22lbs in 4 months, New Shoes and Homemade Habenero Hummus!

So I've been trying to take a photo of my body every +/- ten pounds so I can see where I'm developing and how things are coming together for me. Based on my photo dates I've lost 21.6 pounds since 8/31/2011 and I see a difference in these photos - mostly in the hip/abdominal area.  I'm really muffin-topping in the underpants I wore for the photo on 8/31/2011, and they actually fit me without the muffin-topping in January. For the sake of continuity I wear the same bra/underpants in each photo. So, for giggles I decided to compare my measurements from September's weigh in (closest to the date of my first photo set) and from January (again, closest to the date of the last photo set) and here are the results:


September to January
Bust : Down 2.25"
Waist: Down 1.75"
Abs: Down 4.75"
Hips: Down 3.0"
Right Thigh: Down 3.25"
Right Arm: Down 0.5"

I was really super thrilled to see my abs down by almost five inches, but I was shocked as all heck to see that the next closest contender was my thigh down three and a quarter inches. I've been really trying to focus on the parts of my body that I like, rather than spending so much time focusing on the parts of my body I don't like as much. The photo above-left is a photo of my weaker arm (left) and forearm. I'm actually really thrilled with the definition I'm beginning to get in my upper body.

In other news I went to the gym yesterday with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law and finally got a weight on my chest press: 90 lbs in 12 rep/3 set. That's amusing! I'm not aiming to be a hard-hitting heavy lifter but I do love establishing my baseline for what I can make sure I'm pushing myself to do in the future. B-I-L also taught me the most wonderful abdominal exercise that requires nothing but one other willing participant. It's actually fabulous, I'm excited to stop and really try it out.

Women's Octoflex Performance Runner

I've also bought myself a new pair of shoes (finally) as the other pair I have are starting to show (and smell) their age. They've been with me through a lot of walking, training at the gym and a zombie 5k through the stinky mud and more. So, I've now purchased their replacements and can't wait to try them out. One of the downside of the other pair of sneakers I own (Fit and Tone) is that they are designed with a rocking bottom to apparently help tone your butt whilst walking. Who knew if they helped or not, but there has been a pretty massive recall of the sneaker design in all companies because it is throwing people's spinal alignments off.

The Octoflex runner is, design-wise, as close to a pair of Vibram Five-Fingers as I'll be able to afford anytime soon. On special at Payless shoes for only $19.99 I hope to find that they treat me well for at least the next year. As you can tell from the picture (left) the sole is entirely bendy and as long as the shoes are well fitting it really feels like you're moving without a whole lot of shoe holding you back. So far I'm impressed with them but I haven't really had the chance to take them out and give them a spin since I just got them today. More on my shoes in the future!


Tonight also saw another first: My very first go at making homemade hummus. I must say the results were so delicious that I polished off the entire batch, by myself, in my belly in no time at all. I'll definitely be making this recipe again as a great alternative to expensive store-bought hummus that is also loaded with preservatives and salt! My recipe is here:


1 can Goya low sodium chick peas (rinsed)
3 tbsp AC Vinegar
1/4 cup strained tomato
1/2 green pepper
2 tbsp minced garlic
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 tbsp flax seed (toasted, w/o oil)
2 tbsp EVOO
1/2 habenero pepper
cayenne to taste

Toast flax seeds for 30 seconds on Med-Hi heat. Use 1/2 of the olive oil to fry garlic, onion, green pepper until veggies soft and garlic browned. Add everything together in a blender and blenderize. Add water if needed to get blender action going. Final product should be thick. Chill and then eat!

That's all for tonight, folks! 

Eggs out
xx