Food, Water & Workout Journal 6/11/11 – Emotional Eating Bad, Veggies Good

I was still up at almost 4am and found myself frustrated about something. After much deliberation I turned to food for comfort like I have many, many, many times before. At least this time, because I still had my goal in mind, I chose somewhat healthier foods (as opposed to ice cream, candy and chips) and stopped myself before I had completely undone all the progress I’ve made. Also interesting to note is that this was the first day I hadn’t really worked out since starting this challenge. Sure I had walked for about 40 minutes, but that’s way different from doing ChaLEAN Extreme or TurboFire. Way different.

Early Morning Eating Binge – 8 pieces (yes, 8 more) imitation crab, 2 slices Kraft American cheese, about 5 corn puffs (the white cheddar kind from Trader Joe’s), a sip (maybe more like a gulp) of root beer, and 4 chocolate covered mini-pretzels

1:15pm (yes, you read that right…that’s when I woke up) Breakfast – Chocolate Shakeology made with 8oz water, 1 scoop Shakeology fiber boost, 1 tsp instant coffee granules and 3 ice cubes. Also had 12oz water with 2 Beachbody Slimming Formula tablets

4:00pm Snack – 2 c. homemade minestrone soup and 12oz water

6:20pm WORKOUT #1!! ChaLEAN Extreme Burn It Off and TurboFire FIRE55EZ then a short walk around the park while the boys kicked a soccer ball around. Why did I split up my workout? Because my family needed food so I threw together some dinner and baked it while we went outside. 36oz water.

7:45pm Snack/Post-workout – 1 scoop P90X Results & Recovery Formula with 10oz water

8:30pm Lunch (aka Dinner for the rest of the family) – 12oz. water and 2 Slimming Formula tablets, 4 c. shredded romaine lettuce with dressing made from 1 Tbs. Hidden Valley Ranch dressing, 1 Tbs. light sour cream, 2 tsp skim milk and a pinch of chipotle seasoning. It’s from Knorr and comes in little cubes.1/8 of the Veggie and Cheese enchilada casserole thing I made from scratch. The plan was to make actual enchiladas, but this was much easier and faster. Here’s the recipe. The veggies I used were just what I had in the fridge. I think this would be very forgiving and you could use lots of different combos. It could also be great with green sauce.

2 c. red enchilada sauce

10 corn tortillas

1 Tbs. olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 zucchini, diced

1 broccoli crown, chopped

1 c. frozen corn

1 serving frozen sweet potato fries (84g)

8oz shredded cheese (I used part-skim mozzarella because that’s what I had, but low-fat Monterey Jack or cheddar would be good, too.)

salt, chili powder and garlic powder to taste

Pre-heat oven to 350. Spray 9×13 pan with Pam.

1. Heat large skillet to medium-high and add olive oil.

2. Add veggies, salt, chili powder and garlic powder (or fresh if you’re not lazy or in a big hurry like I was).

3. Cook veggie mixture until crisp-tender and a little browned. Meanwhile, start prepping the pan with enchilada sauce and half the tortillas by spreading 1/3 c. sauce in the bottom and covering with tortillas then another 1/3 c. sauce.

Nope, I didn’t heat the tortillas or coat them in sauce. Just put them in straight from the fridge. Easy.

4. Spread the veggie mixture evenly over the bottom layer of tortillas. I was trying to keep the calories low and didn’t want a bunch of tortillas so I just did one layer.

5. Cover the veggies with about 6oz of the shredded cheese. Save the rest for the top.

6. Cover with remaining 5 tortillas, the rest of the sauce and sprinkle with cheese.

7.  Bake uncovered at 350 for about 30 minutes or until heated through. Mine stayed in the oven about 40 minutes because we were outside and the veggies ended up a little softer than I would’ve liked, but it was still good. If I had green onions and/or cilantro I would’ve sprinkled them over the top before serving for sure.

Each serving (1/8 of pan) had 11g protein, 29g carbs, 7g fat, 4g fiber and 215 calories.

10:15pm WORKOUT #2 – ChaLEAN Extreme Ab Burner (10 min.) and Recharge (20 min. stretch/yoga)

11:00pm Dinner – Chocolate Shakeology made with 8oz skim milk (organic as always), 1 scoop Shakeology fiber boost, a few drops mint extract and 4 ice cubes – tasted just like mint chocolate chip ice cream 🙂 12oz water and the last 2 Slimming Formula tablets

1:43am (now) – Celestial Seasonings Raspberry Zinger tea with stevia already in the bag – 10oz

Total calories consumed – 1517  Total calories burned – 3530

Protein – 99g, Carbs – 200g, Fat – 41g, Fiber – 41g

Water – 100oz

Today could have been a total disaster or at least a wash with the extra calories from my early morning mishap, but by incorporating lots of veggies into the rest of the day I stayed full and kept the calories right where I wanted them. Yay veggies!!

I’m Back – And Back in Control

It’s been a while, too long, since my last post. After I finished the TurboFire 5-Day Inferno with great results I pretty much lost my mind and all self-control. This has happened before. It’s definitely hormonal. I suppose I could’ve posted during the past week, but you know what they say…”If you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all.” That’s the approach I chose this time around. But after basically hitting rock bottom (I’m talking eating half a loaf of garlic bread followed by I don’t even want to say how much ice cream and washing it all down with 3 cans of root beer, not diet) I am back in control.

Not only am I back in control, but I have a new goal. It’s a big one. So big, in fact, that I’m not even going to share it lest you think I’m still completely insane and not really in control at all. It’s something I know I can do, though, because working from home part-time gives me the time I need to accomplish it. And it’s about gosh-darn time, too! I’ve been working out, but not as consistently as I should and I’ve been watching what I eat, but not as diligently as I should so I haven’t seen the results I could have if I’d been more on top of things. I will say that this is the first time in my life that I’ve lost weight and not gained it all back plus some, but I would like to keep shrinking, not just maintain where I am.

So I have a plan and it’s a good one. It’s simple math, really. Burn more than you consume. I have a BodyBugg that tells me what I’ve burned and I just need to keep track of what I’ve consumed, making sure I eat enough, often enough, to keep my body from going into starvation mode. So here’s Day 1 of my new 2 month goal.

7:45am – 1 cup hot green tea

8:00am – 8oz water with two Beachbody Slimming Formula tablets (green tea and other natural metabolism boosters with no stimulants/ephedra – that stuff is bad news)

8:30am – Chocolate Shakeology made with 8oz skim milk, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1 scoop Shakeology fiber boost, a dash of vanilla extract and 4 ice cubes

10:00am – 16oz water and weeding for 45 minutes

12:00pm – Turkey wrap made with an 80 calorie low-carb tortilla, 3 slices turkey, 1 tsp brown mustard, and 2 c iceberg lettuce

2:00pm – Nap time since I only had 4 hours of sleep the night before

4:30pm – 8oz water and 2 more Slimming Formula tablets

4:45pm – Chocolate Shakeology made with 8oz water, 1 Tbs almond butter, 1 scoop Shakeology fiber boost, and 4 ice cubes

5:00pm – Workout time! TurboFire Fire55EZ, Fire30 and ChaLEAN Extreme Push Circuit 2 – yep, 2 hours of working out – drank 40oz water

7:15pm – 1 scoop or half a serving of P90X Results & Recovery Formula mixed into 10oz water

7:45pm – 6oz Yoplait Light Harvest Peach because I knew it would be a while before I would eat dinner and I didn’t want my blood sugar to drop too much

10:15pm – Raspberry Zinger tea sweetened with stevia (Celestial Seasonings has tea bags with the stevia right in them – brilliant!!) and the last two Slimming Formula tablets for the day

10:30pm – 2 c homemade minestrone soup or something close to it topped with 1 Tbs grated parmesan cheese and some cayenne for a kick – Here’s the recipe…

Makes about 14 c

1 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 c celery, chopped

2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced

4 c zucchini, chopped (I quartered two lengthwise then cut into 1/2 chunks)

1 1/2 c Prego Heart Smart sauce

1 14.5oz can 33% lower sodium chicken broth (this could easily have been vegetable broth)

1 6oz can tomato paste

8 c water

1 15oz can kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 15oz can white cannelloni beans, rinsed and drained

6 oz fresh or frozen spinach, chopped (I used fresh because that’s what I had)

3 oz whole wheat pasta shells, dry

2 tsp dried basil

2 tsp parsley flakes

1 Tbs granulated garlic

2 tsp Kosher salt (or to taste)

1/4 tsp black pepper (or to taste)

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot on medium-low then cook the onion, celery and fresh garlic until they begin to soften.

2. Add the zucchini, basil and parsley (or any other herbs you like) and continue cooking until zucchini begins to soften.

3. Add the broth, Prego sauce, tomato paste, drained beans, granulated garlic and water and bring to a slow boil on medium-high heat.

4. Stir in the whole wheat pasta and spinach, cover and turn down the heat to medium checking the pasta for “doneness” every few minutes. (It took 10 minutes for mine to be ready.)

5. Season with salt and pepper and enjoy.

11:30pm – P90X Wildberry protein bar – sort of a dessert, but gave me the last 20g of protein I needed for the day

Total calories – 1465

Protein – 114g, Fat – 32g, Carbs 208g, Fiber 57g

TurboFire 5-Day Inferno – Day 4

Before I say anything else I have to admit that I slipped, cheated, whatever you want to call it. So far I’ve done great, following the plan exactly, but I kind of lost it at the very end of the day and I think I can pinpoint three main reasons why. First, I’ve been adding to the posts throughout the day as I follow the plan which has really helped keep me on track. Instead of doing that for this day I didn’t journal at all and I’m actually sitting here on the morning of Day 5 writing this. There’s just something about writing/typing everything that increases accountability somehow. Second, I only got my usual 4 hours of sleep the night before and instead of getting more sleep during the day I stayed up. So by the time the sun went down I was tired, but not tired enough to just go to bed which is what I should’ve done, and I had eaten everything I was supposed to for the day. A person can only go so long without wanting to eat, especially if you’re used to eating every few hours. And when you’re tired you tend to feel more hungry. Third, I had used my last packet of Truvia the night before in my tea. So? Well, I’ve been having a cup of herbal tea at the end of each day and it was really hitting the spot. I didn’t want to use sugar so I decided to just tough it out. Not the best idea. I ended up eating a protein bar which, even though it has only healthy forms of sugar, still had more sugar than I would’ve put in my tea. Then I went on to have some lime sherbet which has plenty of sugar, and not the good kind, AND a turkey and cheese sandwich. Yeah, being up late, tired and hungry, is not ideal for making logical decisions. Anyway, here’s all the stuff I did right.

8:00am – Breakfast – Today’s is Shakeology which I make for my kids in the morning anyway so I made the same thing for all of us. Each full serving contained 1/2 medium banana, 2 tsp. peanut butter, 1 scoop Chocolate Shakeology, 8 oz water and 3 ice cubes. So delicious! (I’ve also noticed that the later in the day I have my Shakeology, the less likely I am to give in to temptation at night.)

11:00am – Snack – 1 medium apple with 1 Tbs. almond butter.

2:20pm – Lunch – I’ve never thought of using cottage cheese in egg salad, but it worked great. I really didn’t miss the mayo at all. This was 2 hard-cooked eggs with one yolk removed, 1/4c. low-fat cottage cheese, 1 Tbs. Dijon mustard, salt and pepper to taste and much to my delight there was still enough of the chives my friend gave me from her garden for this, too. After getting mixed together, it was wrapped in a low-carb whole wheat tortilla. The salad was 2 cups of Romaine lettuce with a sliced Roma tomato and 1 tsp. balsamic vinegar.

5:15pm – Workout time! FIRE45 + HIIT20+Stretch10 – same as Day 2. Since I hadn’t taken a nap and was running on four hours of sleep, I decided to add 1 scoop or half a serving of P90X Results & Recovery Drink to my water. It really did the trick! I was able to push through and get the most out of the workout.

7:30pm – Dinner – this one was particularly satisfying. 4oz lean steak that had been marinated in soy sauce, black pepper, and garlic then cooked in my grill pan. 6oz fresh spinach simmered for just a few minutes then mixed with fresh garlic, low-fat sour cream and Parmesan cheese and heated through. Also got to eat 1/2 of a baked potato (I actually just had a whole small potato) which I seasoned with a little salt and pepper and topped with a little of the sauce from the spinach.

9:15pm – Last snack – 1 medium orange and 10 raw almonds.

Well, like I said before, it all kind of went downhill from there, but there’s still one more day and I plan to do an extra workout to make up for the “bonus” calories.

TurboFire 5-Day Inferno Shopping List

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

 

Food Journal – 5/19/11 Double Dose of Goodness to Combat the Bad

After noticing yesterday that I tended to reach for more calorie-dense foods at night out of habit I was determined to make an effort to fill up on more veggies. I did better, although there’s still some room for improvement. One big step in the right direction was having the burger patty with just A-1 sauce instead of putting it on a 180 calorie bun. Yay for me!

1 “Cutie” mandarin orange – 35

1 angus beef patty with 1 Tbs A-1 sauce – 215

1 roma tomato and 1 large cucumber with 1 Tbs Wishbone dressing – 90

1/4 bean and cheese quesadilla – 150

1/2 oz tortilla chips – 70

9oz edamame including pods – 150

whole wheat and turkey and cheese – 200

p90x Cafe Mocha protein bar – 250

Once I went to bed at 4am and then got back up a little after 7am, I threw my whole schedule off by venturing out for a walk instead of going back to bed. When I returned I posted 55 of the photos I took. It was a gorgeous day and I just had to share. As soon as I got back from the walk I had some Shakeology which was a great start, but the weird schedule really threw me off.

Breakfast – Chocolate Shakeology, Bananas Foster Recipe:  6oz water, 4oz Silk Vanilla soy milk, 1 scoop chocolate Shakeology, 1/2 large ripe banana, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4-1/2 tsp rum extract (didn’t measure), 1 scoop Fiber Boost, 4 ice cubes. – 275

I was in the zone posting all those photos and completely forgot to eat. When I was done I was HUNGRY (and tired which always makes hunger feel 10x worse) so I started grabbing food. My husband also came home hungry (it was about 3:30pm by this point) so I made food for both of us.

Lunch + whatever I shoved in my mouth while making lunch – 1 slice whole wheat bread and 1/4 c. hummus – 210

2 slices American cheese – 120

Yakisoba noodles with chicken, green beans and sauce – 350

Another burger patty, but this time I did eat the stupid bun which wasn’t that good and definitely NOT worth the extra calories and another slice of cheese with ketchup and mustard – 550 ugh!!!

Dinner – I decided to just have another Shakeology because I knew I needed something a lot healthier than what I’d been eating. This time I made a Mocha recipe because even though I don’t normally drink coffee I knew I needed to get some more things done and I was really feeling the lack of sleep. Plus, it was quite warm and I just wanted something cold and refreshing. It definitely hit the spot and gave me the energy I needed to deal with the rest of my day/night. I used 8oz Silk Vanilla soy milk, 1 scoop Chocolate Shakeology, 1 rounded tsp instant coffee, 1 scoop Fiber Boost and 5 ice cubes – 275 and delightful!

Total calories – a whopping 2940!! Yikes! Good thing I took that nice, long walk which burned around 800-900 calories so I probably broke even for the 24 hour period. Just goes to show how much easier it is to eat right when you get enough sleep, plan ahead, and eat every few hours instead of going for long periods of time between meals. Well, tomorrow is another day!

Shakeology 3-day Cleanse – Day 3

Just as I thought, the kids found the frozen strawberries so my first shake of the day was Greenberry with mango puree from Trader Joe’s. I love that stuff. There have been too many times where I’ve shelled out good money for fresh mangoes, waited patiently for them to ripen and then cut them open to find they’ve turned brown even though they’re barely soft. No more! The frozen puree is perfect for shakes and it’s not stringy. Between the ice and mango I ended up with a very large shake. It didn’t all fit in the 16oz shaker cup. I just wish my camera did a better job of capturing the color. It’s actually much more vibrant and not really the color of pea soup.

I got a late start to my day (notice the time on the stove when I made my first shake) so I didn’t end up following the plan exactly. If I had weighed myself before I started I would’ve been more concerned with doing things exactly according to plan so I could share my results, but I got what I needed out of it. I definitely feel less fluffy, my clothes are fitting much better, and I’m hydrated again. And perhaps the most important benefit, I’m just interested in eating things that are good for me because I need them instead of eating whatever just for the taste. It’s amazing how much your mindset toward food can change in just three days. Once you realize how much better you feel after eating healthy you don’t want to go back to eating junk because you realize it’s just not worth it.

Food Journal 3/10/11 – It’s all about what I didn’t eat

Note to self – don’t wait two days to log in your food because you’re not going to remember everything. But regardless of what I did eat and forgot, the important thing is what I didn’t eat. My son had a post-season party at Dairy Queen and not only did I have a salad (don’t expect a good salad from an ice cream place), but I didn’t eat any ice cream. And honestly, I wasn’t even tempted. Since I’ve been drinking Shakeology, my cravings for stuff like ice cream and candy has almost completely gone away. Every once in a while I find myself wanting an unhealthy treat, but most of the time I’m craving healthy food. Weird, I know.

Breakfast – Chocolate Shakeology made with 8oz water, 4oz 1% organic milk, 6 pecan halves and a little butter/nut flavoring

AM Snack – P90X Chocolate Peanut Butter protein bar (these probably help me not want junk food because they taste like a candy bar, but have 20 grams of protein and are sweetened with brown rice syrup and evaported cane juice invert syrup and have tons of vitamins and minerals)

Lunch – 1 Mission Low-Carb Plus Medium tortilla, 3 slices natural honey turkey, 1 slice Alpine Lace light provolone, 2tsp yellow mustard, about 6 slices pepperoncinis, 3 lettuce leaves

PM Snack – 1 small banana and ? I think I ate something else, but don’t remember what

Dinner – grilled chicken salad from DQ minus the nasty bacon they put on there (I don’t eat pork, but even if I did, that stuff did not look right) with honey mustard dressing (about half the tub)

PM Snack – ? something, just don’t remember what

Total calories – ? Less than it would’ve been if I had eaten a Blizzard 😉

Total calories burned – 3562 (took a really long walk which I still have to post pictures from)

Food Journal 3/9/11 – Finally got groceries, but still ate out

Yeah, I broke down and went shopping, but not until the evening so at the kids’ request we stopped at Taco Bell on the way home from their karate lesson.

Breakfast – Chocolate Shakeology made with 8oz water, 4 oz 1% organic milk, a little raspberry flavoring and ice

AM Snack – P90X Chocolate Fudge protein bar

Post-workout/lunch – wasn’t hungry at all around lunchtime – 1 scoop Results & Recovery Drink

PM Snack – 1 1/2c leftover fettucini, 1/2c Prego Heart Smart Traditional sauce

Dinner – 2 1/2 Taco Bell bean burritos and about 16 chocolate covered pretzels

Laaaaate snack/drink – had some very strong coffee so I could stay up and help my husband with a project that he was working on – ended up going to bed at 4am

Total calories – 2172, Protein – 102 grams, Carbs – 324, Fat – 56 grams, Fiber – 47 grams

Protein 19%, Carbs 58%, Fat 23%

Total calories burned – 2875, deficit of 703

Food Journal 3/7/11 – Now it’s becoming a game

Still haven’t gone to the grocery store (even as I’m sitting here writing this on 3/8) and yet we managed not to starve. Funny how necessity is the mother of invention. Now it’s almost become a game…Let’s See Just How Bare We Can Get the Fridge and Cupboards Before Going Grocery Shopping. I don’t think it will last too much longer.

Breakfast – Chocolate Shakeology made with 8oz water, 4oz 1% organic milk, ice and I honestly don’t remember if I put in any flavoring. That’s what happens when you don’t write or type stuff right away.

AM Snack – 1/2 P90X Cafe Mocha protein bar

Lunch – 6oz tofu, 2 large celery stalks, 1/4c chopped onion, 2Tbs Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki, 1Tbs light soy sauce, 1tsp oil, 3/4c cooked short grain rice, 1/2tsp sesame seeds and 1 brownie from the batch I made the night before

PM Snack – I honestly don’t remember. Oh wait, I think it was 1/4c hummus eaten with a spoon out of the container

Dinner – 6oz flounder seasoned with salt, pepper, thyme and paprika, 2c iceberg lettuce (can’t believe the half a head was enough for everyone) 1/3 of a Roma tomato, 3oz yam, 1 Pillsbury biscuit, 1Tbs vidalia onion dressing

Late Snack – I know I ate something, but again, can’t remember what it was. I do know that it wasn’t Peppermint Patties because those are all gone now. Oh yeah, it was croutons, but I don’t know how many because I wasn’t counting.

So by estimating the croutons and hoping I didn’t forget anything, I came up with total calories of 1588 and burned 3012.

Food Journal 3/6/11 – Need to go shopping…again

This was a prime example of what happens when one doesn’t plan ahead. We were pretty much out of everything that could be put together to make an actual meal so I ended up eating this and that, just using up the odds and ends that were left from packages that include odd numbers of things.

Breakfast – Chocolate Shakeology made with 8oz water, 4oz 1% organic skim milk, 2 ice cubes, a little cinnamon and coconut extract (At least that’s always easy and the healthiest thing I consume all day no matter what else I eat.)

AM Snack – Didn’t have one because I slept in and didn’t have breakfast until 10:00am

Lunch – 16 black olives (the rest of the can left over from the tuna salad the other day), 1 Hebrew National 97% fat free hot dog, 1/2Tbs Simply Heinz ketchup, 3/4c frozen peas, just heated through, 1 Trader Joe’s jalapeno chicken sausage, 3Tbs salsa, 1oz corn chips, 2Tbs guacamole (I know, pretty random)

PM Snack – P90X Cafe Mocha protein bar

Dinner – I managed to figure out a “meal” for the family: fish sticks, yams and salad. However, after the fish sticks were already in the oven my husband decided he wanted to order pizza. I wasn’t going to eat either, but ended up giving in and eating both. Ugh. I was going to go grocery shopping, but it didn’t happen. Reality check…need to spend more time getting the food situation organized or I’m not going to be making the progress I could be.

Didn’t count the fish sticks or pizza slices, but I know I ate at least 2400 calories and burned 2371 so it’s somewhere around a wash, but don’t know for sure. My meal planner is great, but only if I actually have the right food in the house. I did notice, however, that my arms are starting to show some serious definition from doing ChaLEAN Extreme which made me really happy. 🙂

Food Journal 3/3/11 – Haystack Heaven

Never heard of a haystack? Well, it’s amazing. Not just because it tastes good, but it’s fast and easy to make. Plus, the kids love it and it can be easily customized to please even the pickiest eaters.

Breakfast – Chocolate Shakeology made with 4oz water, 8oz Blue Diamond Original almond milk, a little vanilla extract, some cinnamon and a couple ice cubes

AM Snack – 3 slices turkey bacon, 2 mandarin oranges

Lunch – 2 slices whole grain white bread, 6 extra-thin slices turkey, a little yellow mustard and 4 dill pickle slices (Yes, I know I said I was going to start using the meal planner to change things up, but I actually wrote that the morning after which was the same day I was eating this), 1 small Fuji apple

PM Snack – P90X Wildberry protein bar

Dinner – Haystacks! 1 1/2oz Fritos (you can use something healthier, but it’s not the same), 1c refried beans, 2c shredded iceberg lettuce (same thing as with the Fritos), 1 diced Roma tomato ($2.49/lb!! it’s just wrong), 5 sliced black olives, 2Tbs light sour cream, 2Tbs packaged guacmole (not my first choice by any means, but there were no ripe avocados at the store) 2Tbs salsa, 1oz shredded Mexican cheese blend

There are so many variations on this. Some people like to use chili instead of refried beans. Some people add Spanish rice. I prefer diced avocado when possible, then fresh guacamole, then store-bought as a last resort. I also love diced onions or green onions, but I’m the only one so I didn’t bother. Cilantro is good, too. Don’t like sour cream? My husband likes ranch dressing on his. So many options. You just have to use your imagination.

Dessert – 6oz Yoplait Light Key Lime Pie right after dinner, then later I had 6 mini Peppermint Patties

Total calories – 2191, Protein – 100 grams, Carbs – 305 grams, Fat – 76 grams, Fiber – 42 grams

Protein 17%, Carbs 53%, Fat 30%

Total calories burned – 3419, deficit of 1228 🙂