Progress

I'm officially down 18 pounds! The competition is fierce and I'm still in 2nd place. I'm finding time to work out every other day. Truth be told, I could find time to work out everyday but I'm still great at avoiding it. I need to kick it into high gear if I want to win this thing though. I'm losing about 2lbs per week but I'm trailing the leader by 2lbs. So I really need to double my weight loss this week to regain the lead. I gotta tell you, this competition is the best thing for me! I know I would have given up by now if it weren't for this weekly weigh in.

Not to give away any of my best secrets to my competitors but here are a couple of food tricks that I have found recently:

• Instead of pasta, make spaghetti using a spaghetti squash. It's a little crunchier than pasta which I find satisfying. As far as taste goes, it takes on the flavor of the sauce. Delish!
• Instead of potato chips, I made pita chips (a trick from my friend Garren). We had some left over pita wedges so I split them, sprayed them with olive oil Pam and sprinkled on some spices before baking them. I control the oil and the flavor so I know exactly what I'm eating.
• My favorite dessert (aside from chocolate) is apple crisp. I heat up all natural applesauce in the microwave and stir in cinnamon. Delish and healthy!

Any great recipes for me? Any great workout tips? I hear the weather is supposed to be nice so we'll be getting outside for some walks with Ian. I probably burn more calories doing a dvd, but walking with Ian is more fun. And it has the added benefit of calming my fussy little guy! Win-win.