My love for Ellen DeGeneres goes back to before her sitcom. It goes back to some comedy special on some channel back when she had a mullet. But I loved her sitcom. And I loved her stand-up. And I have only missed a handful of her talk show episodes when the local news has to break in for something stupid, like tornado warnings. I LOVE HER.
Well, lately she’s been having Bob Harper from The Biggest Loser on her show periodically. I love him as well. He has evidently been training Ellen which makes me totally want go be her when I grow up. She has an awesome trainer. And awesome job. And a hot girlfriend. What more could you really want?
Anyway. My point. They teamed up to get her in shape before the Oscars. (She’s hosting, you know.) And they want us to join them on the challenge to lose 10lbs in 38 days. They showed some of the exercises he makes her do yesterday, and they look really simple. They require one of those giant balls (Hee.) which I used to have - but it died. That giant ball is the only reason why I had an actual six-pack when I got married. So, I’m going to go get another one today. Here are some of the exercises here. You can get a full body workout with one of those balls! (Hee.) I’m even going to try to limit my eating to stuff from Bob’s diet menu. Hell, I may even stick to some of the brands he mentions because I’ve never had them before. I think I may even buy a steamer! (Please, someone, tell me where to buy a steamer. And how to use one.)
Mainly because I’m just a lemming and I see Bob and Ellen as the cool kids at school and I want to do what they’re doing. If I do, maybe they’ll invite me to eat lunch with them.
So. Today is Day 1. I have hardly any of the foods on the menu in my house, but I’m betting my family will look forward to a change in the culinary habits here. We, seriously, eat the same 4-5 meals every week. Spaghetti (vegetarian), Chili (vegetarian), and various Archer Farms frozen lasagnas and Stoffers frozen casseroles. That’s it. SERIOUSLY. I’M NOT EXAGGERATING. But this week? I’m going to try to steam some stuff. Maybe. Maybe we’ll eat some fish. Or some non-frozen meats. I may even look up some of those, what do you call them…”recipes.”
I’m excited. I’ll pretty much do anything Ellen tells me to do. Adding Bob to the mix makes her ten times more powerful over my decision making. And yes, I’d jump of the bridge if they did. Let’s just hope that’s not part of the plan.
Just wanted to wish you luck and say that I chuckled (at myself for being stupid) when I read that you were going “to go get another one today.” I was thinking six-pack, and not the abdominal kind. In which case, I’d be so with you. The ball, though, not so much. I heart Ellen too.
I love Ellen too, and so does my 11 month old son! I’ve trained him to dance with her too. It’s awesome! I can’t wait to see her host the Oscars! Do you have a Life List? One of the entries is “go to the ellen show”. Another is “go to a red carpet event”. So I thought about entering that contest for the bleacher seats, but I’m not so sure I’ll be ready to leave my kid for a weekend by then. Kids! Always getting in the way ; )
Ohh, thanks for posting the links! I’ve been looking into trying to lose weight, and I’ve started swimming laps 3 times a week, and trying to cut down on what I eat, etc. But I’m going to try what you have on here. Good luck to you!
Hey,
You could probably buy one of those steamers that just goes in a pot - I don’t know anything about electronic steamers or fancy stuff, but it might be cheaper to do it this way.
Anyway, you can probably get one of those in any decent kitchen store. It’s just like a collapseable metal bowl with tons of holes in it, that has metal prongs on the bottom to stand it in a pot. You put a small amount of water in the pot, enough to just reach the bottom of the steamer. Boil the water, and when it’s boiling, put your vegetables in.
Voilà ! The only downside is that the vegetables take a bit longer to cook than they do when they’re boiled or microwaved. I usually start steaming the vegetables first and then move on to the other parts of my meal.
(Oh my god, that sounds so … pretentious or something! uh. I also have been known to burn pots boiling water and cannot follow a recipe to save my life. I once put in three quarters of a cup of butter into a recipe when it called for one quarter. AND I THOUGHT I WAS DOING IT RIGHT. There, I hope that makes up for the “other parts of my meal” phase of this comment.)
speaking of comment phases, this is the end phase, because seriously: comment is too long.
Good luck!
-RP
good luck!! that sounds awesome. I :heart: Ellen as well….she rocks. You could find a decent steamer at your favorite place in the world, Target. They are sooo easy to use. now if I could just make myself use it more.
It’s awesome that Ellen’s doing this and encouraging her audience to participate.
As for meals, this is one of my favs. I thought your family might enjoy it too, since you’ve mentioned you love that mexican restaurant. Plus, it’s vegetarian.
http://www.kraftfoods.com/main.aspx?s=recipe&m=recipe/knet_recipe_display&u1=keyword&u2=black%20bean&u3=**8*37&wf=9&recipe_id=63770
And it’s very easy! Enjoy!
I’ll join you. I have 8 (10) pounds of baby weight left over. It will not go anywhere. And I love Ellen too.
Hey-
I got a balance ball really cheaply from bodybuilding.com, it even came with a dvd of exercises. I love Ellen, and miss her (I’m in Norway)- they were syndicating her show for a while, with a six-month delay, but they stopped showing it. sigh. Anyhoo- good luck!
I have 2 steamers. They are for the microwave and I got them from *burp* Tupperware years ago. I use them a lot especially for baked potatoes. You can also put water in it, put the included stainer over the water, heat the water for 2 minutes or so and put your hotdog buns or hamburger buns in the steam for a few minutes. It gives the bread that hotdog cart nostalgia warmth.
Anyway, try looking at a kitchen store or kitchen section of a store for a microwave steamer. That way, if you don’t like it, you aren’t stuck with another appliance.
Geez, last year it was marathons, this year healthy eating. What’s next, living green?
Yoyu may have already tried these — but both Archer Farms and Bird’s Eye have frozen vegetables that you can steam in the bag in the microwave. They are tasty, especially the AF stuff. YUM and EASY — two of my favorite things. I’m also starting to like Ellen’s talk show from watching it at the Y.
No, everybody, “Yoyu” is not the African baby Zoot just adopted to be just like Angelina. I meant to say “you.” Note to self: cut out the pre-coffee commenting.
Well I actually decided that today was going to be day one of the South Beach diet for me. I hate dieting and it never works for me, but I really want to get pregnant. And I just don’t think I will until I lose some weight.
So since I haven’t tried South Beach yet, I’m trying it now. I’m sure these next two weeks will be tough…. providing I can stick to it.
You can steam veggies (fresh or frozen) in the microwave. I especially like broccoli, squash, and asparagus. Just toss some in a Tupperware, add a few tablespoons of water, a few spritzes of spray butter, S & P, and cover with a paper towel. Start out cooking the veggies a minute or two and judge from there whether they’re done or need a bit more time. Fresh-tasting, easy, and ummm!
P.S. Another SUPER easy veggie recipe is to steam fresh or frozen green beans in the microwave and then toss them in a skillet with a teensy bit of oil, some stir-fry sauce, and/or some oyster sauce. (You can even add walnuts or almonds for kick and protein.) It’s SO flavorful and totes low fat. I never bought stir-fry or oyster sauce before but they make stir-frys a SNAP, so I try to keep them on hand now. If you like lean meats and veggies, you’ll definitely use both sauces. (The oyster sauce doesn’t taste fishy at all – just savory and good.)
Oh, I so agree — Ellen’s girlfriend is H-O-T. And, I checked out the exercise link. . . dude, that Bob guy is smokin’ hot!
I want a six pack! I’ve never had one before, but if that’s actually going to work, I might break out my balance ball. It’s currently deflated, in a crate. The only problem is my apartment is so tiny, I have no idea where I’ll keep it once it’s all blown up.
I just glanced quickly at the diet foods list and the Laughing Cow Cheese? If you have never had it before, you should totally go find some, like right now. It’s so delicious on sandwiches, melted on veggies, spread on wraps (oh yeah, those La Tortilla tortillas he mentions are good too… just kinda hard to separate), eating alone… anything. I’ve lately been on a kick where I spread on them on a light english muffin for breakfast. YUM!
I regularly make the EASIEST stir fry ever. I buy the frozen veggie mix of broccoli, carrots and water chestnuts (you could get whatever, but I like those best), dump them in a big skillet that was sprayed with PAM, set it on med-high, pour on a couple tablespoons of any marinade or stir-fry sauce (love spicy peanut sauce in the Asian foods aisle), cover with a lid for 7-10 minutes stirring occasionally, and tada! Dinner! Good over rice, pasta, or wrapped in those tortillas.
I’ll try the menu and grocery list, too, except I’m having a hard time getting over the excessive use of apostrophes.
i love this idea. i haven’t been tivo’ing ellen but clearly I MUST!
i am totally going to do this too. 10 lbs in 38 days? piece of cake, er, fish. with steamed veggies on the side.
Chirky, I was thinking the same thing about the apostrophe’s. But I forgot the mention it.
Ya’ll, Ellen’s menu doesn’t contain enough calcium… make sure to get atleast 3 servings of dairy a day!
I have never in my life had a six pack.
Seriously, who has time to drink? I’m too busy cranking out meth from the sudafed I buy down at Walgreens. And if this won’t take the weight off, nothing will.
(I heart Ellen, too)
Love the Ellen footage…will try with my big ball tonight!
I love WW enchilada and veggies and rice! Let me know if want the recipies!
WHOA it’s amazing that you wrote about this because we just got an exercise ball last week and I just joined Gold’s Gym TODAY. BEFORE reading your post. I just got home from doing that. WHOA. *excited*
I (heart) ellen too. She’s my girl.
Why do they think that tornado warnings and Pres. Bush press talks are more important than her show? I’ll never be able to figure that one out.
Good luck with the plans! I look forward to seeing how it all goes…