Kathy Week 17: Katie is in Town!

Week 17 Stats:

Today's Weight: 139!

Last Week's Weight: 141

Starting Weight: 151

Total Weight Loss: 12 pounds

Kathy & Katie at Curves

It is so fun to have Katie and her family in town this week for their college mini-vacation. This morning she and I both went down to the Curves gym for a workout.

I was sweating...Katie, on the other hand, completed each machine with ease, and said she didn't feel like it was a difficult workout, after the more intense workouts she's been doing with the postpartum weight-loss study in Provo.

How can this be? I know I've been working out consistently, and I know that my muscles are much stronger than they were back in January. After all, I completed the Goat Mountain Gallop, right?
I think Katie and I are just used to working out on different kinds of machines. Katie is used to working out with machines where you actually add weight to the workout, and the Curves machines work with pneumatic (air) pressure, so you have to push against the machine in a different way than the ones with weight.

But they must be working for me, because I'm not even sore from the Goat Mountain Gallop last week! I had mild muscle aches for two days. The only residual ache I have is one little toe that is sore; I think it was banged somehow inside my shoe during the Gallop. So I haven't done much walking this week, to be kind to it and let it heal.

Hooray! I'm down another pound!

Did you notice that I'm into the 130s??!! Woo hoo!

The last time I weighted 139 was a year and a half ago.

Even though I haven't been exercising as hard this week, I feel like my body somehow knows that I'm not "in training," and can get back to the gradual weight-loss plan.

So, what are we eating, you ask?

Yum, yum, here we come!

Asian Lettuce Wraps

This nifty little recipe comes from the Northwest Guide to Heart-Healthy Living by Providence Heart & Vascular Institute.

Serves 4

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 medium onion, chopped

3/4 pound lean ground turkey

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped

1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh mint ( I have used cilantro here when I don't have mint)

1 teaspoon lime juice

1/4 cup peanut sauce (see note below)

1 tablespoon hoisin sauce (teriyaki sauce makes a fine substitute)

1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce

8 butter lettuce leaves or Savoy cabbage cups

1. Heat oil in a large skillet on medium high. Add onion and sauté until tender, 3-4 minutes. Add turkey and cook until browned, 5-6 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, combine cucumber, mint, and lime juice in a bowl; set aside.

3. Add peanut, hoisin, and soy sauces to turkey. Stir and warm through.

4. Place the mixture onto leaves and top with cucumber mixture. Fold sides over filling, roll up, and eat!

Per serving (2 wraps): 209 calories, 24 g protein, 10 g carbohydrate, 8 g fat, 1 g sat fat, 4 g mono fat, 53 mg cholesterol, 2 g finger, 305 mg sodium.

Caution! You will need extra napkins.

These are so tasty...and a little messy...

Peanut Sauce Substitute:

My husband is highly allergic to peanuts, so I avoided making Asian Lettuce Wraps for a while. (But they sounded so good!) Then I looked up a recipe for peanut sauce on the internet, and just substituted...almonds! Yum! It works really well. Here's my recipe for...

Almond Sauce

1/2 cup almond butter

1/2 cup coconut milk

1/2 teaspoon garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon minced fresh red chile

1 Tablespoon fish sauce "nuoc mam"

2 spring onions, sliced

Stir together and heat. Do not boil. Store extra in the fridge, and save for future batches of Asian lettuce wraps.