I’ve always prided myself on my interesting serendipitous cooking techniques. Baking is my specialty. I can bake insanely complicated recipes and put my own flair on the simplest of creations. However, I’ve never been much of a cook. I like to call my cooking techniques serendipitous, meaning that I just take random ingredients from my pantry and refrigerator and put them in a pot and hope for magic.

Being in the #fatoff has given me a new approach to my serendipitous cooking. I’ve found I’m a pretty good chef even when I am taking careful consideration of what I am putting into my body. When I first started watching my nutrition I was doing just the basics and every meal I had was the same. I have a feeling that most of my lunches might be that way as some of my nightly dinners during the week. However, this weekend I started getting creative. I bought some delicious scallops and pan grilled them with some broccoli and pineapple for dinner on Friday. Yesterday I had a delicious breakfast of brie covered mushrooms and egg whites along with grapes.  Today, I made myself some sauteed peppers, onions, mushrooms, and zucchini mixed in with some beef and tossed in tomato sauce. Trust me, the picture does not do it justice. It’s delicious.

I’m excited to see what else I can come up with on my own and from the inspiration of others. I’m also looking forward to the day I can have tea again… and Sweet Republic However, for now, I am truly enjoying how good food can really be, even when I’m the one making it.

The tortoise was slow.
The hare was fast.
The tortoise came in first.
The hare came last.

Our first weigh in for #fatoff was yesterday evening. I knew it wouldn’t be pretty going into it. That only made me more focused to come out ahead in the end though. I admit they aren’t good excuses, but having my birthday and vacation lined up right at the beginning did not give me a great head start. I was down .2 lbs early in the afternoon yesterday. Then the new diet happened. Jason put me on a different eating plan and I ate so much food between afternoon and evening that I showed a weight gain.

I’m the only one not to lose any the first set but this is not going to stop me. In fact it’s that kinda come from behind that usually helps me come out ahead in the end. While the money would be nice, I really just want to come out ahead for myself. I want to be able to keep up with the boys when I’m gone and then some. I want to be able to do pull ups again which I haven’t been able to do in ages.

Tonight I tested my will power greatly. I’ve learned that while most of the time I am stubborn, when it comes to needing to push myself to do something, my stubbornness turns into will power. I had previously made arrangements to go to a Yelp event with a friend today for dinner. I stuck to my commitment, well, I stuck to both of them. I went and enjoyed three amazing glasses of water. I gave my drink tickets to Andrew, who invited me. I passed on all the delicious food that filled the place, and I rejected all temptation to try anything. This was hard. It was a place I’ve been wanting to visit forever. When I came home, I discovered I was down a little over a pound from last night. Score!

I think this is going to turn out fantastic and I am so grateful for all of those that are helping. Thank you to James Archer for getting all this started. Thank you to Jason and Competitive Fit for pushing me and really helping me achieve what I am looking for. Thank you to all my friends today that understood that I needed to kick in my will power and not have dinner out with them. Thank you to my friends and fellow contestants that are supporting me constantly. Please push me. I need it! And I can handle it!

Today marks the second day of my workout routine at Competitive Fitness in Chandler. I thought I’d periodically post my thoughts and progress in case others are interested and to have something to measure myself.

Saturday was my initial assessment. It was the hardest 7 minutes of my life. I was timed on a set routine that included:

• 500 m row
• 40 squats
• 30 sit-ups
• 20 push-ups
• 10 pull-ups

By the time I was finished it felt like a half hour had passed. Everyone there while I was cheered me on the entire time too and helped push my limits. It was fantastic. However, I was extremely light headed and had a slight headache that stayed with me most of the day. My legs were a little sore but nothing like how sore they felt four hours later as I got ready to head out for my last birthday bash. I had trouble the rest of Saturday and all of Sunday walking up the stairs of my house and even sitting down. It was brutal. Several times I thought I was going to fall down and not be able to get back up.

Sunday is my typical day of rest so I did some walking and that was about it. My legs were still pretty sore. By Monday morning I was able to go up and down stairs a little faster but I could definitely still feel the ache in my quads. Directly after work I changed and headed over to the gym with a bottle of water. It was pretty packed. The workout on the board for the day was 30 pull-ups, 30 weight lifts, and 30 box jumps. This was repeated three times and timed. I started off by warming up on the treadmill, rowing a bit, and doing some arm exercises. Then it was game time. The first 30 pull-ups were a breeze. The weights were a little more difficult but not that bad and I blew through the box jumps fairly quickly. Time for round two. A little more difficult. The pull-ups still went a little easier but the weights were hard. At the end, they were made a little lighter for my 3rd round. The box jumps went a little slower too. By the time I reached my 3rd set I had to take a huge break. However, everyone there was cheering me on, one particular cheerleader was really helping me by cheering and helping my technique and ways to get through the routine. The pull-ups still took a lot longer. When I headed to the weights my side started hurting a bit and I really had to go slow. I felt like a wimp, but I was determined to finish. I was cheered and encouraged all through the end and I finished at just under 19 minutes.

I didn’t come in last. I didn’t fall on my back like a turtle. My side hurt when I was done but I was helped through working it out and starting to feel better. It was amazing. It was a little bit of torture but I was so glad when I finished. i was asked if I was going to come back or not and without a doubt I am. Today when I left my quads were sore, but I still felt like I wanted to get up and more around more. I know things will get easier. I just need to stick to it.

Thank you Jason, Sally, and all of Competitive Fitness! If you haven’t seen it, read my Yelp review.

Ha. Yeah. I love that title.

So, anyway. There’s a weight-loss competition going on in the Phoenix area. The rules are that everyone involved forks over $100 and whoever has the most percentage lost at the end wins it all. It lasts 8 weeks and weigh-ins are every 2.

It wasn’t so much the money for me, as I was the 2nd person to sign up. However, there are now I think 16 people in the challenge. That’s a big pot of cash.

For me personally, I guess the easiest reason to state for wanting to do this is to get in shape, though it’s really more complex than that. Well, and because I love anything where I have a chance to beat a bunch of boys

Wish me luck all. It’s game on!