Can I just say that I was hoping you wouldn’t notice that my big fan fare announcement April 1st was operation bad ass kind of lost steam towards the end of the month?
Well after receiving the 14th email from blog readers asking me how the month went, the answer is simple. I stayed exactly the same. Which in and of itself is not a bad thing. Last month my brother was diagnosed with cancer. A part of me was like “why bother with this whole weight loss and exercise when life could be short and why not enjoy more wine, pizza and cheese? 
I should know this about myself now – making grand statements on my blog isn’t going to guilt me into doing what I need to do. The answer is simple – move more and eat less. That’s my goal for May. Just that. 
I had leftover mashed potatoes so I decided to make mashed potato and zucchini pancakes for part of my breakfast. These didn’t crisp up like shredded potato pancakes, but the flavor was delicious. And you can’t go wrong with the bacon and cheese on top. Maybe that’s my problem too – too much bacon and cheese. 
Mashed Potato and Zucchini Pancakes
- makes 2 servings (2 cakes each)
- 173 calories, 7.7 fat, 20 carbs, 2.2 fiber and 6 protein
Ingredients
- 8 oz. shredded potato (I used the fresh bag from the store – Ore Ida brand I think)
- 1 cup shredded zucchini
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1 egg, beaten
- salt and pepper
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
Mix all ingredients together and form into patties. Heat oil over medium high heat, and cook about 4-5 minutes per side. I made these before work and then just put them in a container to assemble at work.
Once at work, I put the patties on foil. Split a scrambled egg between the two patties, topped each with a slice of cooked bacon, then .4 ounce of American cheese on top (which was 1 slice of American cheese, split in two).
Put under the broiler for about 4 minutes, or until the cheese is all melty. Next time I’ll use a less busy plate – it kind of gets lost on the plate, but this was delicious – with strawberries on the side, breakfast comes in at 461 calories, 26 fat, 34 carbs, 5.2 fiber and 23 protein.
I didn’t bring lunch yesterday – I know – shocker! I made turkey burgers for me and my SIL this week – um, turns out I am not a fan of this turkey burger – I hope my SIL thinks otherwise! So I ordered Chinese food from across the street – I asked for extra broccoli – I ate what you see in that bowl, plus about another 1/2 cup of broccoli – I forgot to say NO ONIONS so the fried rice had tiny chopped onions – I only at 3/4 of a cup, the rest was just way too oniony.
The broccoli is perfectly cooked – crisp tender. Lunch comes in at 442 calories, 12.5 fat, 60 carbs, 5 fiber and 21 protein.
It was a skinny pork chop dinner – simply pan fried with some garlic salt. I made a shredded scalloped potato for a side dish – that one needs A LOT of tweaking, so I’ll go back to the drawing board on that one. It was edible, but just okay. Can’t win them all, right? Dinner comes in at 503 calories, 29 fat, 19 carbs, 2.0 fibe rand 38 protein.
Are you wondering what’s in the silver cup? My dipping sauce – my PIL gave me this sauce at Christmas and I’ve been waiting to use up some of my hot sauces to make room for new ones.
Holy cow, is this stuff delicious. Spicy, sweet, savory – the whole shebang. I could slather this stuff on just about anything and eat it – thanks guys – another winning hot sauce from Florida. And I don’t know if it’s a coincidence, but you won’t find onion in the ingredient list. 
I feel like I let you guys down with my grand plans for some bad ass month, but I need to take my own advice and just make each day a great day. Who’s with me?
Have you ever declared something on your blog before and didn’t follow through? Please tell me I am not the only one. 
Stats for Wednesday
- 1406 calories, 68 fat, 113 carbs, 12 fiber and 82 protein
- 44% of calories from fat – oops!
Make it a great day!
Oh, check out my recipe that made it on The Daily Meal!
http://www.thedailymeal.com/spicy-tomato-soup-chicken-meatballs/
I love your May goal- more more and eat less. Simple, yet effective! I wish you luck and I am sorry to hear about your brother. Have a great Friday! (PS- make sure to check out my blog http://nutrfoodtrvl.blogspot.com, since it is making me log in under my wordpress account…I have a giveaway going on for an awesome cookbook, I have been pretty MIA from the blog world, but had to make sure to get this giveaway going before I head out of town).
You are most certainly NOT the only one–I did that twice since October–once with the “weight loss contract” and second with the 17 day diet. Didn’t stick with it either time and I”m just about the same weight too. Ugh! Sometimes it works to make a big announcement, but we just gotta make the internal decision to stick with it.
At least you are trying, most people don’t even get over their fears to get that far! I am actually getting better about being able to tolerate hot sauces, Tom says he has me in hot sauce training 🙂
I hope you have a great weekend!
No beating yourself up Vat….April threw you some WICKED curveballs, and just maintaining is nothing short of a HUGE NSV. And, no matter what, I’ll always see you as a bad ass….and that my friend, is a really good thing!!! Bad asses RULE. Have a great Friday.
You are an inspiration every day, don’t forget it!!! Hope Charlie is doing alright, been sending positive thoughts for him.
Love your breakfast, yum!
Well, you had a major event hit you this month…no worries, just keep trying!
Ah, no worries Biz! I know how hard you are trying so just keep up with the great work!! It’ll all work out…at some point! 🙂
Don’t worry! It’s so hard at times to stay on track. But tomorrow is always another day.
Another delicious day of eats. Love the look of that breakfast! 🙂
I’d rather have a great month of maintaining than a month with a gain. That’s my two cents. 🙂
I love the ‘bad ass’ description, so I’m sticking with it! You are totally bad ass.
I’ve notice you’re not labeling things with PointsPlus anymore…Are you not counting points anymore? Did I miss that?
I am counting calories more than points – my goal is to stay under 1500 calories on the days I exercise – I may have to switch back to points because that’s how I lost weight! 😀
You’ve had alot of your mind lately, I wouldn’t be concerned with operation bad ass, I’d be focusing on family and that’s what you did. Nothing wrong with that, shows where your priorities lie and who comes first in your life. I am supposed to start these exercises my son taught me yesterday…will I do it…don’t know yet, I keep thinking “Oh, I’ll start on the weekend”…ha! So, I know exactly what you’re saying…luckily I just haven’t posted anything 🙂
I’ve definitely been there and done that!!
You know we’ve all been there, Biz!
Maintenance is always better than gaining!
I always make goals on my blog, but I don’t always achieve them. It’s about the progress you make towards the goals and not always the completion.
You are a total bad ass! You cook like an expert, make time for workouts, take care of your hubby and your super daughter (congrats on the scholarship) and are dealing with your brother’s cancer. YOU ROCK.
Great recipe over on the daily plate!! You rock!
Well, Biz, maybe you aren’t a “bad ass.” I mean, I know a lot of excellent athletes, including big hulking weightlifter guys, who are very sweet. They look like they could be “bad ass,” but don’t really want that. Maybe, if you got a description that better fit you, you’d do better with it. Hell, I play Abba music when I do monster bench presses. Nothing wrong with that! 😀
🙂 Marion
I said I was going to keep a food journal. Turns out I suck at that. No more blog promises from me. Too much pressure. I do think the blog helps you stay accountable and probably helps you from going backwards because you are documenting your meals, nutritional stats and workouts. I think you are able to reel it in much easier if you have a bad day or even a bad week and given the stress and concern about your brother I think maintenance is a very positive achievement. I am ready for spring or just a little more sunshine and warmth this month. I’ve been getting the sense that April was a tough month all around.
Have a terrific day Biz!!!
I think we all declare our lofty goals for weight loss and exercise, only to fizzle out, b/c if we didn’t fizzle out, there would be no need to make those declarations in the first place! Kind of like New Year’s Resolutions….you don’t resolve to do something you are already doing right? Maybe it’s just me. I declare right here and now, to eat more chocolate. There, that is one I can keep 😉
Just kidding, I think you do GREAT. You have had an incredible amount of stress over the last year and you haven’t given up. You are an inspiration to so many of us!! You ARE a bad ass 😉
Is that the sandwich king turkey burgers??? Maybe I won’t make them! Let me know! I totally hear you on the stating things on your blog and not following through 🙂
It is Erica – my SIL brought it for her lunch today so I’ll let you know if she liked it – I think I prefer ground turkey breast over regular turkey breast that has the dark meat in it. 😀
Remember when I had my 100 days of exerice? I made it to 44 days – then skipped a day, then skipped a few more days!! It’s all good Biz! You can do it
You’re not the only one! I only did about half of my goals for April, and stayed at the exact same weight.
I can’t bring myself to eat ground turkey, it’s all a mind thing, but I just can’t do it. Ray loves turkey burgers though, so the other night when I made them for him, I had a mushroom “burger” instead.
Yep! You are not the only one. I did make my bad ass goal and made it into onederland at 198! Barely squeaked in there but I will take it. Haven’t been under 200 in about 10 years or so.
Turkey burgers are great! You just need to put about 1/2 pkg of a large pkg of dry ranch dressing in them. I add this to about 1 1/2 lbs of ground turkey and make 4 patties. Just give it a try….
Too much bacon and cheese, don’t get crazy now. Awesome on the recipe on The Daily Meal!
You are definitely not the only one! Don’t worry, you’re still a bad ass 🙂