Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala [Recipe]

photo courtesy of Tasty Kichen

This recipe is amazing! I am absolutely obsessed with Indian food and could probably eat it all day, everyday. The Hubs, however, doesn't enjoy it as much as I do. However, this was a hit not only with him, but our dinner party as well. It is a lengthy process, but oh so worth it in the end. The recipe can be found at Tasty Kitchen.

A few modifications that can be made to make it a little bit healthier, yet still tasty:

• chicken breast instead of chicken thighs
• fat free plain greek yogurt instead of regular yogurt
• margarine instead of butter (I use country crock with vitamin D)
• natural sweetener instead of white sugar
• fat free evaporated milk instead of heavy cream
• brown basmati rice instead of white basmati rice

And of course, you could skip the naan, but I'm obsessed with it so that will never happen! :)

It takes a while but it is so worth it! Enjoy!

How This Will Work...

So, I've figured out how I'm going to run this blog. I've linked up with this wonderfull little app called My Fitness Pal and it has been my lifesaver. It helps me track my caloric intake each day and even has a barcode scanner that I can use with my iPhone so I don't have to manually enter each food item. It even has a database for exercise and will track the calories I burn. It does not count the calories I burn through everyday activity, only through exercise, but it has the largest database for food and is very user friendly so I'm all over it. So, for purposes related to this blog, I will enter the information from the app each day so everyone can see it. I will also post some recipes, what type of exercise I have completed and the like. Basically, anything food and weightloss related will be touched upon. Failures, successes, everything. I need to get it all out in order to succeed.

Yesterday's Menu (Sunday, May 27th, 2012):
B: 1 Pillbury Grands Biscuit with 1/3 cup of sausage gravy
L: Turkey, provolone, hummus, and mustard on two slices of whole wheat potato bread
D: Homemade Crock Pot Tikka Masala, basmati rice, naan, hummus
Ds: Rice Pudding with Almonds
Bev: 3 beers, water

We had friends over from out of town and I decided to make Tikka Masala. Not exactly the most healthful, but good God, I love me some Indian food. The naan is actually what adds the calories here, and I guess the rice, too. There are probably a ton of subs that can be made, and I will definitely be posting this recipe soon.

I didn't track this on my app because I couldn't be sure of the calories, and didn't feel like calculating it all out, but I guess it definitely over my goal of 1500. ha.

But, I did exercise today! I did a 30 minute circuit run at the local track. It was harder than I thought it was going to be and I had to stop a few times. But I made it, and I'm feeling pretty good today.

Welcome to the "I Don't Want to Be a Fatty Anymore" Blog

Well hello there! Nice to meet you all! My name is K and welcome to my clean(ish) eating and weight loss blog. I've decided to start this blog to help hold myself accountable as I travel on this rollercoaster of a weightloss journey. Let's see...where do I begin?

I've always struggled with weight issues, ever since I hit puberty. In the eighth grade I gained a ton of weight because my best friend and I would bake every single day after school and DEVOUR everything in sight. Lucky for me, I played sports and was always at a practice of some sort so I never ranged into obese territory because I exercised enough to pretty much break even. But, I wasn't eating healthy foods either...and I never learned portion control. As a junior in high school I lost a mess of weight after my first serious boyfriend dumped me and I basically stopped eating altogether. I think I made it to my lowest weight of about 155lbs at that point.

As I entered college to play soccer I gained about 10lbs per year, a) because its college and I was drinking my face off and b) because college athletes spend a lot of time in the weight room and c) because I lived on campus and our cafeteria had an unlimited meal plan. By the time I graduated in 2007 I weighed about 185lbs:

Me, in the hat.

After college, I met my husband and had a baby and concurrently gained a whole mess of weight. I gained 50lbs while pregnant with my daughter. But she's cute so I'll give it to her. Unfortunately, my daughter is three now, so I can no longer use her as an excuse.

Anyway, since then I've kind of been stuck at a little over 200lbs. I've fluctuated a little bit, but not much and I'm finally sick of it. Adding to my weight issues have been some serious knee injuries that have kept me on the workout sidelines for months at a time. I had (another) knee surgery in December 2011 and have since been cleared to run. At the beginning of march I instituted a walk/run interval program and have increased it slowly from there. I have not, however, changed my eating habits in any way (no portion control, not eating the right foods) and have therefore had no success losing weight. From what I understand, "You can't outrun a bad diet". Thanks for that, Pinterest. You bitch.

Recently, I was in my best friend's wedding as a bridesmaid  and when I got the link for the wedding photos, I realized just how large I have become. I was the fat bridesmaid. And it seriously broke my heart. I've always known that I was bigger than all of my friends, but I didn't realize just by how much:

Double chin, jowels, chubby fingers..ick (by the way, that's not my kid)

Double chin....fattest legs ever

Double chin (again) and fat legs (again)...p.s. why is my face orange and the rest of me white?...ew.

Fat (white) arms, once again with the double chin...my poor hubby

Gross, right? I'm seriously ashamed of those pictures and I wish I had lost weight before the wedding. My problem areas have always been my hips and thighs. I lose weight in my face, boobs, and stomach but it never leaves my hips or thighs. Probably because I've never stuck with a weightloss plan long enough for it to do any damage to those areas.

So, here I am. Starting over...again.

Starting Weight: 206
Goal Weight: 150

Before Pictures:

I don't really have a time frame for the weightloss, however I'd like to lose as much of it as possible by the time the holidays roll around.

Also, I'm about to start a doctorate program in physical therapy this summer and my husband and daughter and I are moving to North Carolina to do so. I don't want to be the fat chick in PT school. Especially since PT is one of those healthy professions where everyone is constantly going to the gym and eating granola. I want to fit that mold and fit in with my peers (even if I am older than all of them).

So, here it goes...who's with me?