Instant Pot Broccoli Chowder

Today, we made Instant Pot Broccoli Chowder. I had originally planned to make the Instant Pot Corn Chowder recipe from Taste of Home but I discovered we didn't have any frozen corn. But we did have quite a lot of frozen broccoli, so Jeff suggested we substitute broccoli for the corn and that's what we did. 

We had to defrost the broccoli so we could cut the florets into smaller pieces and we also didn't have any fresh onions, so we substituted dried minced onions. Otherwise, we simply followed the recipe as it was written.

The light isn't good in the dining room so it looks rather unappealing in the picture, but it tasted delicious. I sprinkled a little salt on mine, but Jeff liked it as is.

If we make it again, we would run a portion of the chowder through the blender after the pressure cooking to eliminate some of the chunks and make the chowder a little more creamy. This recipe is another keeper.

Instant Pot Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup

Jeff has gotten a job at Intel so I (Sharon) need to start doing some of the cooking. It's been at least ten years since I've done any cooking and I'm not terribly good at it but I can usually manage to follow recipes, so I just need to find recipes I like. 

This post is the start of my effort to document my attempts at cooking recipes I find on the internet and how they turned out and what we would change next time, assuming we like the recipe enough to try it again. This information is mostly for me as the blog is a pretty easy way to keep track of past efforts.

Anyway, today I made my first pot of Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup. The original recipe was published on allrecipes, but I also archived a copy at Google docs, in case it gets pulled down. It calls for the soup to be made on the stove, but I wanted to cook it in the Instant Pot so we did our best to translate the recipe.

It doesn't feel right to plagiarize the original recipe; just click on one of the links above to see all the details. We had to make a few changes by necessity: 

• We didn't have orzo pasta so we used elbow macaroni. 
• We also didn't have any bay leaves, so we omitted them. 
• We used a blend of homemade chicken and homemade vegetable broth.
• And we had to use frozen spinach.

We heated the oil in the Instant Pot on the Sauté setting and then added the onion. After a couple of minutes, we added the carrots and celery and let it saute for a few minutes. Then we added the garlic and other spices and let it cook briefly before adding about three quarts of homemade chicken and vegetable broths. (We used a blend of them because that's what we had in our refrigerator.) 

We stirred in the dry pasta and then pressure cooked it for 5 minutes before adding the chicken and lemon and then we set it on Slow Cook until lunchtime. Shortly before lunch, we took off the lid and stirred in defrosted frozen spinach. It had a few minutes to come up to temperature before we actually served it up for the meal.

Overall, we really enjoyed the soup; the pasta seemed a little overcooked, but we can remedy that problem in the next pot. The recipe made 8 servings so we'll be having it a few more times in the next week. 

We served it with Asiago bread that Jeff made. Also amazing.

Next time, I'll try making these changes:

• Try skipping the pressure cooking entirely and go straight from sautéing to slow cooking.
• Substitute Herbes de Provence for the thyme and oregano.
• Add the dry pasta at the same time as the chicken. 

I expect I'll probably make it once a month from now on, whenever we have leftover chicken.

A Year of Maintenance

One year ago, I hit my goal of burning 60 pounds with Noom. Since then I have been on maintenance. The goal was to stay in a 5-pound range: 170-175. In practice it worked out to a 10-pound range 170-180, which with all that 2020 has thrown at me (and all of us) I am ok with. After the first few weeks of adjustment to maintenance I found a pretty good rhythm, I started working on my next round of fitness goals. I also found some new apps to support my post-Noom life:

• MapMyWalk 
• FitBod
• MoodPath
• Ten Percent Happier
• Lose It 
• Habitica 

Habitica helped us extend some of the habit formation skills we learned from Noom beyond issues related to food and fitness.

When I started tracking my walks with MapMyWalk I had a pace of 18'22" per mile. I have brought that down to 12'52". 

When I started working out with FitBod I could do two pull ups (which was an improvement already over none pre-Noom). Now I can do ten in a set. I have also hit my goal of being able to do handstand pushups (with balance support from a wall). 

MoodPath has helped me track how I am feeling day to day which has helped monitor bouts of depression.      
With the Ten Percent Happier app, I have logged almost 100 hour of mindfulness sessions over 400 days which has helped with my anxiety. 

We discovered Lose It which does a better job of logging food than Noom, especially since we can share meals logs between my wife and I over Air Drop. It also tracks macronutrients so I can keep an eye on my protein intake. It also lets us track water. For maintenance, the main thing we give up is the colors, but those are ingrained enough at this point that I just need to remember to keep up my veggies game. I would still recommend Noom for folks working on serious weight loss. 

Turkey Breast in Instant pot

We got a seven pound turkey breast from Rinella Produce that I cooked under pressure in the instant pot.

So far we have had it:
With Eggs;
With brown gravy;
With mashed potatoes and bbq beans;
Sandwiches;
On Salads.

We still have turkey.
Trying to figure out more things to try.

One year of Noom

In one year with Noom I lost sixty pounds in the first six months and maintained within a five-pound range with a few excursions.

I was quite concerned about how I would do in maintenance and experimented with a few different approaches:

• Should I keep logging? (I did)
• Weekly weigh-ins (tried it; didn't like it) 
• How do I set my new calorie budget?

Should I keep logging? 

I did keep logging. I could imagine stopping at some point. But it helps be stay mindful of what I'm eating and it provides realtime feedback of how my day is going calorically. I still don't trust my hunger signals, there are times when I am hungry right after I eat. But I think I am getting a little better at sussing out genuine hunger from mere snackiness. Some days I approximate more than others. It depends on if I'm in the middle of my range and having a normal sort of food day, then I don't sweat every last gram. If life is complicated, or I am above my range, I try to be more careful.

Should I go to weekly weigh-ins?

I tried it and didn't like it. The daily weigh in lets me know if things are ok, or need attention. And I like having the data. When I tried doing weekly weigh ins I felt more anxious not knowing if I was drifting.

How do I set my new calorie budget? 

By trial and error, I figured out that on the lowest weight loss setting (Turtle in iPhone) I needed about 200-300 calories over the max if I double counted my exercise (log twice as much as I actually did so the app would give me all the calories and not just half). Early on if I went above my range I would go full Noom immediately. And I would get back in range within a day or two. Now I am a little more relaxed and just try to be more careful with my logging and only count my exercise like normal and it usually corrects itself within a couple days anyway.

What's next 

I am very happy with the program, especially once I found the Noom facebook groups. I keep upping my exercise game. I got a set of dumbbells, then I needed a set with heavier weights. Then I got a weight bench from a friend. Now I use the FitBod app for my workouts. It tracks which muscle groups you use and how long they need to recover.

My wife and I also started using Habitica (app and website) which gamifies our task lists and helps with habit formation. This gives us a lot of the benefits of Noom but applied to other aspects of our life.

Each day is its own adventure.

Noom Elephant Dialogues--Night Hunger

🐘: I’M HUNGRY!
🕵️‍♂️: There is hunger
🏇🏼: it’s late. Let’s wait for breakfast.
🐘: BREAKFAST!? I may wither away and die by breakfast.
🕵️‍♂️: There is fear
🏇🏼: Are we safe
🕵️‍♂️: we are safe
🏇🏼: We have eaten well today and we are home
🐘: I’m still hungry
🏇🏼: You’re a good elephant. We’ll have a good day tomorrow. How about some stretching.
🐘: 🙆‍♀️

I lost 60 pounds with Noom

Fruit!

Sensible breakfast

Portion size matters

Treats are part of the plan

Salad!

Budget for dessert!

In week 26 of Noom I hit my goal of burning 60 pounds of excess weight. Noom is an integrated weight loss app that incorporates daily articles, weigh-ins, food logging, daily steps goals, exercise logging, and social support with a group of Noomers who started around the same time, a group coach, and a personal goal specialist.

Most people on the program have a goal of losing one to two pounds a week. I went all-in with the program and have burned off 60 pounds. What drew me to Noom was that it was grounded in science and focused on long term sustainability. You are not on a diet you are focusing on modifying your diet to maintain a modest calorie deficit. Many lessons focus on hunger and the factors that contribute to the sense of fullness and all of the emotions and triggers around eating. Importantly, there is nothing that is off the diet, though you may decide that there are foods that "aren't worth the calories" for you. It's about choices and building better habits.

Adjust my shopping. More fruit, veggies, whole grains
For most of my life, 200 pounds was my hard upper limit that I would make sure never to cross. Then various factors conspired and I took my eye off the ball for a few years and blew right through that limit. For a while, I struggled to stay even, but every couple of years more weight would come on and I would settle into a new normal. When I hit 235 it was like a switch flipped and I was ready to commit to doing what it took, and I found Noom which was just the right approach for me.

I've logged over five hundred meals in a row, walked 9K steps most days, plus one other active activity: weights, yoga, biking, gardening.... I am feeling fit. Working towards a goal of doing three handstand push-ups.

I've developed a new relationship with food and hunger.

I am more aware of the triggers within me, and in my environment, and developed tools to respond to them more mindfully and healthfully.

It has helped to focus on limits while avoiding the sense of deprivation. Nothing is "off the menu", though there are some things I've decided just aren't worth the calories.