Rebecca's Lunchbox - Tortilla Encrusted Tilapia

I often ask you guys what your stand-by's are when you need something fast and furious on the dinner table, because unfortunately... sometimes I am just too tired/bored/lazy to put the effort forth!

This is another one of my back-ups. Total baking time is only 12 mins., but with the heating of the oven maybe a total of 20?

I have to admit when I first saw this, I was skeptical first of all because the price seemed to be too good to be true.

This box is $10, I think, and contains 9 fillets (although I think it's more because typically I have 1 filet, Nate and my bro each have one and then share a half and we typically get 4 dinners out of a box...I think!).

Nutritional Information is muy importante! I'm ashamed to just now realize how long the ingredient list is....eeekkkk...

and served! with a side of salad (uh yeah... i remembered to take the picture after i had already eaten a substantial amount of salad!)


Verdict: Honestly, I love it! It is so easy and fast that while the fish is cooking, we are usually preparing the salad. It's slightly spicy but nothing wild and we sometimes serve it with the Trader Joe's chimichurri rice (that I have yet to review!) for a very Caribbean inspired meal!

If I were to have a gripe it would be that the fillets are on the smaller side. Great portion control for sure but I could probably eat 1.5 to 2 fillets.

Sssooooo...I ask you this every week and I'm gonna ask you again... any easy freezer, pantry stables you guys run too when time is short?

I know Susan loves her Kashi Fiery Rice, I've seen Nic feature a Kashi frozen meal or two... anyone else want to list of what their go to item?

excuse me... what's yerrrrr name?!

let me first apologize that I do not have my pics uploaded for today's lunchbox. in all of the excitement last night, i forgot.

oooppppssssss, my bad, but seriously, something happened last night at the gym that totally made my day, hell even my week! but... i promise to upload them tonight so i can post tomorrow! hot damn... 4 (maybe 5) posts this week?!

back story...

ya'll know how I'm doing Jillian's Winning by Losing (I know, I know, I said Making the Cut on my vlog....ooooppppssssss.....oh and btw.... starting Week 9 tomorrow...holla! that means only 3 weeks left and I've completed the entire routine!) and for that program, you need some stuff.

I'm usually lugging around this lil tote bag that has my weight lifting gloves, my jump rope, my notebook, pen, and Ipod. Then in the free weight area, I try to snag a corner where I can set myself up...my mat, weights, ball (these guys are always hard to come by!) and possible step bench. Needless to say, i always feel a tad silly. Most people are in this area with nothing but themselves, bumming around without a plan until their hour must be up and they depart, whereas me.. I'm bopping all over the place. Either doing routines right in my lil area or going to and fro from machines. Yes, I have felt self conscious although the longer I've been doing it, the less I care, mostly because I end up zoning into my own little world, focusing on form, not looking like a complete fool, breathing...

Yesterday was no different, and as I was in the midst of a hack squat, mouthing to my brother "keep on walking!" (i hate to say it but he's lazy and if could, would stroll on the treadmill at 2.0) when I see a guy waving his hands in front of my face. annoyed, because I am in the middle of a squat and since I got to the gym much later than anticipated, the last thing i want to do is small talk. the plan was to get in and get out, but ok... i pause my ipod, take out my earphones and this ensues..

Guy: Hi...I've seen you around here. You've lost some weight.
Me: Hi... yeah, I have.
Guy: Yeah..I'm a trainer and I've seen you in here quite a bit. Either in this corner or in that corner doing your thing.
Me: .....nodding...yeah....
Guy: I think it's great that your seeing rewards. So often people just come in here, dilly dally and then leave, but I really see a difference in you. How much have you lost now?
Me: Thanks....uhm...roughly 25 lbs.
Guy: That is awesome! How long has it taken you?
Me: Thanks...I've been at it for about 5 months now.
Guy: Great! Well, I just wanted to let you know your doing a great job!
Me: Thanks...
Guy: oh, by the way... I'm Bobby. What's your name?
Me: Nice meeting you Bobby. I'm Rebecca.
Bobby: Good meeting you too.. I'll see you around.

SHUT UP!? I swear that was such a surreal moment.... I've seen this guy around but he was out of his PT uniform and like I said, I wanted to get in and out so I was solely focusing on my routine.

and this brings me to a whole 'nother point. I so often see posts in various boards about how people feel stupid going to the gym because they don't know what they are doing or they feel silly because they are overweight and there but you know what... just get out there an do it! Hell... I still feel silly in the free weight area. When I first started out I was huffing and puffing. No one at the gym does jumping jacks, mountain climbers, or jumps rope... so yeah, as an overweight person, you stand out. and not that i know certain PT trainers were talking about me to their clients, I definitely questioned whenever I looked up and caught both looking at me, but you know what...5 months later, and a PT noticed.

a PT noticed a gym member slimming down and buffing up, without the help of a PT!

but no.... my story isn't over yet.... as i'm doing bench dips, bobby comes up to me again this time in uniform....

Bobby: Hey...How about I train you next week? (me: probably look annoyed and already on the defensive) Free of charge, promise. I think you've been doing great but try something new. I promise it will be fun.
Me: (I'll admit I was totally him hawing because come on now... I know he thinks he can get a client out of me but honestly... I wouldn't let half of our PT's train me, and HELLO.... obviously I can do it on my own) Alright. Why not. (Because yeah...why not?! at least I get a free session out of it!)

so yeah...next Wednesday 7 o'clock... although I may switch it to Tuesday now due to some family obligations....but.....

I just had to share...I'm so geeked!!! and totally reinforced that I am doing ok and that I won't give up now, because I really have come so far!

and isn't that the lesson learned... don't give up. you may not notice a change 1 month in, the change may be minimal in month 2 but if we always give up after month 3, we'll never know what we can truly achieve. and how often have we given up after a few weeks!?

We can do this ladies and gents... we just have to power through our lulls!

Mid Day Check In

how rare of me to check in before Wednesday but well, things are better (not great but better for sure) and i thought it's only fair that i spread some love and not just my misery.

oh and did i mention you guys are great. really, thank you! i don't say this enough but it really helps knowing others are going through this as much as i am.

one step at a time is really helping me out. it's not necessarily what i want to be doing but I catch myself before i get all caught up about the week or what else i need to accomplish, and reign it back in. i need to focus on today or even now, only.

i was tempted to work out last night but didn't. i wanted too for sure but i'm already on the verge of burn out and just can't afford it. today my bag is packed and it's the second stop before heading home.

it continually amazes me how long it takes to build muscle and just how fast they start breaking down. my 3 day break really left me feeling like a puddle of fat. it's obviously not the case but i can already feel less definition of my bicep and quadricep.

i'm really more focused today than i was yesterday. crossing over that 165 line, I had been seeing low 160's last week, freaked me out. it's funny how going down, 166 felt great, but having been at 162 and bouncing back up to 166 feels bad. horrible. fat. and it's not anything i want to experience again. i want to reach my 30 lb goal before i leave for Germany. it should be more than doable, and I would be ecstatic if I could reach 35 lbs lost. what can i say?! it just added to my motivation.

i've also changed up my eating this week, focusing more on salads for my meals and not as much processed soups so I'm hoping the mad cravings I experienced Sunday get put back to rest. life, for me, is easier when not experiencing these mad cravings and it continues to amaze me just how easily they can be triggered. it just reinforces to me that I am making the right choices when it comes to me eating.

that's it... just wanted to let ya'll know... it's all good in the hood.. =)

Weigh-In #18

Mind Set
This time of year always gets so busy and on top of the job situation, I'm just not a happy camper. I'm trying to stay positive and only focus on one day at a time but I like looking at the big picture. You know, once all the hard work has been done and I can just look and enjoy the fruits of my labor.

I need to stop focusing on what is going to happen in 3 weeks and make sure I get through today. I think I've let that little tidbit get away from me and unfortunately that is so very important in weight-loss. I need to focus on the steps that have made me successful and maybe, just maybe start saying No to a few obligations.

Food
The past two weeks have been hellish on my eating routine. The weekends have solely been spent eating out or out of routine. I could change it, refuse to go out, but it's life. This is a life style change and I only have now to figure out how to deal with it.

If anything, this has always been my biggest struggle. It is exactly why I've given up eating out as much I had. Sodium, portion size, preparation method... you can request all you want but in the end you don't really know what you are being served.

On top of that, I go through these phases were making a healthy choice is the last thing I want to do but I do it, and then resent what the healthy choice I just made only to unleash a ferocious binge.

Since we were staying with friends, I really tried not to be difficult. I was in control of my Saturday breakfast/lunch choices and with dinner I just flowed with it. They had swedish meatballs, egg noodles, salad and green bean casserole. I loaded up my plate with mostly salad, some green bean casserole and the salad bowl had the swedich meatballs and noodles. Sunday morning we had a great brunch of eggs, bacon and pancakes.

While at the race, I definitely enjoyed it more than I had planned, but it was by no means a free for all. There were these delicious homemade butterscotch cookies. I think I had 6 or 8, I can't remember but they were out of this world and I enjoyed every single one of them. I had a few chips here and there, maybe 4 french bread slices with some spinach dip, a few chips with guacamole... it definitely wasn't years of past.

Nonetheless, yesterday was hard for me, getting back into the groove of portioned eating. I had ice cream straight from the container and threw a 3 yr. olds tantrum when I couldn't have a CoolRanchDoritossnack at 10 when I was hungry. This is truly the first time, that I struggled getting my eating under control. I don't know if it was the sodium on top of all the processed food I ate this weekend, but all I wanted was more chips and chocolate!

Lesson learned: Friday on the way up to our friends cottage, I decided to "save" some points and skip my usual snack. well, in the name of hunger, i bought some reduced fat pringles, thinking I could have 1 serving...1 serving turned in 5. I was still hungry and ate the same amount of Points had I just eaten my jogurt snack. I know this. I have become so very aware that snacks like 100 calorie snack packs just do not fill me up. I need substantial food. Yes, I wanted to save Points for Saturday but instead I felt grumpy and hungry!

Fitness
I took an extra day off last week. Hey... shopping was more important on the list than working out. What what?! If that isn't an indication I'm not feeling it anymore, I don't know what is?!

I enjoyed my 3 days off and although I am not ready to go back, I must. Today is my off day but tomorrow I'll be back in the saddle. I've decided I may lay off the extra cardio I've been doing and just do my Jillian routine. I'm two days behind now and I have to catch up. It'll probably take me 2 weeks to get back on track.

Out of all times to burn out, the holiday season is not it!!! argh.....

This is it!
I gained 0.5 lbs!

fitting for my mood eh? and..... I don't care, which has me a tad concerned.

On one hand, I'm ecstatic... a half pound is nothing and probably just all the sodium from last nights sushi dinner.

On the other hand, nonchalant-ness is bad. very bad, and usually the beginning of the end. read: weight gain!

Obviously, life and other stressors are getting me down, but I have been a chronic dieter.

I am now trying to break this cycle, conquer it or at least learn to live with it, and thats hard!
I'm basically trying to retrain certain thinking and I know it will get easier, it just feels overwhelming at times, which brings me back to my 1st point..

one step at a time...

Dreamin' small

I've been having a rough week.

I don't know if I am just getting burnt out from all the working out, change in nutrition but damn, my body has not been cooperating.

It all started with calve aches, I blamed my almost year old shoes, so I got new ones but I'm not sold yet. My ankle started hurting Wednesday while working out. It only seems to flare up when I was jump roping and going up and down stairs.

My mood is just all over the place. I blame a lot of it on my job. I know I shouldn't complain but I hate it right now. It sucks so bad I actually think of all the stuff I could/would want to eat. I haven't had such thoughts in well, forever! I've been so grouchy, I've even been considering switching to maintenance for the rest of the year! WHAT!? I know... who is this person who's speaking!?

Last night's shopping trip sent me over the edge. Nothing fit right. Like seriously... I just wasn't happy with anything I tried on. Either too big or too small. I'm beginning to think that solid size 6 I'm wanting to become is nothing but a pipe dream. I'm the thinnest that I've been recently and shopping is still a goddamn drag. My size range has actually increased. I'm anywhere from a medium to an extra large and from a 10 to a 14!

The icing on the cake is the la di da attitude of merchants. Really?! Your doing that well financially that you can tick off a customer?! I'm not having it anymore. I refuse to pay $100+ for a pair of boots that have a scratch on the toe, and scuffed heals and to think your gonna get mad because I made you walk back to see if you had another pair?! Laziness people.... poor fricken laziness and my hard-earned cash isn't putting up with that.

The longer I sit at the job that I hate the stingier I get with my money. I think twice about paying full price for a pair of $80 jeans and no matter how much I liked that Michael Kors purse, I wasn't willing to splurge on it. Actually having a job I hate has me questioning a lot of things I buy recently. I'm not as quick to spend money on frivolous things, I'm thinking that maybe taking a paycut for not hating every single minute of every single workday could be worth going without the latest designer bag.

I'm in a funk.

This weekend is the Iceman, it means 2 whole days without exercise, and as much as I am already stressing about the scale, part of me thinks that I may just need some rest.

The last thing I want to do is get burnt out before the Holidays. The goal is to make it into the 50's before Christmas. I'm so close. I know I can do this. I just need to focus on what's important and let the rest of the crap not bother me.

Here here to a fun weekend that does not include excessive food and alcohol!