Monthly Weigh-In: February 2011

February's Goals:
Weight: -7.2
Track budget


February Progress:
Weight: -9.2
Days in calorie range: 18/28
Days worked out: 8/28
Budget Tracked: 28/28

Total YTD Progress:
Weight: -17
Days in calorie range: 37/59
Days worked out: 24/59


March's Goals:
Weight: -4
Work out at least 15 days 


I've done really well the past month, but quite a bit of that can be attributed to the fact that I was sick for two weeks, so I didn't eat. I did do well tracking my budget and actually saved money this month even with buying a $300 plane ticket, so I say that is a success! I will continue to track that for the rest of the year. 


I didn't work out the whole time that I was sick, so that number was really low. I want to make up for it this month by working out at least 15 days. Especially now that I'm working out at the apartment gym; I think it will make a big difference this month. I will be going on vacation during March, so that will present an extra challenge as well. 


For my rewards I got a new pair of shoes, a pair of pants, and two floral shirts for spring. Since I kept the weight off after I met my goal early, I also get to pick an extra reward. I haven't decided what that will be yet. Maybe a new food processor since I seem to have misplaced the blade attachment for my old one. 


The goal seems small for March, but I've decided to stick to the monthly goals I set for myself at the beginning of the year. The main point is to stick to reaching my goal by my birthday. If I do it a month or two early, great! If I get a few more rewards up front, great! I set small goals at the beginning of the year for a reason - they are achievable. It would defeat the purpose to change them all just because I did well this month. (Remember last month? When I didn't meet the goal? Yep.)

Starbucks Addiction: Chai Tea Latte at Home for Under a Dollar

So in my previous Starbucks post, I talked about how I love the chai tea lattes but that I can make them at home very easily and they taste exactly the same as at Starbucks. Now, I know what you might be thinking, because I was skeptical too, but they really do taste EXACTLY like Starbucks version. For under one dollar compared to their $3 and change. Seriously.

Since this isn't really a recipe (hey, at least it's better than the Food Network's "recipes" for Dark Chocolate as a Snack and Late Night Bacon) I'm going to vary from my usual format. You will need:

- A box of Tazo Chai Tea Concentrate, they sell them in a few different types like decaf, organic, etc. (I get mine at Target for about $4 and it has 8 servings)

- Milk, I use 2% because it works best with the foam that we're going to make

- Frother, more on this later

- Dash of cinnamon to make it pretty and smell amazing


First, heat up 2 tablespoons of milk for the foam. Use the mug that is going to hold your latte. Heat up the milk for about 20-30 seconds until warm. Now here is the fun part! Use a frother (mine is an Aerolatte similar to this one, I got it for $10-15 on Amazon). Put the frother tip into the milk, making sure that it is completely covered by the liquid, and press and hold the on button. Move the frother around the bottom of the mug for about 30-45 seconds until a nice stiff foam forms. Make sure the frother is off before you lift it out of the foam. If you don't have the frother completely covered by the liquid while it's on, you will get sprayed with hot milk. Just trust me on this one.

This is how thick the foam should be. 

Mix 1 part of the tea concentrate with 1 part milk in a microwave safe mug or measuring cup. I use 1/2 cup of each to fill a normal sized mug, but use however much you want to drink. Heat it up in the microwave for about a minute and a half, depending on your microwave's strength. The key here is do not let it boil! I like to heat mine up at 20 second intervals after the first minute to make sure it reaches a good temperature.

I use a glass measuring cup so it's easy to pour.

Now we're going to combine the foam and the latte! This is why you want to make the foam in the mug that you want to use to drink; pour the chai and milk combination carefully into the mug with the foam, but do so in a way that the chai goes underneath the foam. If you pour it straight over the foam, it will not hold up, and all that hard work with the frother will be for nothing!

Pour slowly so as not to disturb the foam.

Sprinkle with cinnamon and congratulate yourself on saving $3!

PS: Don't you just love this mug?

The concentrate is great because you can just keep it in your fridge and make a chai latte whenever you want! For an iced chai, just combine 1 part of the concentrate and 1 part milk (again, 1/2 cup and 1/2 cup is the standard serving size) over ice, shake, and enjoy!

Monthly Weigh-In: January 2011

This morning I woke up to a beautiful snow day! So while I'm working from home in my pjs, I'll give you the run-down for January.

 So it's the first month wrap-up for me. Overall, I'd say I did pretty well. If it hadn't been for the liberties taken this last week with food and working out, I definitely would've shown more of a loss. That said, my granma died on the 7th and I pretty much checked out for five days, so I am proud of the fact that I didn't gain any weight during that time. I think the main point is that I actually lost weight, and if I continue to lose at even less than this pace, I will meet my goal by my birthday. Now without further ado...


January (and total YTD) Progress:
Weight: -7.8 pounds
Days in calorie range: 19/31
Days worked out: 16/31

February's Goals:
Weight: -7.2
Track budget






February's goal was going to be to lose 6 pounds, but since I didn't quite make it to January's goal, I'm going to add on that extra 1.2 pounds to February and try to catch up to my goal. I'm also starting to keep track of my spending with a budget Excel spreadsheet that I worked on all weekend, so I'm also going to make a non-weight goal of keeping track of what I spend for the whole month and see how much I can save when I put my mind to it.