose the same amount of weight.  This is a vast oversimplification, but that’s basically how it works.

Now that I’ve figured this out, I make it a point to do some form of exercise every day, and I never feel hungry because I have calorie “wiggle room” to make it work.

Here is my net calorie consumption (calories eaten minus calories burned through exercise):

Now here is my actual calorie consumption, before exercise.  See how I get to eat more and still lose weight? :)

It’s all about WHAT you eat but even more about HOW MUCH you eat

You have to eat the right kinds of foods.  For me, that means food that is somewhat low calorie, low fat, and high fiber.  But, you can pretty much eat whatever you want and still lose weight, you just have to eat it in the right portions.  I LOVE potatoes, but they are pretty much void of nutrition.  But guess what, I still eat them a lot.  I just make sure to make the portion pretty small.  Same goes for fast food, snacks, etc.

Eat food that tastes good and fills you up, and don’t eat food you don’t like

I know how to cook pretty well, and I like food enough to not eat food that I don’t like.  You can cook hundreds of meals that taste good and still fit within your daily calorie allotment.  Herbs and spices and other exotic ingredients go a long way in improving the flavor of otherwise “bland” foods.  I can make a side dish of smoked lemon brocolli that tastes better than french fries.

Going out to a restaurant is OK

Go out to eat and enjoy the food.  But don’t do it too much, just once or twice a week.  And if you know you’re going, try to eat light for the rest of the day to “save up” for it.

Exercise needs to be fun for you or you won’t do it

You’ve got to find things that you enjoy or you won’t do them.  Sheer willpower will only take you so far.  If you’re trying to get healthier, it’s going to be a long multi-month or multi-year process, and willpower doesn’t last that long.  So, don’t rely on it.  Instead, find things you like to do that are also exercise.  For me, that means riding my bike, walking my dogs, and playing racquetball.  I HATE TO RUN.  For you, it might be something completely different.

Also, try finding some podcasts or audiobooks to listen to while you exercise.  I am currently listening to Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand (63 hours long courtesy of audible.com) while I ride my bike.  So you can get your learn on while you get your burn on.

I can’t believe I just wrote that.

Be public

Announce what you are doing to you friends and family.  Public humiliation is a great motivator to keep you going :-)

 

I’m writing this from 35,000 feet

Posted by on April 17, 2011 4 comments

Thanks to Gogo in-flight Internet I am posting this from an airplane on the way to Vegas. It was $10 bucks for wifi access for the entire flight and it is FAST. This is the future. I bet we’ll have ubiquitous internet everywhere in about 3 years…cars, flights, subway, etc.

A few things we plan to do… See Carrot Top, see the Beatles inspired “Love” by Cirque de Soliel, Hoover Dam tour, zip line tour, walk the strip. We’ll be here for 5 days.

Baba ghanoush, a healthy and delicious snack

Posted by on April 14, 2011 No comments

Here’s another recipe that’s low calorie and high in fiber and most importantly, tastes good.  It’s made primarily from roasted eggplants.  If you think you don’t like eggplant, think again.  Something magic happens after you roast them and they just taste like mmm mmm good.

Baba Ganoush is a very popular Middle Eastern dish made primarily of eggplant and tahini, a paste made from sesame seeds.

I like to eat it with pieces of toasted whole wheat pita bread of for an even lower calorie option, these Wasa Crispbreads.

Ingredients

  • 3 medium eggplants
  • 1/2 cup tahini (roasted sesame paste) – you can find this either by the peanut butter or in the “ethnic” section of the grocery store.
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
  • 3 tablespoons freshly-squeezed lemon juice
  • 3 cloves garlic peeled and smashed
  • 1/8 teaspoon chile powder
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375F (190C).
  2. Prick each eggplant a few times, then char the outside of the eggplants by placing them directly on the flame of a gas burner and as the skin chars, turn them until the eggplants are uniformly-charred on the outside.  For a super smoky flavor, do this for 15 minutes. (If you don’t have a gas stove, you can char them under the broiler.) Note: I like my baba ghanoush REALLY smoky (extra flavor with no added calories), but if you want to tone it down, then reduce the time that you cook the eggplants over the open flame.
  3. Place the eggplants on a foil-lined baking sheet and roast in the oven for 30 minutes, until they’re completely soft; you should be able to easily poke a paring knife into them and meet no resistance.
  4. Remove from oven, slice lengthwise,  and let cool for 10-15 minutes.
  5. Open the eggplant and scrape out the pulp using a spoon, being careful to not get any skin.
  6. Puree the pulp in a blender or food processor with the other ingredients until smooth.
  7. Taste, and season with additional salt and lemon juice, if necessary. Chill for a few hours before serving.

You can store it in your fridge for about a week, it gets even better with time.

Nutrition

A serving of 4 tablespoons (I dare you to eat just 4!) has only 70 calories, 5 carbs, and 5 grams of fat. Eggplant is very low in Saturated Fat and Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Vitamin K, Thiamin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Potassium and Manganese, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber.