March 2009

I’ve had a pretty bad week. I’ve been feeling sad, blah and overwhelmed. So, I needed to take some time off from blogging because I wouldn’t have been very good company this past week. Due to economic circumstances, our biggest sponsor is closing at the end of this month, forcing us to replace them on 10 days notice. Not a huge deal, but not a pleasant task by any means. Then, our 4 kittens got fixed this week, but now, Casper is extremely sick. He’s back at the vet on IV right now, but the doctor doesn’t know what’s wrong yet.

This is Casper with hubby a few weeks ago. I was testing out my new camera and you can just tell how thrilled they both were to be my guinea pigs lol

I feel so bad for him! Hopefully they will get to the bottom of this soon.

So, I last left off at my “new plan”, which I haven’t gotten to try for more than 2 days, thus far. I’ve been eating the saltiest, unhealthiest junk food ALL week. We had Chinese food — twice! — this week, plus other I-don’t-feel-like-cooking-or-eating-healthy foods. No big deal though, because my newest scheme isn’t a precise science, nor does it have any rules that can’t be broken on a daily basis. lol

I’ve been pretty down in the dumps lately about diet, exercise, weight loss, and all things related to it. It’s not that I’m on a plateau or anything like that or actually, maybe I am. I’m on what you would call a virtual plateau; I’m consciously maintaining within a small window. Truthfully, it’s not that I can’t move forward with my weight loss, it’s that I haven’t wanted to. Or should I say, haven’t ‘wanted to’ badly enough to actually be consistent with a deficit.

My 2 biggest downfalls: Not exercising + high sodium intake. I know that I am carrying around at least 15 or 20 lbs of new water weight from my gain last summer. Simple fix: I just have to stay consistently low on sodium for more than a few days at a time. My water weight compounds like you would not believe. I guess a lot of females are in the same boat as me. For instance, if I take a “free day” where I consume a lot of sodium (3000+mg), naturally I will be up 1 or 3 lbs or more on the scale the next day. And if I have another carefree day relatively close -OR- another day high in sodium AND slack on exercise, even within my calories, I will add on more water weight without dropping the newest and it just compounds in an almost infinite loop. Some people have no issues whatsoever with a high sodium intake, but for me, anything over 1500-2000mg a day and I’m in puff city!

Confessions of a mad dieter: I have demonstrated to myself dozens of times how quickly I can drop water weight, so I’m not worried about that. What I am worried about is having to stay consistent with counting calories and measuring every bite of food, which I’ve been whining about for a few months now, right? Let’s face it, counting calories and measuring every gram gets to be monotonous and borderline obsessive. Even when I’m taking in 2500-2800 calories for the day, I’m still constantly thinking about food and how many calories I have left. Then, let’s not even get started on macronutrient ratios and the “guilt” I feel from the pressure to reduce carbs. None of that makes for a healthy and happy relationship with diet and exercise. Yeah, it was fine the first year, but then I realized how burdened I was by it, which lead to anxiety, resentment and a distaste for the whole plan.

So, now, I have to lose about 38 lbs just to get back to my lowest weight. Fun! But the question is, how do I go about that without driving myself further into insanity’s abyss? I came up with some methods that seem to calm my inner beast:

• I’m ravenous when I wake up, so I have been having a small snack immediately (around 200 calories)
• A ginormous meal after working out (800-1200 calories) helps keep me satisfied more than a small or moderate sized meal
• My post-workout meal will often include total junk food, as that is the best time to eat it when your body can use it the most
• I will not measure every portion or count every calorie, but I will have a running total in my head (like always)
• I am not worried about macronutrient ratios. I do have a higher carb diet and I am happy with that. My body responds best to carbs and fat. Protein does not satiate me the same way.
• If I only want to eat 2 or 3 large meals for the day, that’s perfectly fine. It works the same exact way. The difference it makes in speeding up your metabolism is negligible
• If I want to graze all day and eat 10 small snacks for the day, that’s perfectly fine, too!
• If I want to eat nothing but junk food for the day and stay within my calories, that’s ok once in awhile (doesn’t count as a “free day”)
• If I want a cup of Ginger Ale or something like that with my pasta dinner on Sunday (or whenever) like all of my senior family members do, I will have it and not go into hysterics about “eating clean” lol. I’ve never been a dieting purist (obviously), but I feel even less obligated than before to make 100% healthy choices. I’m only human and I’m not going to stress myself out about silly things like that. Seriously, my grandmothers are almost 70 and 85, they could not tell you what a macronutrient is, but never hesitated to drink a soda and have a slice of pizza or whatever they want in moderation
• My calorie goal is 2500 calories a day on average. Sometimes more. Yes, seriously. Between daily walks, HIIT, strength training, and daily life tasks like cleaning, shopping, cooking, etc. I tend to be above very active. As long as I keep my sodium intake in check, then I actually lose best and feel best on this intake. It has to go hand in hand with staying active though. Not everyone wants to be or is willing to be as active as I like to be. It makes me feel good mentally and physically to stay as busy as possible.
• I’m focusing on changing my body composition, not just my weight. So, that means if I get down to 190 lbs but I fit into a size 8 or 10, then I’m happy! Despite my weight gain, I still fit into the same size clothes as my lowest weight, which tells me right there that my body composition has already changed (for the better!)
• If I want to eat sandwiches, pasta and cereal all day long, that’s fine. Sometimes I’m just too busy to cook but mostly it’s what I crave the most. I’ll supplement meals with fruit, veggies and a protein source, of course, but some days will just be simple and unbalanced
• The fundamentals of my exercise programs will stay the same but if I want to change things up on a whim, I’ll do that. As long as I’m staying active, working up a sweat, keeping interested in it and challenging myself, that is all that matters.

These are not rules, they are just ideas that float around in my head and that I’ve been practicing for the past few days. I like it, but just like all of my other ideas, it’s subjective. For now, this is what I am into and just like everything else I’ve ever done, it’s not for everyone. This is specific to my body, my lifestyle and of course, my overall happiness.

An example of my morning snack that I have as soon as I wake up (pre-workout):

This is what I had 2 days ago. 1 serving Honey Bunches of Oats with almonds (130 cal), 4oz Calorie Countdown fat free milk (25) and 1 medium (45 cal) = ~200 calories

Then after my vigorous workout, I made a mega-meal:

• 4oz 96% lean ground beef (140 cal) on 1 Martin’s 100% whole wheat potato roll (80 cal) with 1 TBSP Heinz no salt added ketchup (20 cal) and 2 no salt added B&B pickles (5 cal) = 245 calories
• Amy’s Light in Sodium macaroni and cheese frozen dinner (400 cal)
• 2 cups steamed broccoli (60 cal)
• 5 Everyday 365 saltine crackers with unsalted tops (70 cal), 17g Naturally More peanut butter (85 cal) and 1 TBSP Polaner All Fruit grape fruit spread (40 cal) = 195 cal
• 1 cup Calorie Countdown chocolate milk (90 cal)

Total calories: 990 | Protein: ~65g

I pounded about 3 or 4 lbs of chicken breast out into thin pieces, then grilled all of it with some EVOO to eat throughout the week. So far I’ve made 2 chicken sandwiches with it:

2 slices Alvarado Street flax seed bread (100 cal) with 3.5 oz grilled chicken (150 cal?) and 1 TBSP Annie’s Naturals BBQ sauce (25 cal). On the side: 1 cup string beans (25 cal) tossed in 1 TBSP Trader Joe’s raspberry vinaigrette (20 cal) and 1/2 cup Friendship 0% pineapple cottage cheese (110 cal)

Delish! I estimate it to be around 450-500 calories

My post-workout sandwich + cereal from yesterday:

2 servings (64g) Honey Bunches of Oats with almonds (260 cal) with 4oz Calorie Countdown fat free milk (25 cal) and a grilled chicken sandwich on 2 slices Alvarado Street flax seed bread (100 cal) with 1 TBSP Hellmann’s olive oil mayo (50 cal), mixed greens and a plum tomato.

SO GOOD! By the time I took the pics, my HBOO’s were soggy, but luckily I can go either way with cereal; crunchy or soggy. I loooooove cereal. Honey Bunches of Oats with almonds is relatively low in sugar too; just 6g per serving. Not bad at all. Lately it has become my favorite “go to” post-workout or morning snack. Yum!

I woke up extremely sore from yesterday’s workout, but I went ahead and worked out again. I wanted to get this update published first. I’m sooo hungry! Can’t wait to eat. My updates will be back to normal now.

Miss you guys! xoxo

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This is my belated St. Patrick’s Day update

Hubby and I had a small party with some cocktails, a Guinness and some yummy 2-person party foods

I picked up some green Maraschino cherries but wasn’t sure what I was going to use them for. Then I remembered a bottle of diet tonic water that’s been in the fridge unopened for awhile now, so I decided to give it a try with a shot of gin. Not a traditional Irish cocktail, but I was thinking of something clear to make the cherries pretty. Unfortunately, it looked better than it tasted (to me). I’m not a fan of gin and recently discovered I’m not a fan of tonic water either! lol

So cute though, right?

I only had a few sips and shared the Guinness with hubs. At least that tasted awesome! It’s so smooth and creamy.

Then I made our party munches: Ravioli for Dustin and an Amy’s Light in Sodium vegetable lasagna (290 cal) with 1 slice Sargento reduced fat provolone (50 cal) added on top, along with a Morning Star Farm original Chik’n patty (140 cal) on a Martin’s 100% whole wheat roll (80 cal) with lettuce, tomato and some mayo

Mmmmm! SO GOOD!

I’ve been extra busy (go figure! ) the past couple days, but tomorrow I’m going to tell you guys about a new experiment I’m doing. I’m really excited about it because I think it will help me with my new goal(s)!! It’s definitely not something that everyone will be into, but I’m hoping this is what will work best for me right now. I’ll post about it tomorrow.

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I guess you can say that I ate a lot of my favorite foods today. My 2 favorite foods are sandwiches and pasta. Yes, I am a carb-a-holic and I’m not ashamed.

Ever since I started eating breakfast — which I didn’t do for most of my life — I now wake up ravenous almost everyday. So, lately I’ve been trying to have something to eat as soon as I wake up so that I don’t wait too long and lose control of my appetite. I kicked off Monday with a quick sandwich, pear and cottage cheese combo:

1 Martin’s 100% whole wheat potato roll (80 cal) spread with 2 mini Baby Bel cheeses (14 cal, the VERY tiny squares, not triangles), 2 small grilled chicken tenders, a handful of butter lettuce, plum tomato and 2 no salt added bread and butter pickle slices.

On the side: a big scoop of Friendship pineapple cottage cheese and about 1/3 of a Bartlett pear…

Yummy! Lots of protein… but… I was hungry about 2 hours later! We had to drop off some corporation papers at our accountant’s yesterday being corporation taxes are due by March 15th instead of April 15th — sigh! So, I grabbed a carrot cake Clif bar (240 cal, 10g protein) on the way out the door and ate it in the car:

Very hard to take pics when driving on bumpy back roads lol

This is the first time I had this flavor and I’m not sure why, but I was imagining it having some kind of cream cheese frosting drizzled on it. That would’a been nice! It was tasty nonetheless, but definitely doesn’t fill me up.

So shortly after coming home, I started on dinner. I’ve been daydreaming about this pasta combination that I used to eat when I lost my first 30 lbs back in my teenage years. 3 oz (I was HUNGRY today haha) Radiotore pasta (315 cal) mixed with 1/2 cup Polly-O fat free ricotta cheese (100 cal), 1 cup Walnut Acres low sodium tomato sauce (80 cal):

A deluxe side salad with a little balsamic vinegar and 2 TBSP Bolthouse Farms honey mustard dressing (45 cal)

This might have an “eww” factor for some people, but I LOVE this meal!! This is one of my favorite all time things to eat and it packs well over 30g of protein and about 4 or 5 servings of fruit/veggies with the side salad. YUM!

Yet, a few hours later… hungry, AGAIN! I was just ravenous today. So, we settled into the couch to watch Gomorrah, an Italian movie with English subtitles. Great movie. My husband made popcorn, but I’m trying to watch my sodium intake for the next few weeks (months, years ), so I dug into the jar of Smucker’s Naturals crunchy peanut butter. I had 3 or 4 spoonfuls. It’s soooooooooo good!

After the movie, I took a shower and then made dinner. Grilled cheese on Trader Joe’s sodium free whole wheat bread (140 cal) with a little light gouda cheese, a little goat’s cheese and 1 slice Sargento reduced fat swiss cheese (60 cal). I sprayed the frying pan with a little EVOO cooking spray and heated up a can of Health Valley no salt added tomato soup, which I shared with hubs:

Mmm!!! Soo ooey gooey!

DELICIOUS!

With the soup, around 500-550 calories.

Ok, I’m very, very hungry right now and it’s St. Patrick’s Day — a holiday splurge, for sure! I’ll have an update later tonight from our festivities!

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I found some pretty cool buys at Shop Rite on Friday. I went in search of salad toppings and to pick up ingredients for Saturday’s dinner with my cousin, Tricia and her boyfriend, Marco.

Highlights of my loot:

No salt added bread and butter pickles?! OMG The trade off is that it has high fructose corn syrup, but I think it’s worth it! 25 calories for ~6 pieces and only 10mg sodium. I tried them and they taste exactly the same to me. Yet another thing that makes you question WHY they have to add SOOOO much sodium to things that take just fine as is! I digress.

Light gouda cheese and goat cheese with just 130mg sodium per 1oz serving. YAY!

The light gouda is 86 calories per ounce. Love it!! Also, see the Kraft light dressing? Only 25 calories per 2 TBSP serving and made with entirely wholesome ingredients! Not even soy bean or canola oil; olive oil. Only downside is it’s very high in sodium; 290mg per serving. There always seem to be a catch to regular store items.

I’m shamelessly addicted to cottage cheese lately and NOT the no salt added kind. It’s just sooo good! My husband can’t stand it (doesn’t like the texture), but I swear, if it wasn’t for the sodium, I’d eat an entire pint everyday. I just love it. The kind with pineapple has a bit less sodium; 260mg per serving. Not toooo bad, if you can stop at one serving.

So, later on that night, I built a beautiful salad with my loot!

Hubby had a salad, too! Such a good boy And I figured all the healthy stuff in my salad cancels out that bottle of artificial sweetener, right? hehe

• Bed of butterhead lettuce
• Fresh avocado
• Plum tomato
• 1 grilled chicken tenderloin
• Chick peas
• No salt added bread and butter pickles
• Red onions
• Friendship pineapple cottage cheese
• Sargento reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese
• EVOO, red wine vinegar and Krasft light balsamic vinaigrette

DEEEEEEEEE-LISH-US! Lots of toppings but fun to eat and not too heavy on calories, either. I’d estimate around 500-550 calories, maybe less. Yum, yum, yummmmmm!

Saturday we had Tricia and Marco over for dinner. I was making shrimp scampi, so I had hearty breakfast and saved my appetite for the rest of the day. I split a blueberry bagel with cream cheese with hubby, along with scrambled eggs that I mixed with steamed asparagus, 1 slice ham, and some Sargento shredded swiss cheese:

I also had a scoop of Friendship pineapple cottage cheese on my platter.

This held me over for at least 6 hours, I wasn’t hungry at all, but I was also very busy cleaning and prepping food, so I might not have noticed my hunger.

I was watching Tyler Florence on the Food Network the other day and he was making shrimp scampi over linguine (or spaghetti?) with buttered bread topped with caramelized onions. I thought this sounded (and looked!!) wonderful, so I decided to make it for our Saturday night dinner date.

The salad:

Shrimp scampi over thin linguine:

My plate:

The breads…

By the time the onions cooked down, I only had enough for one side of the bread. So, I improvised and made the other side of the loaf garlic bread. I thought 2 huge sweet onions would be enough, but I guess not. Oops! It was AMAZING though! Everybody loved it. That side of the loaf was gone quickly lol.

Check out Tyler’s Ultimate on http://www.foodnetwork.com for the recipe. I followed most of it, but the linguine ended up being a little too dry, but still good. I guess I didn’t use enough butter/EVOO/vermouth/pasta water. I’m not used to cooking an entire box of pasta, so I underestimated a little lol. Next time I’ll go heavier on the sauce.

For dessert, my cousin brought over a small cheesecake and my mom made an almond flavored chocolate cake with almond icing. I had a small piece of each, but didn’t finish the chocolate:

We had a lovely time, but by Sunday I was pretty kitchened out, so we just grazed and nibbled all day.

It’s Monday night right now and I have an update for Monday, too. But I’ll let this one hang out in the blog sunshine for a little bit first.

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