Much Better Turkey Chili

Weight Lost since 1/2: 5.04 (halfway!)

So I posted a quick recipe for turkey chili yesterday. It is good stuff. But this recipe, while it takes longer to prepare and cook, tastes much better (the best turkey chili I've ever had) and has more veggies:

Ingredients
1.5 tbsp Canola Oil
3 lb ground turkey breast (99% lean)
2 cans organic black beans (or kidney, but the black are really good and give less gas)
2 28oz cans of organic diced or crushed tomatoes (If you like chunky tomatoes, used diced)
2 red peppers, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1-2 lg. onion, diced (depends on how much you like onions, I use 1)
4-8 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup water
1/4 cup red wine
4 bay leaves
4 tsp. cumin
2 tbs. chili powder
2 tsp. sea salt
3 tbs. oregano
a pinch of cayene
1-3 Jalepenos (OPTIONAL. I don't use them. If you don't use them, this chili will not be hot at all, which I don't mind. If you like your chili hot, add the jalepenos)

Steps

Brown the meat in a skillet and drain. Saute the peppers and onions in canola oil in a separate pot. Add spices to the peppers and onions after they've cooked a bit.Don't over do the veggies - they'll cook when it's all mixed.

After turkey is browned, add turkey, tomatoes, water, red wine, bay leaves to the pot & let simmer for a couple of hours.

When you eat it, add some shredded cheddar or pecorino romano to the top.

Makes at least 8 servings. If you calculate the recipe as 8 servings, here is the estimated data:

Calories
462

Calories from Carbohydrate
181 (45 grams)

Calories from Fat
42 (5.6 g, 0.6 g saturated)

Calories from Protein
240 (62 g)

Quick Easy Turkey Chili

Weight Lost Since 1/2: 4.72

I caught the stomach bug that my family had, but it's not so bad, I'm just tired, achy and naseous. No workouts for the next three days probably. Bummer.

I thought I would start posting some recipies that I've learned during the journey. Today is a very easy Turkey Chili:

Ingredients

3 tbsp Olive Oil
1.5 lb ground turkey breast (99% fat free)
1 Shallot
2 Cloves garlic
1-4 Jalapeno (Depending on how hot you like it)
Medium Yellow Onion
Cumin (to taste for spicy)
Chili Powder (again to taste for spicy)
Big Can (28 oz) Organic Tomatoes
Salt/Pepper

Preparation

Chop Onion
Chop Jalapenos, removing seeds
Cook Olive Oil, Onion and Jalapenos on MEDIUM LOW heat for about 10 min
Then add garlic and shallots, both chopped Cook for another 10-15 on MEDIUM LOW
Once base is established, add turkey and brown
Add Tomatoes, Chili Powder, Salt, Pepper and cumin Turn heat to medium and cook for 20 min

Makes 3 servings. You can add beans as well, it just increases the calories.

Calories 439
Calories from Carbohydrate 103 Calories from Fat 135
Calories from Protein 200

Monday morning update

Weight Lost since 1/2: 4.08

I lost 1.12 lbs this week, but I had gained .72 last week, so basically, it took me two weeks to get back to the point where I was before I left for Wisconsin on 1/14. This was disappointing, since I tried so hard to stay on track, but as I said last week, travel messes up your body. Also, my measurements are still good, so I guess there was some muscle put on over the last few weeks.

Weight Average: 177.6- loss of 1.12 pounds this week (29.2 lbs total)

Measurements (Losses/Gains are for the week, not total)
Neck 14.625- No Change
Chest 38.25- Loss of 3/8"
R. Bicep 13.25- Gain of 1/4" (GUNS!) :)
Gut 33.375 - Loss of 1/4"
Waist 34.375 - Loss of 1/8"
Thigh 23- No Change

Not that you wanted to know, but I look at the last stages of this journey as the following:

Stage 1: When standing in front of the mirror relaxed with nothing on, there will be no visible love handles. (5 pounds from now, I think) Don't worry, no pictures will be posted.

Stage 2: When standing to the side of the mirror with nothing on, there will be no visible gut. (8 pounds from now, I think)

Stage 3. When standing in front of the mirror relaxed with boxers on, there will be no visible love handles. (10 pounds from now, I think)

Stage 4: When standing to the side of the mirror with boxers on, there will be no visible gut. At the completion of this stage, I'm ready for the pool, but still a ways to go. (13 pounds from now, I think)

Stage 5: When standing in front of the mirror with boxers, waist and hip area start to look defined. (15 pounds from now)

Stage 6: When sitting down, there are no fat rolls around the waist. (20 pounds from now)

Stage 7: Abs defined, six pack starting to show underneath my forest of hair, 7-8% body fat. Stunned and awed looks from people at the pool. Billy asks me if I can show him how to get that cut. People start cult groups to worship my defined body. My children always behave because they respect and fear my greatness. Women want to be with me (sorry, taken), Men want to be like me. (23 pounds from now)

So I'm guessing 155 is my target weight, but who knows...

My Wife: Osmosis

So my wonderful wife has lost 7 pounds since I started my journey in September. How, you may ask? Well, for the first 5 pounds, it was osmosis. Yes, she is annoying. Basically, she did the following:

1. She's one of those people that forgets to eat. So she would eat a bowl of Cheerios with Milk for breakfast at 6 am, then at 11 she would start to get dizzy and would wonder why. So for a few weeks, I would make her two scrambled eggs, a piece of sourdough toast, and a piece of turkey sausage for breakfast. This got her through the morning and helped her make good decisions about food throughout the day. Now she cooks this herself every morning (just the eggs and toast).

2. She listened to me talking about what I've been learning about food and WHY certain foods are bad for you (like Milky Way bars, which was one of her favorites). So she started making better decisions for lunch, and started skipping the pure junk (like candy bars and chips).

3. She does not cook, so she happily took part in the dinners that I cooked, regardless of the fact that they were healthy. For her, this was great since she didn't need to worry about dinner.

4. She started getting on the treadmill to walk 3-4 times a week.

So then she started noticing the results, and decided that she wanted to make the effort to lose 7-10 more pounds (she's pretty thin to begin with, she's a size 4 at this point). She doesn't really have a goal weight, she just wants to see her hips and thighs looking better. So about a month ago, she started keeping track, doing daily weigh ins. Since then she's lost 2.5 more pounds, for a total of around 7.

She also allowed me to talk her into the fact that if she wants to see her hips, thighs and butt look better, she should start doing different things than just the treadmill. So I designed a bodyweight program for her lower body and another one for her upper body. Things like squats, lunges, core work (bridge/plank, crunches), pushups, etc. We did the lower body program on Saturday, and she was sore yesterday, which I keep trying to tell her is a great sign!

So I'll be keeping you guys up to date on her progress. Unfortunately, today she caught the stomach bug that our kids had last week. So if she does what our 5 and 2 year olds did, she'll spend today vomiting, then the next 2 days not able to eat and being tired, then the next day with head congestion (weird). Obviously, I'm praying that I don't get this...

Memorial Day

Weight Lost since 1/2: 3.68 (catching up in the slowest race ever)

It's funny that Billy mentions Memorial Day in his post. Once I got the confidence that I can truly get into shape, I started looking at Memorial Day as the BIG DAY. We belong to a pool, and it opens on Memorial Day. We're there every weekend during summer, and in years past, I've had to take my shirt off because my kids go in the pool, and I'm not going to be that douche in the pool with his shirt on. So, as horrifying as it sounds now (as I look at my "before" picture), I was shirtless at the pool last year.

Well, this year I'm ripping off the shirt at the pool with a vengence, I may even go into a posedown. There are two possible Jay's at the pool this year: 1) Jay with a lean physique, no "jelly roll" (which I'm currently sporting) 2) Fucking Ripped Jay. I will get to #2 eventually, I'm just not sure that this May will be that time. I may need to bulk like Billy did, then cut back down. I won't do that during the summer, I'd just work on maintaining over the summer and start a program in the fall.

Bought a pair of size 32 jeans at Old Navy today....Nice.

Monday morning update

Bad News:
I gained .72 lbs this week. And Billy is about to bust through a plateau, so I might be out $50 here soon.

Good News:
1. This week was messed up. Not only did I trek out to Madison, WI on Monday-Thurs, I then turned around and drove up to Syracuse, NY with the family on Saturday (returned late last night). I did very well on both trips, not missing any workouts and eating well. But I think that your body gets a little messed up when you travel, so I'm chalking the gain up to travel and I expect to even out this week.

2. Yesterday we were at the Syracuse mall, and I tried on a pair of size 32 jeans, and they fit perfectly (my wife agreed). I haven't been a size 32 since junior year in college (17 years ago). I had a feeling that they would fit since the size 33 pants I've been wearing have been getting loose. I had to fight the urge to buy them, as they were $78 and I'm not at my goal yet, so I have a feeling that they won't fit in a month or two.

3. Correlating with #2, my measurements were very good. I lost significantly around the waist and hips, and didn't lose from the chest and thigh, where I should be making muscle gains.

4. Over the last two weeks, I've felt way better. The TT workout is kicking my ass, and I can feel my muscles getting bigger and firmer (especially the lower body).

5. I took pictures today and I look better. Today was the first day I looked at my start picture and current picture and thought "Wow, what a huge transformation!" Before it was "Boy, I sure look different". In my mind, there is a big difference between these two thoughts.

Weight Average: 178.72 - gain of 0.72 pounds this week (28.08 lbs total)

Measurements (Losses/Gains are for the week, not total)
Neck 14.625- Gain of 1/4"
Chest 38.625- Gain of 1/4"
R. Bicep 13.125- No Change
Gut 33.625 - Loss of 3/8"
Waist 34.5 - Loss of 1/2"
Thigh 23- No Change

Weight Lost since 1/2: 2.96 (Shitballs)

Pant Size: 32

Greetings from Wisconsin

So I'm on a business trip in Madison WI. I've been here since Monday, leaving Thursday. Here is what it took to stay on course while traveling:

1. Well, first of all, I'm not going to try to eat out all four days, so I needed to find a hotel room with a kitchen. Residence Inn, here I come.

2. Ok, now you have a kitchen, but we need food. So I need to book my flight to arrive early so I have time to get to the Whole Foods that I've located here in Madison. Made up a list with everything I'd need for the four days.

3. Gotta work out, right? So found a Y that let me work out there for free! But instead of going out to dinner with everyone from the meeting, I have to go work out after the grueling, brain deadening all day meetings, then come back to the hotel room and eat.

4. Oh, and don't forget to bring some lunch to the meeting in case they decide to bring in a disaster of a lunch like they did today. Three kinds of pasta, that's it. No salad, no fruit, just pasta. Good thing I brought a healthy lunch just in case, which I ate instead. Oh, And you better eat breakfast at the hotel, because all they have are bagals and cream cheese (nope, no fruit).

5. Also, better pack snacks as well, because all they put out for an afternoon snack are giant cookies and soda. Jesus! No fruit again. So I fill my laptop bag with apples, nuts and protein bars. During the meeting today, I saw a 250 lb woman have a cookie and a Pepsi as a snack. Can you think of anything with less nutritional value than that?

It took so much work to put myself in the position where I could work out, and more importantly, where I wouldn't be forced to eat the shit they put out for breakfast and lunch, and I didn't need to go out to dinner every night and fight temptation. It took a shit load of planning, but it was worth it, because I leave tomorrow and I've been on track the whole trip. I've got all my travel food packed already. It's just a matter of priorities...

Monday morning update

I lost 2.16 lbs this week. Yes, I know my previous post is bitching about a plateau. My weigh-ins since that bitch have been much lower. My wife and I realized that our digital scale was messed up, it was weighing both of inconsistantly. We bought a new scale and now things are much more consistant.

By the way, I've lost the equivalent weight of the unrelenting, non-stop 2 year old girl pictured in this post.

Weight Average: 178 - loss of 2.16 pounds this week (28.8 lbs total)

Measurements (Losses/Gains are for the week, not total)

Neck 14.375- Loss of 1/8"

Chest 38.375- Loss of 1/4"

R. Bicep 13.125- Gain of 1/8"

Gut 34 - Loss of 3/8"

Waist 35 - Loss of 3/8"

Thigh 23- Gain of 1/4"

Weight Lost since 1/2: 3.68 (Watch out, fats, here I come!!!)

This Turbulance Training workout is an ass-kicker, it's great.

You are now entering the Flatlands, enjoy your stay

So I was reading old posts on Billy's blog, specifically the February 2007 area where he went through a brutal plateau. I feel like I'm entering a plateau, here are my last 9 weigh-ins:

181.2
180.8
180.2
179.4
180.2
180.8
180.2
180.2
180

All bunched in the same general 1 lb area, except for the 179.4, which is looking like a fluke.

I started the Turblance training fat burning workout this week, it is intense. I tried to eat the low carb way that Craig B. suggests, but I couldn't pull it off, so I'm back to my regular eating plan. The only big difference is that his plan doesn't allow whole grain carbs, and mine does (in moderation).

Monday morning update

I lost 1.8 lbs this week, but I had gained .44 last week, so let's call it a net of 1.4 lbs for the last two weeks. I'm frustrated because I have been hovering around 180 for several weeks. Given how hard I'm trying, this was unexpected. I talked to Billy last night and I realize that this is just a stubborn plateau, but it's hard psychologically. I think I'm getting down to fat that I've had for over 10 years, and maybe this fat is fighting me harder...

Weight Average: 180.16- loss of 1.8 pounds this week (26.64 lbs total)

Measurements (Losses/Gains are for the week, not total)

Neck 14.50- Loss of 1/8"
Chest 38.625- Loss of 1/8"
R. Bicep 13- Loss of 1/8"
Gut 34.375 - Loss of 1/4"
Waist 35.375 - Loss of 1/8"
Thigh 22.750- Loss of 3/8"

Weight Lost since 1/2: 1.52

See Ya, 18x

Today's weigh in: 179.4.

Weight lost since 1/2: .96 lb

Today was the first morning in about 4 years that I weighed less than 180. Now I just have to get my average under 180...

Also, I used this tool for a body fat measurement, and it measured me at 19%. I used the calipers last week and got 20.6%, so if you average the two out, I'm less than 20% body fat, another great milestone.

Another thing that I forgot to post. My wife and I went to a New Year's Eve party at a friend's house. I was wearing a new BR shirt (Medium, by the way), and size 33 dress pants. Got a lot of feedback about how good I looked, which felt awesome. Also, I had a strategy. Usually parties like this are foodfests for me, but my strategy was this: Order a gin and tonic (mostly gin). Drink half, then ask for more gin and ice. Repeat until sloshed. It only took three trips to the bar (I'm a lightweight). I was then able to ignore the appetizer spread and the CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN! It's been so long since I've had refined sugar that my cravings for sweets are almost gone.

The Challenge begins

The gauntlet has been thrown down. The challenge has been issued. Billy and I are in a 10 pound challenge. First one to lose 10 pounds wins a $50 gift card to Banana Republic.

Here are the rules:

1. Average weight on Jan 2 will be start weight.

2. Must lose 10 lbs off Jan 2 AVERAGE.

3. Nothing out of the ordinary, like diuretics,roids, ass plugs, etc.

Honor system, of course.

Argument for Billy: He's a pro. He's just packed on solid muscle and boosted his metabolism. The first 5 pounds will come off fast.

Argument for Jay: He's fat. Body fat % is at least 8% more than Billy's, so I have more fat to lose.

My starting weight average is 181.68.

Let's get it on.