Biggest Loser Car Challenge

Did you see this weeks episode of Biggest Loser? If not, then you don't know what you missed. Tara Costa is a freaking machine!! All of the contestants were competing for immunity by pulling a car that weighed over a ton for a distance of a half mile. The challenge started out with Sione and Mike in the lead and Tara in 3rd. Even with an extra 257 pounds in her car, she pushed on to pass both Sione and Mike to win the challenge and win immunity. She is amazing and it's hard not to like her even though she does seem to win all of the challenges.

These are the huge cars that they had to pull.

Check out her pictures from her myspace page.

What diet plan are you using?

Are you using an Ultra Low Carb plan like Atkins or the Zone Diet, or something a little less strict like South Beach. What about the Biggest Loser Diet plan? I have been using the South Beach plan for awhile along with some elements of Biggest Loser. A few variations that I am doing: I love milk so I do allow myself to have skim milk on occasion. I also eat an apple and cheese stick quite frequently as a snack. If I feel like I am going into a stall, I will also cut back to around 30-35 carbs/day for a few days and that usually breaks my stall. Anyone else using a similar plan?

Dining Out While Losing Weight

Dining Out while losing weight is difficult but it can be done. I will give you a couple of options that are working for me. As always, remember your portion controls and remember to keep those bad carbs away from the table.

Red Lobster-Wood Fire Grill Chicken, Shrimp, and Scallops 580 calories, 10grams of fat, and 58 carbs. Skip the rice pilaf and that will get rid of 180 calories and 34 grams of fat. I always eat mine with a side of broccoli for 45 calories and 6 grams of fat. It used to be really hard for me to skip the cheddar bay biscuits, but I can do that now with now problem. I just tell them not to bring them.
Salad with no croutons and Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing will fill you up without adding excess carbs and calories.

At Chili's my favorite meal is the Classic Sirloin with Broccoli and Mushrooms. I get it with no seasoned salt or any addons.

Stay in touch for more updates on dining out because you know I can't seem to stay home.

Biggest Loser Final Total

My official loss for the Biggest Loser contest at the hospital was 25lbs and 10.5 inches. I wish I would have done better, but I started off really rough and really wasn't able to exercise as much as I would have liked. The winner of the contest lost a total of 50lbs. I was on the green team and our team alone lost 217lbs to become the winning team. Our prize for being on the winning team was a full makeover, including cut, color, and makeup. There is a ceremony being held on Saturday night and we are all going to be dressing up, so I will be sure to post an updated pic as soon as I get a copy.

Baked Tilapia and Green Bean Casserole

Today was my cooking day to help me get ready for the workweek ahead. I made a dish of Green Bean casserole minus the soy sauce and fried onions and a dish of baked tilapia with garlic butter sauce. Both dishes were low in fat, calories and carbs so I feel like I am on the right track.

The Green Bean Casserole had a bag of frozen green beans and a can of Healthy Request Cream of Mushroom Soup. While the soup added a lot of taste it didn't add too many calories because when you split down the serving size, it came out to 20 calories and 2 carbs in addition to the carbs in green beans. I baked the tilapia with a butter cooking spray and herb seasoning so there weren't many additions there either. All in all it was quite yummy and very healthy. Only problem is that I'm still hungry. I don't know what it is about baked fish, but it's not very filling unless you eat a ton of it.

Roasted Asparagus with Balsamic Vinegar

I've recently grown to love Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing on salads, and I thought why not try it with veggies. I found this recipe and decided to give it a try. This is a great side with lots of flavor.

Serves 4

1 pound asparagus, woody ends snapped off (it's best to peel the skin from the stem)
1 tablespoon olive oil (use your hands to coat the asparagus to ensure proper coverage)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450F. Measure olive oil and vinegar onto a rimmer baking sheet. Use a vegetable peeler to trim away some skin, in stripes, from the stem ends of the spears. Using your hands, roll the spears in the oil and vinegar until coated all over. Season with salt and pepper. Roast for 7 - 10 minutes (it goes fast) until the desired tenderness.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE according to Fitday
Per Serving: 53 Cal (53% from Fat, 17% from Protein, 31% from Carb); 2 g Protein; 4 g Tot Fat; 1 g Sat Fat; 5 g Carb; 2 g Fiber; NetCarb3; 27 mg Calcium; 2 mg Iron; 2 mg Sodium; 0 mg Cholesterol;

Last Week of Biggest Loser Contest

Well, as the last week of the Biggest Loser contest comes to an end, I find myself a little worried about my future progress. I honestly feel that without the support from the other people on my team, that I might cave when things get to tough. Those of us on the Green Team, have been talking about getting together once a week even after it's over so that we still have the weigh in experience as well as the support from team members. For me it is all about accountability, and that means regular weigh ins so that I can see if my weight is starting to fluctuate in a bad way. Last week I skipped the weigh in, so I don't think that I will win the Biggest Loser prize of the FREE Cruise, but I still think I might be somewhere in the Top 5. Even with my parents here, I still managed to lose a couple of pounds.

So for those of you on a weight loss journey, we will begin weighing in here every Wednesday and as time progresses I will announce contests for the Biggest Losers. This Wednesday will be our initial weigh in and while I am sure we will probably have a fairly small turnout, I'm sure that as time goes on more people will join in. I'll keep you posted more on that.