Goodbye Plateau
268.2 - 265.4 = -2.8lbs
I’ll take it!
2.8lbs may not seem like a whole lot in a week, but for me it really is — especially when I consider the fact that I was pretty much 275lbs for the entire month of December and most of January. But I’ve lost 8.4lbs over the last two weeks and, for me, that is HUGE.
The truth is, I really haven’t taken off this much weight in such a short period of time since the very beginning when all that initial water weight comes off, but I’m not questioning it. :) Nor am I going to get used to it. I’m sure I will taper back down to the 1-2lbs per week that I had been losing before my December/partofJanuary plateau, and that will be fine. But until then, I’ll definitely take 2.8lbs.
************
In the meantime, I thought I’d post the recipe for dinner last night — a lovely roast pork and pepper stew. I actually modified the recipe from one that Jamie Oliver made on his new show on the Food Network. His version was lovely, but relied a great deal on a fatty cut of meat. I decided to cut out the fat AND the sour cream that he added at the end. I have to say, it turned out very, very well — tasty *and* healthy - clocking in at only about 400 calories per serving. The key to it really was the ground carraway seeds — an ingredient that I was a bit skeptical about upon first reading the recipe but that actually turned out to add an extraordinarily good flavor. Anyway, here’s my version:
Ingredients:
4lb pork loin roast — lean cut, fat trimmed.
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil
2 red onions, peeled and finely sliced
2 fresh red chilies, seeded and finely chopped
2 tbls sweet paprika
2 teaspoons ground caraway seeds
Small bunch marjoram and/or oregano leaves (I used both)
5 bell peppers (use a mixture of colors), sliced
1 (10-ounce) jar grilled peppers in water
1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Do it!
First, preheat your oven to 350′
Then, using as little olive oil as you can get away with, begin cooking onions, on the stove, in an oven proof pot that has a lid. Add chillies, paprika, caraway seeds, marjoram and/or oregano plus some salt and pepper. Turn the heat down and gently cook the onions for about 10 minutes, then add the sliced peppers, the grilled peppers and the tomatoes.
Salt and pepper your roast and then put it into the pot, shaking the whole mixture until the pork settles in nicely. Then add just enough water to *just* cover the pork. Be careful — not too much water! The bigger the pot you have the more careful you need to be about how much water you put in. Then add the vinegar and bring everything to a boil.
Once you’re all bubbly, put the whole thing in a preheated oven for about 3 hours. The hardest part is waiting the 3 hours as your house starts to smell like this awesome comfort dish. You’ll want to check it every 5 minutes, but don’t. You’ll know it’s ready when the meat falls apart with a fork.
I served mine over wild rice. It was so good, I thought for sure I’d want seconds, but it was also very filling. The great thing about it too is that you end up with a big bowl of left overs. We’ll be having pulled pork sandwiches, etc, all week. :)
Enjoy!
