I have a problem. I'm in a rut. Since about Labor Day-ish. I woke up one morning without my Mojo. My usual moxy - sunny attitude, lots of smiling and laughing, oodles of self confidence (or contentment at least), gazelle-like intensity in my work, at the gym and in life in general. .
Sad thing is I've yet to find it. What the heck happened to it? How do you just lose your mojo? Perhaps if I knew I would know how to get it back.
I knew something was wrong during my last half marathon. About 10 miles in I literally couldn't figure out what I was doing there. Not a disoriented demented sort of a deal but literally like, what is the purpose of all this? It was hard for me to finish that race. I blew it off as we all get our mental "walls" during things like that and I figured that was mine. But it's crept into pretty much everything. Now my eating wants to slide, I'm tempted to blow off the gym. This is how people gain their weight back so easily. So quickly. How does the momentum shift so suddenly and with such force?
The key is to not numb myself to the frustration that is a lost mojo. I think that is what happens. I tune it out and wake up 50 pounds later only to be shocked and disappointed at what I let happen to myself. I'm not going there again. But I have got to figure out a way to stop the slide.
So, the reward signs are posted and the hunt for the mojo is on. In the meantime, I am literally writing myself a prescription for a clean diet and exercise. A holding pattern until I have the resources to charge ahead again. Get through it and trust the mojo is doing an Eat, Pray, Love sort of a deal and is coming back, better than ever.
If you see it, send it home, would ya?
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Thanksgiving Update
Well, I did it. Everything I set out to do to be clean and careful on Turkey Day worked out. I ran 5 miles on my treadmill this morning and after eating an apple, walked into Thanksgiving with a 500 calorie deficit. That helps! I ate my two crackers of crab dip and did all the things at dinner I said I would. My dessert cookies turned out to be delicious.
My sister hosted T-giving and was gracious about the fact that I BYOB (brought my own slice of whole grain bread). Also, my dessert cookies were determined to be good tasting by not just me but my husband, mom, sister and niece. And so, I survived! And it wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be. It really, REALLY helped to have a plan in place beforehand. I'm not sure if I would've walked in with no plan that I would have made such good decisions. I would've been overwhelmed with the smells and feelings of holiday celebration. Crisis averted!
So, now, about these dessert cookies. The recipe comes from the November 2010 issue of Oxygen magazine:
Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes 20 cookies (not 24 like the recipe says)
1 cup unsalted almond butter, stirred well (I couldn't find unsalted almond butter so I went to the health food store and churned some up in their machine, actually I sent my husband to do it which could be a blog post in itself)
3/4 cup Sucanat (a derivate of sugar, it stands for sugar cane natural, grainy texture by itself but great for cooking)
1 large egg
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
3 oz. dark chocolate (70% cocoa or greater), broken into small pieces
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together first five ingredients until blended. Stir in chocolate. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto parchment lined baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.
* I should note the cookies will be extremely soft and mooshy at this point. They harden up once they cool, so it doesn't mean they are not done if they are squishy.
Let cool on baking sheets for five minutes (10 is better). Remove to a wire rack and let cool for 15 more minutes.
110 calories, 8 g fat, 1.5 g sat fat, 10 g carbs, 1 g fiber, 3 g sugar, 2 g protein, 55 mg sodium, 10 mg cholesterol
What makes these cookies good is that they are clean. There is not one ingredient that will spike your blood sugar out of control and they are filling because they have protein in them. Also they are gluten free for those of you who are sensitive.
The magazine makes a special note to say researchers have found that the dark chocolate's antioxidants may bind with the protein in milk, so think twice about drinking milk while eating dark chocolate if you are eating it for the antioxidant benefits.
They taste enough like a "real" chocolate chip cookie to pass as a dessert you could share with others. My family seemed to enjoy them and noticed that they were very filling for a dessert item.
I would definitely make these again.
My sister hosted T-giving and was gracious about the fact that I BYOB (brought my own slice of whole grain bread). Also, my dessert cookies were determined to be good tasting by not just me but my husband, mom, sister and niece. And so, I survived! And it wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be. It really, REALLY helped to have a plan in place beforehand. I'm not sure if I would've walked in with no plan that I would have made such good decisions. I would've been overwhelmed with the smells and feelings of holiday celebration. Crisis averted!
So, now, about these dessert cookies. The recipe comes from the November 2010 issue of Oxygen magazine:
Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes 20 cookies (not 24 like the recipe says)
1 cup unsalted almond butter, stirred well (I couldn't find unsalted almond butter so I went to the health food store and churned some up in their machine, actually I sent my husband to do it which could be a blog post in itself)
3/4 cup Sucanat (a derivate of sugar, it stands for sugar cane natural, grainy texture by itself but great for cooking)
1 large egg
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
3 oz. dark chocolate (70% cocoa or greater), broken into small pieces
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together first five ingredients until blended. Stir in chocolate. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto parchment lined baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.
* I should note the cookies will be extremely soft and mooshy at this point. They harden up once they cool, so it doesn't mean they are not done if they are squishy.
Let cool on baking sheets for five minutes (10 is better). Remove to a wire rack and let cool for 15 more minutes.
110 calories, 8 g fat, 1.5 g sat fat, 10 g carbs, 1 g fiber, 3 g sugar, 2 g protein, 55 mg sodium, 10 mg cholesterol
What makes these cookies good is that they are clean. There is not one ingredient that will spike your blood sugar out of control and they are filling because they have protein in them. Also they are gluten free for those of you who are sensitive.
The magazine makes a special note to say researchers have found that the dark chocolate's antioxidants may bind with the protein in milk, so think twice about drinking milk while eating dark chocolate if you are eating it for the antioxidant benefits.
They taste enough like a "real" chocolate chip cookie to pass as a dessert you could share with others. My family seemed to enjoy them and noticed that they were very filling for a dessert item.
I would definitely make these again.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Doppelganger Drama and Stuffing Myself Like a Turkey
So, about the time I embraced my Facebook account, it was "Doppelganger Week". I didn't know what a doppelganger was and I sure as heck wasn't sure why all my friends suddenly greatly resembled celebrities in their profile pictures. Figured it out. But I couldn't for the life of me figure out who my celebrity doppelganger might be. I do know that I apparently have a doppelganger that lives in Salem because for years I have been mistaken for this alleged girl...I wonder if I met her if I would think we looked alike. To others, we look identical.
Anywho, this week my husband and I were watching "Rules of Engagement". And my husband blurts out that he is looking at my doppelganger - the wifey one, Megyn Price. The one from Grounded for Life. I had to take my hand and fish my jaw up off the floor. HER?! Seriously?!? WHY?!? I don't think much of her (maybe because she's me?) and was even more shocked that I just don't see it at all. Before copping a serious girl-itude I decided to sit with the information for a bit...and while I was sitting I frantically Googled her. Whenever she comes up the words "smart" and "hot" follow quite often, okay, my feelings are becoming a little more lukewarm to the idea. My mind is churning and I admit to myself, I have a tendency to not see myself clearly. EVER. I either think I am way better, but usually way worse than I currently am but rarely am I dead on. The only thing that really sets me straight for a brief time are photographs/videos and comments made by my husband. He knows me better than anybody, he knows my personality, feelings and struggles and he's very honest with the best of intentions and doesn't let the fact that sometimes I freak out at the comments sway him in his honesty. I appreciate that. So, I take it in. Megyn Price. My Doppelganger. Shocking but I'm trying to make peace with it until...he then says "well, she's a bigger gal and so are you". Sorry, girl-itude took over at this moment before rationalization could. I believe I started to foam at the mouth while my eyes became as big as saucers and my head started to rotate around on it's axis. "WHAT. DOES. THAT. MEAN"??? What he meant was that I'm not a 4'8" waif but a 5'7" fit girl. But I was already in full-on doghouse-flipout mode and there was no going back. That killed an hour in the name of proper self-perspective. Ah the joys of being an estrogen driven super freak. I need to work on seeing myself a little more realistically and also not turning into said estrogen-super-freak every time a comment about my physical being is on the table and being horrifically misconstrued by me and my warped perspective. Yikes.
Now to the real task at hand - preparing for Thanksgiving. Here's the deal. On a typical Thanksgiving I would eat a family's worth of servings of my sister's amazing crab dip on buttery Ritz crackers as an appetizer. Then, although I'm really too full to then have a Thanksgiving dinner, I would then proceed with modest amounts of turkey, larger amounts of mashed potatoes, yams, rolls & jelly and whatever else wandered onto the table. And don't forget dessert. A very healthy serving of dessert. Stuffed like the turkey on the table. And if I was currently on a too-restrictive diet at the time, then much, much more of the above food in the name of a cheat day. I'm sick just thinking about being that full. So full it hurts to move.
So, all my posts regarding clean eating and leaning out by all means do not mesh with the above scenario. Thanksgiving is not my privelege to cook this year, but even if it was I wouldn't subject my poor family to turkey, plain sweet potatoes, lots of vegetables, and perhaps a clean dessert of some kind if you could call it dessert. As much as I want to live my edible life a certain way, I certainly don't get preachy with others about it. To each his own, ya know? My problem is how to take care of myself on this food focused day. I'm thinking it through, making a plan and whatever I decide I'm making a promise to myself to stick to it in the name of my goals.
Turkey is fine. No skin, I don't like gravy anyway and I prefer white meat. Nada problem. Mashed potatoes are out. That's one of my favorites. It's going to smart a little. Candied sweet potatoes are coming to the party. I could eat a potato as plain as possible and try to avoid the candied part. That's going to smart a lot. Scrape the yummy stuff off so I can eat the plain tasteless part? Awesome. Stuffing, don't care for it, thank goodness, a gimme. Rolls and my sister's homemade jelly. I won't do it. Because even the wheat muffins are white bread in a tan disguise. Hmph. I'm tempted to bring a piece of my own whole grain bread just to have a sampling of the homemade jelly. I might budge on that one as long as I bring the bread. Crab dip. What the heck am I gonna do about that blasted crab dip?! I eat it twice a year. Thanksgiving and Christmas. I feel physical pain when I imagine not having any crab dip. So, I'll compromise. I'm bringing reduced fat Ritz crackers (unclean, but with the dip it makes the "perfect bite" and if I'm going to do it, let's do it right). I will have two. One for fun and one to bank in the memory. And no, the crackers will not be piled to the ceiling. Lastly, dessert. Nothing on the dessert list is even remotely clean. But as I sit here and think about it, nothing on the dessert list is something that I will feel really disappointed if I can't have. That's interesting, because I always would eat dessert and usually a lot of it. And yet it's not that high on my priority list. I probably will want to have something and I don't want to look exclusive of the group by not partaking. My solution is to bring a clean dessert to contribute and then just eat that. I've decided to try a clean cookie recipe: "Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies". Clean and easy to control the calories and nutrients. Plus, since it's not a pie, it doesn't compete with the other desserts and could easily be sampled by others if preferred or just skulk away in a Ziploc into the night.
So, I feel good about this plan. The important thing is to stick to it. I will get to have a couple of unclean treats, food I truly look forward to. I will eat clean otherwise and just not waste my appetite on food that really doesn't matter that much to me. I work way too hard busting my tail in the gym to just throw it all away on food that doesn't matter. This is a huge step in the right direction for me and I'm determined to stick to it.
Wish me luck...
Anywho, this week my husband and I were watching "Rules of Engagement". And my husband blurts out that he is looking at my doppelganger - the wifey one, Megyn Price. The one from Grounded for Life. I had to take my hand and fish my jaw up off the floor. HER?! Seriously?!? WHY?!? I don't think much of her (maybe because she's me?) and was even more shocked that I just don't see it at all. Before copping a serious girl-itude I decided to sit with the information for a bit...and while I was sitting I frantically Googled her. Whenever she comes up the words "smart" and "hot" follow quite often, okay, my feelings are becoming a little more lukewarm to the idea. My mind is churning and I admit to myself, I have a tendency to not see myself clearly. EVER. I either think I am way better, but usually way worse than I currently am but rarely am I dead on. The only thing that really sets me straight for a brief time are photographs/videos and comments made by my husband. He knows me better than anybody, he knows my personality, feelings and struggles and he's very honest with the best of intentions and doesn't let the fact that sometimes I freak out at the comments sway him in his honesty. I appreciate that. So, I take it in. Megyn Price. My Doppelganger. Shocking but I'm trying to make peace with it until...he then says "well, she's a bigger gal and so are you". Sorry, girl-itude took over at this moment before rationalization could. I believe I started to foam at the mouth while my eyes became as big as saucers and my head started to rotate around on it's axis. "WHAT. DOES. THAT. MEAN"??? What he meant was that I'm not a 4'8" waif but a 5'7" fit girl. But I was already in full-on doghouse-flipout mode and there was no going back. That killed an hour in the name of proper self-perspective. Ah the joys of being an estrogen driven super freak. I need to work on seeing myself a little more realistically and also not turning into said estrogen-super-freak every time a comment about my physical being is on the table and being horrifically misconstrued by me and my warped perspective. Yikes.
Now to the real task at hand - preparing for Thanksgiving. Here's the deal. On a typical Thanksgiving I would eat a family's worth of servings of my sister's amazing crab dip on buttery Ritz crackers as an appetizer. Then, although I'm really too full to then have a Thanksgiving dinner, I would then proceed with modest amounts of turkey, larger amounts of mashed potatoes, yams, rolls & jelly and whatever else wandered onto the table. And don't forget dessert. A very healthy serving of dessert. Stuffed like the turkey on the table. And if I was currently on a too-restrictive diet at the time, then much, much more of the above food in the name of a cheat day. I'm sick just thinking about being that full. So full it hurts to move.
So, all my posts regarding clean eating and leaning out by all means do not mesh with the above scenario. Thanksgiving is not my privelege to cook this year, but even if it was I wouldn't subject my poor family to turkey, plain sweet potatoes, lots of vegetables, and perhaps a clean dessert of some kind if you could call it dessert. As much as I want to live my edible life a certain way, I certainly don't get preachy with others about it. To each his own, ya know? My problem is how to take care of myself on this food focused day. I'm thinking it through, making a plan and whatever I decide I'm making a promise to myself to stick to it in the name of my goals.
Turkey is fine. No skin, I don't like gravy anyway and I prefer white meat. Nada problem. Mashed potatoes are out. That's one of my favorites. It's going to smart a little. Candied sweet potatoes are coming to the party. I could eat a potato as plain as possible and try to avoid the candied part. That's going to smart a lot. Scrape the yummy stuff off so I can eat the plain tasteless part? Awesome. Stuffing, don't care for it, thank goodness, a gimme. Rolls and my sister's homemade jelly. I won't do it. Because even the wheat muffins are white bread in a tan disguise. Hmph. I'm tempted to bring a piece of my own whole grain bread just to have a sampling of the homemade jelly. I might budge on that one as long as I bring the bread. Crab dip. What the heck am I gonna do about that blasted crab dip?! I eat it twice a year. Thanksgiving and Christmas. I feel physical pain when I imagine not having any crab dip. So, I'll compromise. I'm bringing reduced fat Ritz crackers (unclean, but with the dip it makes the "perfect bite" and if I'm going to do it, let's do it right). I will have two. One for fun and one to bank in the memory. And no, the crackers will not be piled to the ceiling. Lastly, dessert. Nothing on the dessert list is even remotely clean. But as I sit here and think about it, nothing on the dessert list is something that I will feel really disappointed if I can't have. That's interesting, because I always would eat dessert and usually a lot of it. And yet it's not that high on my priority list. I probably will want to have something and I don't want to look exclusive of the group by not partaking. My solution is to bring a clean dessert to contribute and then just eat that. I've decided to try a clean cookie recipe: "Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies". Clean and easy to control the calories and nutrients. Plus, since it's not a pie, it doesn't compete with the other desserts and could easily be sampled by others if preferred or just skulk away in a Ziploc into the night.
So, I feel good about this plan. The important thing is to stick to it. I will get to have a couple of unclean treats, food I truly look forward to. I will eat clean otherwise and just not waste my appetite on food that really doesn't matter that much to me. I work way too hard busting my tail in the gym to just throw it all away on food that doesn't matter. This is a huge step in the right direction for me and I'm determined to stick to it.
Wish me luck...
Saturday, November 13, 2010
An Apology and a Fresh Start
Well, I've done exactly the thing I hate about the blogs I've been excited about. They just stop. They get this momentum happening that is exciting and fun and I tune in each week to catch up on the latest and bam. Nothing. Cyber-abandonment. It's irritating and I've gone and done it to you.
All I can say is I'm sorry and I won't do it again. I'm going to find regular, reoccurring time to carve into my busy life that makes my blog a part of it. Because I love my blog. It's therapeutic and helps me get back to the task at hand. And I appreciate the feedback my readers have given me thus far. I know to varying degrees, we are all in this together. There are parts of a woman's cuh-razy mind that are universal.
So, let me give you the catch-up: I stopped the Courthouse Nutrition Plan. It was nothing personal. Financially, I needed to cut the $50 a month. But it wasn't exactly a hard breakup. After six weeks my weight was virtually the same and although it looked like my body fat percentage was starting to decrease, I just felt like my caloric intake was still up in the air and that at times, my NT was as baffled by me as I was with myself. Lots of people exercise a lot. Lots of people try to lose weight. They see this more than anyone else I know. So why were my calorie needs a mystery? I've met some other people at the gym that have had really great results and others who are in my boat. I guess it is just like anything else - if it works for you, it's golden. If it doesn't, there IS something out there that will. Ya just need to find it.
I did learn from it that I need to consume more calories. Especially if I want to run half marathons and take vigorous classes and weight lift and do all the things I wanna do physically. No 1200 calories plans for this girl.
So, my search continues. In the process I've found a few things that are helpful.
1. I went on vacation and literally all bets were off. No structured workouts - instead I swam in a resorty swimming pool and walked beaches. It was lovely. My eating went from clean to very, very dusty to extremely filthy. It tasted great but for the first time, I felt icky from it. And the changes that type of eating makes to my body are almost immediately noticeable and I felt icky about that too. For once, it wasn't worth it to eat whatever my heart desired. Hmm. Interesting. The quote "it doesn't taste as good as being fit feels" rang true for the first time.
2. My interest in weightlifting and now leaning down with diet inevitably lead me to the website bodybuilding.com I feel that this website is brimming with my peeps and their generous offerings of experience and advice. It's nice to have a forum of people that subscribe to the same set of guidelines I am applying to myself to achieve the same general form of physique. A bodybuilder's lifestyle I have apparently gravitated toward and am comfortable living. Who the heck knew.
On this site is an area called "Bodyspace". Kind of a MySpace for fitness types. I ran across a profile called "chickentuna". This gal has an awful lot of people who are inspired by her and the name is actually what led me to check her out. I instantly thought of Jessica Simpson and her "Chicken of the Sea" debacle. But this lady named herself this because she eats super clean and people razz her all the time for eating tuna and chicken a lot. Her website is currently my motivation. I don't want to be as extremely lean as her. I actually am shooting for a lean physique but with a layer of softness still on it. But what motivates me is she speaks the cold, hard, ugly truth: If you eat crap, your body will look like crap. It's true and the closer I get to being lean, the more I realize how much it's true. It's disappointing as all get out, but true nonetheless. People who say it's just calories in and calories out and it doesn't matter what the calories are composed of are dead wrong. Try it, you'll see. Anyway, I find that all I have to do is say to myself "chickentuna" and I've got some much-needed motivation in times of trial (which are often these days).
3. Jamie Eason. God Bless Jamie Eason. She's a hot chick with a bodybuilder lifestyle and she offers up all kinds of advice for living the life. Her recipes and tips are saving me. And because she walks around looking like my idea of physique perfection all days of the year, I trust what she says much more than someone who looks nothing like "goal" but claims to know what they are talking about. I just read an interview with her recently and uncovered another ugly truth: she states that to really get that impeccable, lean body, you really can't schedule in "cheat meals/treats". It needs to be pretty much never that you indulge. I needed to hear that because unfortunately I am one of those people that suffers from every cheat meal/treat I eat. I just don't have the bodily resiliency to have it not metabolize into a big old mess onto all of my hard work. It's also a huge letdown of truth, but I needed to have it spelled out for me. That is not to say I will never eat crap food ever again, but I can't sit here and complain about lack of results if I'm eating whatever I want 2 out of 7 days each week. The silver lining is the more I eat clean, the more I truly enjoy some of these clean foods and it actually isn't grueling to eat like this anymore. I think the key is to just keep consistently doing it and it becomes your "new normal". The reset button we try to do with crash dieting but don't do it right or give it enough time to stick.
Anyway, officially today I'm back on track. As I tell my husband "it's me and chickentuna against the world". Maybe not, but it sure sounds good. :)
All I can say is I'm sorry and I won't do it again. I'm going to find regular, reoccurring time to carve into my busy life that makes my blog a part of it. Because I love my blog. It's therapeutic and helps me get back to the task at hand. And I appreciate the feedback my readers have given me thus far. I know to varying degrees, we are all in this together. There are parts of a woman's cuh-razy mind that are universal.
So, let me give you the catch-up: I stopped the Courthouse Nutrition Plan. It was nothing personal. Financially, I needed to cut the $50 a month. But it wasn't exactly a hard breakup. After six weeks my weight was virtually the same and although it looked like my body fat percentage was starting to decrease, I just felt like my caloric intake was still up in the air and that at times, my NT was as baffled by me as I was with myself. Lots of people exercise a lot. Lots of people try to lose weight. They see this more than anyone else I know. So why were my calorie needs a mystery? I've met some other people at the gym that have had really great results and others who are in my boat. I guess it is just like anything else - if it works for you, it's golden. If it doesn't, there IS something out there that will. Ya just need to find it.
I did learn from it that I need to consume more calories. Especially if I want to run half marathons and take vigorous classes and weight lift and do all the things I wanna do physically. No 1200 calories plans for this girl.
So, my search continues. In the process I've found a few things that are helpful.
1. I went on vacation and literally all bets were off. No structured workouts - instead I swam in a resorty swimming pool and walked beaches. It was lovely. My eating went from clean to very, very dusty to extremely filthy. It tasted great but for the first time, I felt icky from it. And the changes that type of eating makes to my body are almost immediately noticeable and I felt icky about that too. For once, it wasn't worth it to eat whatever my heart desired. Hmm. Interesting. The quote "it doesn't taste as good as being fit feels" rang true for the first time.
2. My interest in weightlifting and now leaning down with diet inevitably lead me to the website bodybuilding.com I feel that this website is brimming with my peeps and their generous offerings of experience and advice. It's nice to have a forum of people that subscribe to the same set of guidelines I am applying to myself to achieve the same general form of physique. A bodybuilder's lifestyle I have apparently gravitated toward and am comfortable living. Who the heck knew.
On this site is an area called "Bodyspace". Kind of a MySpace for fitness types. I ran across a profile called "chickentuna". This gal has an awful lot of people who are inspired by her and the name is actually what led me to check her out. I instantly thought of Jessica Simpson and her "Chicken of the Sea" debacle. But this lady named herself this because she eats super clean and people razz her all the time for eating tuna and chicken a lot. Her website is currently my motivation. I don't want to be as extremely lean as her. I actually am shooting for a lean physique but with a layer of softness still on it. But what motivates me is she speaks the cold, hard, ugly truth: If you eat crap, your body will look like crap. It's true and the closer I get to being lean, the more I realize how much it's true. It's disappointing as all get out, but true nonetheless. People who say it's just calories in and calories out and it doesn't matter what the calories are composed of are dead wrong. Try it, you'll see. Anyway, I find that all I have to do is say to myself "chickentuna" and I've got some much-needed motivation in times of trial (which are often these days).
3. Jamie Eason. God Bless Jamie Eason. She's a hot chick with a bodybuilder lifestyle and she offers up all kinds of advice for living the life. Her recipes and tips are saving me. And because she walks around looking like my idea of physique perfection all days of the year, I trust what she says much more than someone who looks nothing like "goal" but claims to know what they are talking about. I just read an interview with her recently and uncovered another ugly truth: she states that to really get that impeccable, lean body, you really can't schedule in "cheat meals/treats". It needs to be pretty much never that you indulge. I needed to hear that because unfortunately I am one of those people that suffers from every cheat meal/treat I eat. I just don't have the bodily resiliency to have it not metabolize into a big old mess onto all of my hard work. It's also a huge letdown of truth, but I needed to have it spelled out for me. That is not to say I will never eat crap food ever again, but I can't sit here and complain about lack of results if I'm eating whatever I want 2 out of 7 days each week. The silver lining is the more I eat clean, the more I truly enjoy some of these clean foods and it actually isn't grueling to eat like this anymore. I think the key is to just keep consistently doing it and it becomes your "new normal". The reset button we try to do with crash dieting but don't do it right or give it enough time to stick.
Anyway, officially today I'm back on track. As I tell my husband "it's me and chickentuna against the world". Maybe not, but it sure sounds good. :)
Friday, August 13, 2010
Book Review - Sculpting Her Body Perfect
After countless books that feature workout plans that I've tried, I like author Brad Schoenfeld. He is concise, gives the science behind the theory and provides workouts to give you the results you want.
This is the second book of his that I have read and tried out. This is a perfect book for someone who wants to start weight training but doesn't have much experience or is coming back to it after time away.
This book was originally published in 2000, it was revised in 2008 and I find all the information in it to still be relevant to the workout world today.
A unique feature of this book is that it comes with a DVD to demonstrate the proper form for most of the exercises it prescribes. This is a great feature, because still photos sometimes do not show enough to do a move properly. Also included in the front of the book is a chart of exercises and it gives the page number it appears in the book, the type of equipment it uses (i.e. body weight, exercise ball, dumbbells) and if the exercise appears on the DVD. Very nice feature and a real time-saver when you are heading to the gym and can't remember the details of an exercise.
The author reminds us in the book that exercise is a science and as such there are certain rules that are finite. He busts through some common myths, such as there is no such thing as spot reducing and anyone who tells you there is is lying to you, and explains why women have a different set of rules for working out due to our hormonal makeup to get the results we desire.
He divides the workouts into three stages to take you from a beginning weight trainee through to advanced. I strongly urge a newbie to take his advice. I did not know the importance of this when I started and of course, living in a world of denial did some biceps curls with more weight than I should've. Two weeks into my gym membership and I discovered I had given myself a hernia in my left abdominal wall. I had to wear an abdominal binder (kind of like an ugly corset) for SIX WEEKS while I worked, lifted anything, exercised, etc. I did and it healed, but my left side is shaped slightly differently than my right now because of it. Do yourself a favor and give yourself the time he suggests to acclimate.
If you are someone that does not have access to gym equipment, he gives at-home options for all workouts.
There are a few special interest sections that address pregnancy, cardio, and maintaining your physique.
The beginning phase, called the Body Conditioning Phase, is meant to be done for 3-6 months and offers a 3-day split giving full routines for each day. A great full-body conditioning workout.
The intermediate phase, called Toning and Shaping, is just that. This phase will last at least 6 months and will build your foundation of muscles and just as the name implies, tone and shape you.
The advanced phase, called Targeted Bodysculping is like a tapas menu of desirable body attributes: Sexy Chest, Hourglass Back, Shapely Shoulders, Beautiful Biceps, Toned Triceps, Defined Quads, Lean Hamstrings and Glutes, Diamond Calves, Six-Pack Abs. Pick your poison and get to work!
This is an all-around great place to get your feet wet with weight training. This book could keep you busy for at least a year.
This is the second book of his that I have read and tried out. This is a perfect book for someone who wants to start weight training but doesn't have much experience or is coming back to it after time away.
This book was originally published in 2000, it was revised in 2008 and I find all the information in it to still be relevant to the workout world today.
A unique feature of this book is that it comes with a DVD to demonstrate the proper form for most of the exercises it prescribes. This is a great feature, because still photos sometimes do not show enough to do a move properly. Also included in the front of the book is a chart of exercises and it gives the page number it appears in the book, the type of equipment it uses (i.e. body weight, exercise ball, dumbbells) and if the exercise appears on the DVD. Very nice feature and a real time-saver when you are heading to the gym and can't remember the details of an exercise.
The author reminds us in the book that exercise is a science and as such there are certain rules that are finite. He busts through some common myths, such as there is no such thing as spot reducing and anyone who tells you there is is lying to you, and explains why women have a different set of rules for working out due to our hormonal makeup to get the results we desire.
He divides the workouts into three stages to take you from a beginning weight trainee through to advanced. I strongly urge a newbie to take his advice. I did not know the importance of this when I started and of course, living in a world of denial did some biceps curls with more weight than I should've. Two weeks into my gym membership and I discovered I had given myself a hernia in my left abdominal wall. I had to wear an abdominal binder (kind of like an ugly corset) for SIX WEEKS while I worked, lifted anything, exercised, etc. I did and it healed, but my left side is shaped slightly differently than my right now because of it. Do yourself a favor and give yourself the time he suggests to acclimate.
If you are someone that does not have access to gym equipment, he gives at-home options for all workouts.
There are a few special interest sections that address pregnancy, cardio, and maintaining your physique.
The beginning phase, called the Body Conditioning Phase, is meant to be done for 3-6 months and offers a 3-day split giving full routines for each day. A great full-body conditioning workout.
The intermediate phase, called Toning and Shaping, is just that. This phase will last at least 6 months and will build your foundation of muscles and just as the name implies, tone and shape you.
The advanced phase, called Targeted Bodysculping is like a tapas menu of desirable body attributes: Sexy Chest, Hourglass Back, Shapely Shoulders, Beautiful Biceps, Toned Triceps, Defined Quads, Lean Hamstrings and Glutes, Diamond Calves, Six-Pack Abs. Pick your poison and get to work!
This is an all-around great place to get your feet wet with weight training. This book could keep you busy for at least a year.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Courthouse Nutrition Plan - Week Five Summary
Hmm, can it really be a month down already? I'll be honest, I was hoping to have at least 5 of my 10 pounds of fat gone by now. And I'm still the same weight as when I started. Like with anything fitness/weight loss related, I must be extremely patient and trusting in the process. Because it's like erosion. You chip and chip away and nothing. And then one day...something. Progress. A goal being met. Something concrete that makes you wanna celebrate your own awesomeness for being successful at something that's been such a tormenter.
Some of those milestones for me have been:
1. Pointy Elbows
K, I totally get the confusion on your face right now. I didn't even know pointy elbows were something to strive for. I didn't even know I didn't have pointy elbows until one day I found them. I was in the weight room at the gym and my arm was bent and I spotted it in the mirror. What the? Why does my elbow look funny? Then, a closer look revealed a very pointy bone, one I had only read about in A&P textbooks, showing itself all pokey-like through my skin. I wanted to run up to random strangers and show them my discovery. I ran home and tore through some magazines I have and sure enough, lean people have pointy elbows. Who knew?! I waited with baited breath all day until my husband got home. I told him "Look! I have pointy elbows!!" He said "oh yeah, you always did have round elbows". HUH?!?! I did? How have I managed to miss this? A MAJOR victory on the fat-front and I didn't even know to look for it. This discovery made me start really studying the bodies of people, namely fitness-competitor types that I gravitate towards in magazines to start "shopping" for body attributes I want.
2. The Lack of Butt Slapping During Running
One of the major disappointments when I started running was feeling my but shake, rattle and roll every step I took for miles. What a downer. It made me very hyper-aware of what I might look like, hoofing it out on the road for others to see. It made me focus on the size of my butt and what I had ignored in my life and let it become. And how unhappy I was with it in it's current state. Depressing thoughts like that are very counterproductive because what they make me want to do is drop everything and go hole up in the house all depressed-like and watch movies and eat cupcakes. It took a lot of internal dialogue for me to keep running. I tried to just be logical and explain to myself depressed cupcake gorging doesn't take away this butt slapping but to continue running does. So keep running. I had this conversation with myself like a broken record each and every time I ran for months. And one day, more recently than not, I noticed the absence of butt slapping during my run. I even threw my hands back there to feel it in motion to make sure I hadn't just tuned it out. Nope. It was gone. This is a major victory because I am of the firm belief that my butt has it's own metabolism and conveniently ignores any efforts I make to alter it. It's the final thing on the fat front to go and man, it's a doozy.
3. Push-Ups (the real ones)
Last year my goal was to be able to do a push-up, form perfect, from my toes. It seemed so impossible. Today, I did 60 of them. Split up into groups of 10 with a 20-30 second break in between, but still. 60! Form pefect, from my toes. Erosion, baby!
Whatever your personal victories will be, they ARE big and totally worth the wait. So, with the anticipation of more inspiring discoveries, I press on.
Here is my knight in shining armor, the long awaited but heavily anticipated 2,600 Calorie Meal Plan:
Meal 1 - Cottage Cheese, Peanut Butter Toast, Grapes (If you mix the grapes in with the Cottage Cheese and make darn sure you have a grape in every bite, the cottage cheese's rottenness is less noticeable).
Meal 2 - Banana and Yogurt
Meal 3 - Chef Salad - homemade with eggs, chicken, veggies and Light Cheese Fantastico dressing
Granola Bar & THREE plums
Meal 4 - Zone Perfect bar and a peach
Meal 5 - Hummus, veggies, almonds
Meal 6 - Chicken tenders, brown rice, veggies, fruit
Meal 7 - Quesadilla
The main difference is I get 2 afternoon snacks now instead of 1 and all the meals are more robust. All the things on the menu I like immensely this week, so that's in my favor.
Day 1 - Ahhh, to be back on track does feel really good. I was a little hungry after evening snack and I was stunned that after the gargantuan lunch they give me I was more than ready for my first afternoon snack, but I hung in there and that's a step in the right direction.
Day 2 - I swear when you actually stick to the plan, you start leaning out immediately. My abs are incredibly leaner today. I have a sneaking suspicion that underneath this last fat layer, I'm ripped. I could be wrong, but hints of it are starting to show as I continually get leaner and I think there's something awesome brewing beneath the surface. I'd like to find out for sure. I am a Plan Diva today!
I checked in with my NT today, we did my weigh-in and although I only weighed in 1 pound down in a month, we showed it was all fat. She also informed me my fat is getting squishier which means it's breaking up which means that the last month of suffering and thinking I'm faltering has actually yielded some positive progress after all. It's encouraging.
She asked for my commitment to stay on the plan for a whole week. I quickly said yes like it was no big deal. But ouch. Hopefully she doesn't think that was the issue for me. It really was just that I was hungry. She also is having me check back in in one week to get my stats again and see if 2,600 calories is where I need to be or if I need to go back to 2,300 and just increase the frequency of my meals. Double ouch. I'm sure she sees all kinds in the diet program. I know, because I used to be one of them that would cover up reality in denial so heavily that I believed I was really trying hard when I wasn't. And acting like I couldn't lose weight no matter what when really my mind wasn't in it and I wasn't ready to change. I get it. But I need to prove to her that's not where I am with this program. I'm just a hungry girl trying to make it all work.
Day 3 - Still on the plan. I'm determined. It's been good. I would not say I am a rabid cheetah, but at night, I tend to be more of a Savage Beast of Hunger. It's a step less traumatizing and I'm dealing with it fine. Today I noticed the scale moved. Up .2 pounds! Uh oh, I like the calorie plan, please don't make this be too much food! I honestly don't know how I will cope if I can't eat this many calories. I feel so much better.
Day 4 - Ah, the scale moved. I am now sporting a 1.2 pound weight loss from start of program, down 1.4 from yesterday. Thank you thank you thank you. But Houston, we have a problem. Now that my muscles are obviously getting food and not withering away from starvation, I'm experiencing some serious muscle growth. I lifted weights on Day 2 of this week and immediately noticed what I'd only ready about -a bodybuilder's "pump". After my workout, my biceps looked to me like the Incredible Hulk- they were all hard and defined and looked like they had grown instantaneously from the workout. Alarming to experience this for the first time and without intending to. I kept grabbing my arms all day and finding the same thing. Now, two days later, my arms are rocks. And if I flex, I have a serious bicep there now. Seriously?! And today, I did Lats & Pecs and I'm finding more of the same. As much as the instant gratification of musculature feels good, I am going to have to fix my workout routine STAT if I don't want to actually become the Incredible Hulk in the weeks to come. Holy moly. I'm like a chia pet of muscles. I wanna look fit, I don't wanna look like a dude.
Some of those milestones for me have been:
1. Pointy Elbows
K, I totally get the confusion on your face right now. I didn't even know pointy elbows were something to strive for. I didn't even know I didn't have pointy elbows until one day I found them. I was in the weight room at the gym and my arm was bent and I spotted it in the mirror. What the? Why does my elbow look funny? Then, a closer look revealed a very pointy bone, one I had only read about in A&P textbooks, showing itself all pokey-like through my skin. I wanted to run up to random strangers and show them my discovery. I ran home and tore through some magazines I have and sure enough, lean people have pointy elbows. Who knew?! I waited with baited breath all day until my husband got home. I told him "Look! I have pointy elbows!!" He said "oh yeah, you always did have round elbows". HUH?!?! I did? How have I managed to miss this? A MAJOR victory on the fat-front and I didn't even know to look for it. This discovery made me start really studying the bodies of people, namely fitness-competitor types that I gravitate towards in magazines to start "shopping" for body attributes I want.
2. The Lack of Butt Slapping During Running
One of the major disappointments when I started running was feeling my but shake, rattle and roll every step I took for miles. What a downer. It made me very hyper-aware of what I might look like, hoofing it out on the road for others to see. It made me focus on the size of my butt and what I had ignored in my life and let it become. And how unhappy I was with it in it's current state. Depressing thoughts like that are very counterproductive because what they make me want to do is drop everything and go hole up in the house all depressed-like and watch movies and eat cupcakes. It took a lot of internal dialogue for me to keep running. I tried to just be logical and explain to myself depressed cupcake gorging doesn't take away this butt slapping but to continue running does. So keep running. I had this conversation with myself like a broken record each and every time I ran for months. And one day, more recently than not, I noticed the absence of butt slapping during my run. I even threw my hands back there to feel it in motion to make sure I hadn't just tuned it out. Nope. It was gone. This is a major victory because I am of the firm belief that my butt has it's own metabolism and conveniently ignores any efforts I make to alter it. It's the final thing on the fat front to go and man, it's a doozy.
3. Push-Ups (the real ones)
Last year my goal was to be able to do a push-up, form perfect, from my toes. It seemed so impossible. Today, I did 60 of them. Split up into groups of 10 with a 20-30 second break in between, but still. 60! Form pefect, from my toes. Erosion, baby!
Whatever your personal victories will be, they ARE big and totally worth the wait. So, with the anticipation of more inspiring discoveries, I press on.
Here is my knight in shining armor, the long awaited but heavily anticipated 2,600 Calorie Meal Plan:
Meal 1 - Cottage Cheese, Peanut Butter Toast, Grapes (If you mix the grapes in with the Cottage Cheese and make darn sure you have a grape in every bite, the cottage cheese's rottenness is less noticeable).
Meal 2 - Banana and Yogurt
Meal 3 - Chef Salad - homemade with eggs, chicken, veggies and Light Cheese Fantastico dressing
Granola Bar & THREE plums
Meal 4 - Zone Perfect bar and a peach
Meal 5 - Hummus, veggies, almonds
Meal 6 - Chicken tenders, brown rice, veggies, fruit
Meal 7 - Quesadilla
The main difference is I get 2 afternoon snacks now instead of 1 and all the meals are more robust. All the things on the menu I like immensely this week, so that's in my favor.
Day 1 - Ahhh, to be back on track does feel really good. I was a little hungry after evening snack and I was stunned that after the gargantuan lunch they give me I was more than ready for my first afternoon snack, but I hung in there and that's a step in the right direction.
Day 2 - I swear when you actually stick to the plan, you start leaning out immediately. My abs are incredibly leaner today. I have a sneaking suspicion that underneath this last fat layer, I'm ripped. I could be wrong, but hints of it are starting to show as I continually get leaner and I think there's something awesome brewing beneath the surface. I'd like to find out for sure. I am a Plan Diva today!
I checked in with my NT today, we did my weigh-in and although I only weighed in 1 pound down in a month, we showed it was all fat. She also informed me my fat is getting squishier which means it's breaking up which means that the last month of suffering and thinking I'm faltering has actually yielded some positive progress after all. It's encouraging.
She asked for my commitment to stay on the plan for a whole week. I quickly said yes like it was no big deal. But ouch. Hopefully she doesn't think that was the issue for me. It really was just that I was hungry. She also is having me check back in in one week to get my stats again and see if 2,600 calories is where I need to be or if I need to go back to 2,300 and just increase the frequency of my meals. Double ouch. I'm sure she sees all kinds in the diet program. I know, because I used to be one of them that would cover up reality in denial so heavily that I believed I was really trying hard when I wasn't. And acting like I couldn't lose weight no matter what when really my mind wasn't in it and I wasn't ready to change. I get it. But I need to prove to her that's not where I am with this program. I'm just a hungry girl trying to make it all work.
Day 3 - Still on the plan. I'm determined. It's been good. I would not say I am a rabid cheetah, but at night, I tend to be more of a Savage Beast of Hunger. It's a step less traumatizing and I'm dealing with it fine. Today I noticed the scale moved. Up .2 pounds! Uh oh, I like the calorie plan, please don't make this be too much food! I honestly don't know how I will cope if I can't eat this many calories. I feel so much better.
Day 4 - Ah, the scale moved. I am now sporting a 1.2 pound weight loss from start of program, down 1.4 from yesterday. Thank you thank you thank you. But Houston, we have a problem. Now that my muscles are obviously getting food and not withering away from starvation, I'm experiencing some serious muscle growth. I lifted weights on Day 2 of this week and immediately noticed what I'd only ready about -a bodybuilder's "pump". After my workout, my biceps looked to me like the Incredible Hulk- they were all hard and defined and looked like they had grown instantaneously from the workout. Alarming to experience this for the first time and without intending to. I kept grabbing my arms all day and finding the same thing. Now, two days later, my arms are rocks. And if I flex, I have a serious bicep there now. Seriously?! And today, I did Lats & Pecs and I'm finding more of the same. As much as the instant gratification of musculature feels good, I am going to have to fix my workout routine STAT if I don't want to actually become the Incredible Hulk in the weeks to come. Holy moly. I'm like a chia pet of muscles. I wanna look fit, I don't wanna look like a dude.
Courthouse Nutrition Plan - Week Four Summary
Still on 2,300 calories a day. For what it's worth...
Meal Plan:
Meal 1 - Shake of whey protein, berries, banana and milk. I made something similar to this before the plan, which I prefer, but it's okay. The only thing is I feel this is more effective as a post-workout recovery snack and it doesn't give me enough energy on it's own to plow through my vigorous workouts. So...I supplement with a Zone Perfect bar too. So sue me.
Meal 2 - apple and 2 string cheese Tasty but I have a volume problem here, especially coming off of the light-feeling shake.
Meal 3 - Pita with clean chicken salad mixture and some carrots. Tasty recipe but not enough food.
Meal 4 - Clean trail mix recipe and a peach.
Meal 5 - Turkey Meat Loaf burger and Sweet Potato fries and a salad. Tasty and good volume.
Meal 6 - Egg/veggie/feta cheese omelet
The food is good. It's not enough and I will just forego this week's posts with a blanket statement that having to fill in all of the blanks in my hunger is leading to basically no days where I am 100% on the plan and then I end up overeating and eating perhaps the wrong things and it's miserable.
By Tuesday, I started an experiment, because my weight was creeping a pound over where I started and I panicked. I decided that abandoning the plan is not the answer. Instead, I will take 3 days and eat only clean food, but eat whenever I am hungry just to the point that I feel satisfied. My reason was to figure out how many calories are realistic, because I still can't wrap my mind around the fact that I eat 2,300 calories on a "diet" and that I am now living a dual lifestyle as a rabid cheetah in my offtime. I know that in order to request more calories, especially after my bloated weigh-in debacle last week with my NT, I need to have something concrete to back me up. Also, I've heard that excessive exercising, namely cardio, can create insatiable hunger in people and I know that my NT is wondering about that with me and I am too. So I need to find out some things about myself. And at this point, I don't have anything to lose. The downward spiral I've been on isn't taking me toward my goal. And I desperately want to have a version of the Courthouse Nutrition Plan that works for me, that I can stick to and see what it can do for me. But I refuse to starve myself anymore. For anything. I've been on a continual yo-yo diet since I was 13 and the buck stops here. No more starving. I am fit and my food is FUEL. And right now, I'm out of gas, plain and simple.
For three days, I ate when I was hungry a variety of foods all three days, but all clean foods. All 3 days I magically ate 2,850 calories. And for 3 days, I maintained my weight to the ounce. I felt justified and happy as a clam. This means my exercise is not masking my hunger. I'm hungry when I'm hungry and that's that. Also, if I can eat 2,850 and maintain my present situation, requesting more calories shouldn't be an issue, because I exercise on top of all that.
Thursday I emailed my NT with renewed zest. I told her I am a rabid cheetah and explained the findings of my experiment. She said she would increase me to 2,600 calories and that we could go from there. She said she envied my metabolism. If you saw the ridiculous level of fitness and health my NT exudes, you would brush by this comment like it was nothing (with a huge grin on your face) just as I did. Hey, if this chick envies me for any reason whatsoever, it's a victory in life.
I'm looking forward to a fresh start.
Meal Plan:
Meal 1 - Shake of whey protein, berries, banana and milk. I made something similar to this before the plan, which I prefer, but it's okay. The only thing is I feel this is more effective as a post-workout recovery snack and it doesn't give me enough energy on it's own to plow through my vigorous workouts. So...I supplement with a Zone Perfect bar too. So sue me.
Meal 2 - apple and 2 string cheese Tasty but I have a volume problem here, especially coming off of the light-feeling shake.
Meal 3 - Pita with clean chicken salad mixture and some carrots. Tasty recipe but not enough food.
Meal 4 - Clean trail mix recipe and a peach.
Meal 5 - Turkey Meat Loaf burger and Sweet Potato fries and a salad. Tasty and good volume.
Meal 6 - Egg/veggie/feta cheese omelet
The food is good. It's not enough and I will just forego this week's posts with a blanket statement that having to fill in all of the blanks in my hunger is leading to basically no days where I am 100% on the plan and then I end up overeating and eating perhaps the wrong things and it's miserable.
By Tuesday, I started an experiment, because my weight was creeping a pound over where I started and I panicked. I decided that abandoning the plan is not the answer. Instead, I will take 3 days and eat only clean food, but eat whenever I am hungry just to the point that I feel satisfied. My reason was to figure out how many calories are realistic, because I still can't wrap my mind around the fact that I eat 2,300 calories on a "diet" and that I am now living a dual lifestyle as a rabid cheetah in my offtime. I know that in order to request more calories, especially after my bloated weigh-in debacle last week with my NT, I need to have something concrete to back me up. Also, I've heard that excessive exercising, namely cardio, can create insatiable hunger in people and I know that my NT is wondering about that with me and I am too. So I need to find out some things about myself. And at this point, I don't have anything to lose. The downward spiral I've been on isn't taking me toward my goal. And I desperately want to have a version of the Courthouse Nutrition Plan that works for me, that I can stick to and see what it can do for me. But I refuse to starve myself anymore. For anything. I've been on a continual yo-yo diet since I was 13 and the buck stops here. No more starving. I am fit and my food is FUEL. And right now, I'm out of gas, plain and simple.
For three days, I ate when I was hungry a variety of foods all three days, but all clean foods. All 3 days I magically ate 2,850 calories. And for 3 days, I maintained my weight to the ounce. I felt justified and happy as a clam. This means my exercise is not masking my hunger. I'm hungry when I'm hungry and that's that. Also, if I can eat 2,850 and maintain my present situation, requesting more calories shouldn't be an issue, because I exercise on top of all that.
Thursday I emailed my NT with renewed zest. I told her I am a rabid cheetah and explained the findings of my experiment. She said she would increase me to 2,600 calories and that we could go from there. She said she envied my metabolism. If you saw the ridiculous level of fitness and health my NT exudes, you would brush by this comment like it was nothing (with a huge grin on your face) just as I did. Hey, if this chick envies me for any reason whatsoever, it's a victory in life.
I'm looking forward to a fresh start.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Courthouse Nutrition Plan - Week Three Summary
7/26-8/1, 2010
Week Three Summary
I likey the plan this week. A sigh of relief. Makes it so much easier!
My grocery bill was a fortune. Partly because they are giving me large quantities of food to eat (thank you) and if hubby wants to eat it too, then we are buying lots of food. Also, Zone Perfect bars are expensive. Not in the context of it being a "meal". But when you buy a case of 15 of them, then they appear expensive. 18 bucks on bars. Yikes.
The crux of the plan:
Meal 1 - Eggs/egg whites, Cheerios & skim milk, cantaloupe. The quantities are ginormo and I am so appreciative for it!
Meal 2 - an apple with a peanut butter/cottage cheese dip recipe. I don't really care for it, but it's edible.
Meal 3 - TWO turkey sandwiches and some grapes. Yeah baby.
Meal 4 - string cheese, almonds, peach
Meal 5 - a mish mash of potato, ground turkey, salsa, broccoli - their recipe that actually was much better than it sounds. Even hubby liked it and that is saying something.
Meal 6 - Greek "yogurt" and fruit
Day 1 - Breakfast was daunting. That is an awful lot of food. I'm happy though because tomorrow I have a huge workout day and this will be great fuel. I somehow inhale it all, no problem. My snack seemed tiny in comparison to breakfast and I got hungry quickly after that one. Lunch, even though it sounds big, wasn't really and hungry again. Afternoon snack, still hungry. Dinner was tasty and filling.
I have a two week check-in with my NT on Wednesday and at that time I will ask her to gauge how hungry I should be. I doubt this is the norm for most people on the plan, because as far as diet plans go, they are extremely generous with food choices and portions. I am sure my exercise interferes with the hunger piece and this is exactly the issue that brought me to this program to begin with. I am stubborn and won't budge on the exercise, so she will just have to help me figure it out.
Day 2 - I'm hungry. Again. What gives?!?! I can't do it. No. I can do it. But not this way. I broke the diet. I ate until I wasn't hungry and maybe a little more. I'm definitely not on the plan. When I email that I'm hungry, they tell me to eat. But, if I was able to make smart choices on quality and portion control on my own, I wouldn't be paying them to tell me what to put in my mouth. Spinning out of control...
Day 3 - Still out of control. I'm off the diet. Well, I'm on it until about 11. Then it's fair game. And I have a "check in" with my NT tonight. Super. I don't want her to think I'm not on the plan just because I'm weak. I'm willing and able to do this but I'm HUNGRY. Gosh darnit. Help a girl out.
Day 4 - The meeting last night was a disaster. I met up with her, we checked in my friend as my "buddy" on the plan (which saves us both a little $$). She asked if I brought my journal. I intentionally didn't. First, because I've been very poor at keeping it up. Secondly, because if she's seen the magnitude of my ricochets from the hunger, well, that's just embarassing. I told her "I got it" and blew her off. Whew. Crisis averted. I did not know she planned to weigh me in tonight. Had I known that I would have never agreed to a night appointment. Dunno about you, but the minute I put food or drink into my body upon waking, my weight can fluctuate up to 5 pounds above my morning weight. This does not help my off-the-plan case. I weighed in 2 lbs. more than when I started. I explained my bloating issue and even though it has some merit, felt my words were so apparently a cover-up for my non-plan ways that I felt that they thought I was making excuses. Perhaps I was. She decided to forego my stats for the evening due to the bloated spectacle I had made of myself and we would reassess me at a later date. Whew. Gotta take this gimme as a sign to get back on track NOW. I ate the plan today like a good girl, but the rabid cheetah is lurking in the background. This defies logic. How on Earth is 2,300 calories not enough?
Day 5 - I'm on the plan today, but I've got the weekend starting tonight, and well, by now you know that weekends are not my shining moments of dietary goodness. Plus, I have only a 5 mile run this Sunday which means not as much wiggle room on the eating.
Day 6 - Off the plan, off the plan. Hungry + Eating Out Lifestyle = No Plan
Day 7 - More off the plan drama. I want so much to be on the plan. But I can't take the rabid cheetah. Feed me, Seymour.
Week Three Summary
I likey the plan this week. A sigh of relief. Makes it so much easier!
My grocery bill was a fortune. Partly because they are giving me large quantities of food to eat (thank you) and if hubby wants to eat it too, then we are buying lots of food. Also, Zone Perfect bars are expensive. Not in the context of it being a "meal". But when you buy a case of 15 of them, then they appear expensive. 18 bucks on bars. Yikes.
The crux of the plan:
Meal 1 - Eggs/egg whites, Cheerios & skim milk, cantaloupe. The quantities are ginormo and I am so appreciative for it!
Meal 2 - an apple with a peanut butter/cottage cheese dip recipe. I don't really care for it, but it's edible.
Meal 3 - TWO turkey sandwiches and some grapes. Yeah baby.
Meal 4 - string cheese, almonds, peach
Meal 5 - a mish mash of potato, ground turkey, salsa, broccoli - their recipe that actually was much better than it sounds. Even hubby liked it and that is saying something.
Meal 6 - Greek "yogurt" and fruit
Day 1 - Breakfast was daunting. That is an awful lot of food. I'm happy though because tomorrow I have a huge workout day and this will be great fuel. I somehow inhale it all, no problem. My snack seemed tiny in comparison to breakfast and I got hungry quickly after that one. Lunch, even though it sounds big, wasn't really and hungry again. Afternoon snack, still hungry. Dinner was tasty and filling.
I have a two week check-in with my NT on Wednesday and at that time I will ask her to gauge how hungry I should be. I doubt this is the norm for most people on the plan, because as far as diet plans go, they are extremely generous with food choices and portions. I am sure my exercise interferes with the hunger piece and this is exactly the issue that brought me to this program to begin with. I am stubborn and won't budge on the exercise, so she will just have to help me figure it out.
Day 2 - I'm hungry. Again. What gives?!?! I can't do it. No. I can do it. But not this way. I broke the diet. I ate until I wasn't hungry and maybe a little more. I'm definitely not on the plan. When I email that I'm hungry, they tell me to eat. But, if I was able to make smart choices on quality and portion control on my own, I wouldn't be paying them to tell me what to put in my mouth. Spinning out of control...
Day 3 - Still out of control. I'm off the diet. Well, I'm on it until about 11. Then it's fair game. And I have a "check in" with my NT tonight. Super. I don't want her to think I'm not on the plan just because I'm weak. I'm willing and able to do this but I'm HUNGRY. Gosh darnit. Help a girl out.
Day 4 - The meeting last night was a disaster. I met up with her, we checked in my friend as my "buddy" on the plan (which saves us both a little $$). She asked if I brought my journal. I intentionally didn't. First, because I've been very poor at keeping it up. Secondly, because if she's seen the magnitude of my ricochets from the hunger, well, that's just embarassing. I told her "I got it" and blew her off. Whew. Crisis averted. I did not know she planned to weigh me in tonight. Had I known that I would have never agreed to a night appointment. Dunno about you, but the minute I put food or drink into my body upon waking, my weight can fluctuate up to 5 pounds above my morning weight. This does not help my off-the-plan case. I weighed in 2 lbs. more than when I started. I explained my bloating issue and even though it has some merit, felt my words were so apparently a cover-up for my non-plan ways that I felt that they thought I was making excuses. Perhaps I was. She decided to forego my stats for the evening due to the bloated spectacle I had made of myself and we would reassess me at a later date. Whew. Gotta take this gimme as a sign to get back on track NOW. I ate the plan today like a good girl, but the rabid cheetah is lurking in the background. This defies logic. How on Earth is 2,300 calories not enough?
Day 5 - I'm on the plan today, but I've got the weekend starting tonight, and well, by now you know that weekends are not my shining moments of dietary goodness. Plus, I have only a 5 mile run this Sunday which means not as much wiggle room on the eating.
Day 6 - Off the plan, off the plan. Hungry + Eating Out Lifestyle = No Plan
Day 7 - More off the plan drama. I want so much to be on the plan. But I can't take the rabid cheetah. Feed me, Seymour.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Courthouse Nutrition Plan - Week Two Summary
7/19-7/25, 2010
Week Two Summary
Day 1 - Well, I'm still the anti-plan. I'm on a ricochet from being so hungry last week and in a cycle where I kind of blew it this weekend and am too lazy to clean it up just yet. This happens to me when I do the too-hungry thing with my diet. This is exactly the roller coaster I've been on the past few months. It doesn't help I'm not enamored with my food plan this week:
Meal 1 - egg + egg whites, low fat cheese on a Thomas bagel thin (a breakfast sandwich!) and a banana - yummity yum yum and something I was already eating before
Meal 2 - Parfait with yogurt, peach, and healthy cereal. Using a Stevia packet to sweeten Greek yogurt since it tastes like Sour Cream. The term yogurt in relation to Greek yogurt is used very loosely apparently.
Meal 3 - Chicken on a salad with nuts and dried fruit tossed in. Only, they want me to used canned chicken and have you ever smelled that? Alpo. Pure Alpo. Will need to cook a real chicken breast if they really want me to eat that. Guh-ross.
Meal 4 - Energy bar and grapes. Sounds good to me!
Meal 5 - Fish tacos - their recipe. Pretty good. I'm a fair weather fish person, so it'll do but not my favorite dinner selection.
Meal 6 - Cheese and crackers. Good in my book.
Day 2 - I swear this is the last day of being Mrs. Anti-Plan. I'm actually starting to feel icky from not doing what I should be; both mentally and physically. Tomorrow is the day to get it back. It's amazing what your psyche can put you through. 3-4 days vacation from a food plan is certainly not that big a deal and considering I've been living this life change for a year and a half, I'm certainly able to get back on track no problem. But the mind takes me to dark places, especially when diet/weight are concerned. It's like a society-induced trauma. Time to get over it and feel good again.
Day 3 - Ahh. A fresh start. What the heck was I thinking? Woke up determined to get a good workout in and stick to the plan today. Lifted just a few weights and ran 5 1/2 miles. It felt good, like I was circulating bad karma out of my body. Drank my gallon of water. Stuck to the plan. Going to dinner tonight with a friend at Red Robin. Could be a pitfall, but I won't let it. Not today. I'll get a salad with chicken breast on it. And get this: I packed my dried fruit/nuts and dressing with me. Model Courthouse Nutrition animal here.
I should note that the blog and Facebook accountability really helps too. People want to know how I'm doing and I can't really be a testimony for the plan if I'm not adhering to the plan now can I?
Day 4 - The weight is coming back down! It came off bigtime since yesterday and I'm assuming I'm debloating from all the food I ate on my weekend rampage. I did great at Red Robin last night, I forgot my packed along items in the car, but I ordered a salad that had those items on it and a balsamic vinaigrette dressing on the side which I used sparingly. Worked wonderfully. I was so tempted to grab some of my friends french fries, but I told myself "it's time to be serious". French fries will not give me the result I am looking for. I did a big workout today: an hour of upper body weightlifting and a very vigorous step aerobics class. I found I was running out of gas about 20 minutes into the step class, so I made a note to email my NT about ways to avoid that. Otherwise, my hunger was in check today. I was hungry when it was time to eat and not much in between. Feeling good!
Day 5 - I woke up out of energy. I'm skipping my workout today - a hilly run - and emailed my NT ASAP. Especially because I have a 12 mile run this Sunday and I'm training for my next half marathon. Now is not the time to be skipping out on training and I'm pretty sure this calorie plan is not allotting for burning 1,500 calories in a single workout. I've had a really stressful couple of days dealing with a screwed up business transaction and I'm wiped. A rest day, both mental and physical to help me get it all figured out is just what I need. Plus I get a massage today, so that should be just what I need to make a full recovery! Now that I'm back on track, I'm officially down 3 pounds net since the start of this endeavor. That seems reasonable and on track with what you always hear about 2 pounds a week being reasonable weight loss.
And so begins the weekend. Dinner tonight out - chicken on salad with vinaigrette dressing. I did partake in a small vanilla cone. Being that I prefer Buster Bar Blizzards, I'm calories ahead by a small cone. Once again, by the end of the week, some of my least favorite food items on the plan actually became tasty and I looked forward to them.
I did not hear back from my NT today re: my email this morning. I'm surprised, as their speedy replies before really shocked me in their timely arrival. Now I'm kind of worried because Sunday is fast approaching and I may have to wing it. And history has proven I am nicht so gut at that.
Day 6 - Ah, right at bedtime last night the anticipated email came back. The answer? Eat more the night before and the day of your long run. Okay. I shall. Since tomorrow is going to be an extreme workout, I usually take the day before off or do something light. Since I skipped yesterday, I feel like doing something. I took a Jazzercise class. It figures her routine this week was actually pretty strenuous. Oh well. It felt good to work out. I am a model Courthouse Nutrition Animal today all day until dinner. My plan was to eat what I want for dinner for my mini "load" before my long run. We went out to eat and I had a Gardenburger and fries (oh, they were GOOD) and a small fresh fruit shake. Soooo good. Mmmmmm. I also had a G2 (diet Gatorade essentially) to top off my electrolytes as well as multiple bottles of water to hydrate. For those of you who do not run endurance, it may be interesting to know that the hydration you need during the race comes from what's put in your body already, not what you drink during. So it's very critical you drink lots of water the day before so that your reserves are at the optimum level. I learned that from my Jeff Galloway books.
Week Two Summary
Day 1 - Well, I'm still the anti-plan. I'm on a ricochet from being so hungry last week and in a cycle where I kind of blew it this weekend and am too lazy to clean it up just yet. This happens to me when I do the too-hungry thing with my diet. This is exactly the roller coaster I've been on the past few months. It doesn't help I'm not enamored with my food plan this week:
Meal 1 - egg + egg whites, low fat cheese on a Thomas bagel thin (a breakfast sandwich!) and a banana - yummity yum yum and something I was already eating before
Meal 2 - Parfait with yogurt, peach, and healthy cereal. Using a Stevia packet to sweeten Greek yogurt since it tastes like Sour Cream. The term yogurt in relation to Greek yogurt is used very loosely apparently.
Meal 3 - Chicken on a salad with nuts and dried fruit tossed in. Only, they want me to used canned chicken and have you ever smelled that? Alpo. Pure Alpo. Will need to cook a real chicken breast if they really want me to eat that. Guh-ross.
Meal 4 - Energy bar and grapes. Sounds good to me!
Meal 5 - Fish tacos - their recipe. Pretty good. I'm a fair weather fish person, so it'll do but not my favorite dinner selection.
Meal 6 - Cheese and crackers. Good in my book.
Day 2 - I swear this is the last day of being Mrs. Anti-Plan. I'm actually starting to feel icky from not doing what I should be; both mentally and physically. Tomorrow is the day to get it back. It's amazing what your psyche can put you through. 3-4 days vacation from a food plan is certainly not that big a deal and considering I've been living this life change for a year and a half, I'm certainly able to get back on track no problem. But the mind takes me to dark places, especially when diet/weight are concerned. It's like a society-induced trauma. Time to get over it and feel good again.
Day 3 - Ahh. A fresh start. What the heck was I thinking? Woke up determined to get a good workout in and stick to the plan today. Lifted just a few weights and ran 5 1/2 miles. It felt good, like I was circulating bad karma out of my body. Drank my gallon of water. Stuck to the plan. Going to dinner tonight with a friend at Red Robin. Could be a pitfall, but I won't let it. Not today. I'll get a salad with chicken breast on it. And get this: I packed my dried fruit/nuts and dressing with me. Model Courthouse Nutrition animal here.
I should note that the blog and Facebook accountability really helps too. People want to know how I'm doing and I can't really be a testimony for the plan if I'm not adhering to the plan now can I?
Day 4 - The weight is coming back down! It came off bigtime since yesterday and I'm assuming I'm debloating from all the food I ate on my weekend rampage. I did great at Red Robin last night, I forgot my packed along items in the car, but I ordered a salad that had those items on it and a balsamic vinaigrette dressing on the side which I used sparingly. Worked wonderfully. I was so tempted to grab some of my friends french fries, but I told myself "it's time to be serious". French fries will not give me the result I am looking for. I did a big workout today: an hour of upper body weightlifting and a very vigorous step aerobics class. I found I was running out of gas about 20 minutes into the step class, so I made a note to email my NT about ways to avoid that. Otherwise, my hunger was in check today. I was hungry when it was time to eat and not much in between. Feeling good!
Day 5 - I woke up out of energy. I'm skipping my workout today - a hilly run - and emailed my NT ASAP. Especially because I have a 12 mile run this Sunday and I'm training for my next half marathon. Now is not the time to be skipping out on training and I'm pretty sure this calorie plan is not allotting for burning 1,500 calories in a single workout. I've had a really stressful couple of days dealing with a screwed up business transaction and I'm wiped. A rest day, both mental and physical to help me get it all figured out is just what I need. Plus I get a massage today, so that should be just what I need to make a full recovery! Now that I'm back on track, I'm officially down 3 pounds net since the start of this endeavor. That seems reasonable and on track with what you always hear about 2 pounds a week being reasonable weight loss.
And so begins the weekend. Dinner tonight out - chicken on salad with vinaigrette dressing. I did partake in a small vanilla cone. Being that I prefer Buster Bar Blizzards, I'm calories ahead by a small cone. Once again, by the end of the week, some of my least favorite food items on the plan actually became tasty and I looked forward to them.
I did not hear back from my NT today re: my email this morning. I'm surprised, as their speedy replies before really shocked me in their timely arrival. Now I'm kind of worried because Sunday is fast approaching and I may have to wing it. And history has proven I am nicht so gut at that.
Day 6 - Ah, right at bedtime last night the anticipated email came back. The answer? Eat more the night before and the day of your long run. Okay. I shall. Since tomorrow is going to be an extreme workout, I usually take the day before off or do something light. Since I skipped yesterday, I feel like doing something. I took a Jazzercise class. It figures her routine this week was actually pretty strenuous. Oh well. It felt good to work out. I am a model Courthouse Nutrition Animal today all day until dinner. My plan was to eat what I want for dinner for my mini "load" before my long run. We went out to eat and I had a Gardenburger and fries (oh, they were GOOD) and a small fresh fruit shake. Soooo good. Mmmmmm. I also had a G2 (diet Gatorade essentially) to top off my electrolytes as well as multiple bottles of water to hydrate. For those of you who do not run endurance, it may be interesting to know that the hydration you need during the race comes from what's put in your body already, not what you drink during. So it's very critical you drink lots of water the day before so that your reserves are at the optimum level. I learned that from my Jeff Galloway books.
Day 7 - I woke up and ate two Zone Perfect bars. I was hungry and I'll admit it, scared I would run out of gas during my run today and I so wanted to have a good run. I let it settle for about a half hour and drove to my run destination. I usually don't eat much before a run, but I figured let's try this and see how it goes. I supplement with bits of energy bar during my run and since it was warm already this morning, stopped by my car at miles 6, 8 and 10 for a quick sip of electrolyte and water. My run was amazing! Because I am leaning out and a few pounds lighter, I feel much lighter on my feet. Aerodynamic almost. And the food I'm eating must be giving me energy deep within despite my whining about being hungry a lot because my energy couldn't have been more even. Excellent progress!
I noticed today too that my weight training efforts this week seem to be more visible. I think I put on some muscle or maybe just leaned out some fat so you see more muscle. Either way, my stomach (problem area priority #2) and my arms are noticably more muscularly defined. Sweet.
I ate out again for lunch - Mexican (this is my lifestyle). I didn't go crazy though, so just kept it healthy and in moderation. Split chicken fajitas with hubby again and only had one tortilla. Dinner was not on the plan but still a healthy, clean choice. BLTA - turkey bacon, lettuce, tomato and avocado on a Thomas bagel thin. Considering I burned approximately 1,500 calories today, I'm not worried.
Net weight loss to date: 3 pounds (it's too soon to tell how the run/eating for the run will affect scale weight). Endurance runners have a tendency to lose muscle mass and I believe it's due to shortfalls in their nutrition. So, hopefully I'm preserving as much as I can.
Courthouse Nutrition Plan - Week One Summary
Monday 7/12 - Sunday 7/18, 2010
Week One Summary
Week One was an adjustment. And I was already eating pretty "clean". I liked that my grocery bill was low, since I'll be eating the same thing every day all week. Simple. Cheaper. I didn't like that my non-domestic butt was in the kitchen for 2 and a half hours on Sunday making all my food for the week. And I forgot to make two things!
The food plan is tricky. Only in the sense that they somehow make all this healthy food add up to 2,000 calories! I get six meals a day, to try to eat 2 1/2 to 3 hours a part. As a massage therapist, this could get sketchy. My days are usually booked to the minute, no real lunch break to speak of, and the timing could get hard to adhere to. But I'm motivated to see some results and I'll figure it out.
Breakfast is a fruit/protein smoothie. Not good with Greek yogurt, but YUMMY with whey protein. Close to what I was already eating before.
Snack is egg+egg whites and plain oatmeal with frozen berries mixed in. Probably so it doesn't taste like eating a bowl of cement. Blech. I actually came to love the oatmeal by the end of the week by adding a packet of Stevia and mashing the frozen berries in it so much that it flavored every bite.
Lunch is a Greek turkey burger (their recipe, which is DELICIOUS!!) on an Oroweat sandwich thin and some fruit. Yummy, but not filling enough for me.
Snack is a string cheese and 15 Kashi crackers. Yummy, but not filling enough for me.
Dinner is a chicken salad with balsamic vineagar and oil dressing and some random nuts and fruit thrown in for good measure. Yummy. And satisfying.
Snack is 3/4 cup cottage cheese (is it me or does this plain taste like it is a rotten food? Blech.) and raw vegetables.
My problem came as early as day 1. Breakfast great. Snack great. But an hour later I'm starting to get hungry. Moderately hungry. Already. Eat lunch and it doesn't even register on the radar. Uh oh. By afternoon snack I'm a rabid cheetah and inhale the cheese and crackers. Not even a blip on the radar. Dinner helped and evening snack helped. But it's very stressful to feel the panic of starvation and I went to bed feeling okay but a little worried about tomorrow. Day 2 was just as I feared. Even worse than Day 1. I'm starving and I can't do this. I have to eat. In the afternoon I add a Zone Perfect bar to my snack. It helps a little, but I'm not in a good way at this point. I starve the rest of the day. And I'm down 4 pounds in two days, but I'm sure it's not all fat mass and I'd gladly trade some poundage for a meal at this point.
Day 3, 6:30 am I email my NT a desperate plea for more calories. Please. Help. Me. Salvation is delivered into my Inbox by 8:30am with a 2,300 calorie plan. Who would've ever thunk it? So happy to have authorization to eat more, I happily do. The plan basically stays the same, they just increase your portions on certain things and lo and behold...they added a Zone Perfect bar to the menu!! What are the odds?!?! Downside is I didn't exercise at all today. So, up .4 pounds on morning of Day 4. I tell myself not to panic. The calorie fairy is not going to come in and take my extra 300 calories away today for gaining a little weight. I plan to workout hard today, so it will more than make up for it. My workouts today were weight training for an hour, a very vigorous step aerobics class and then my schedule opened up that night so I came back for Zumba. Lots of exercise today. I was fine all day until after Zumba. Then the starvation returned with a vengeance. I told myself it was because I exercised extra today and it will all even out in the wash for tomorrow. Wrong. Day 4 I stick to it but man, I'm hungry. I'm not a pansy about this sort of thing, either. I can handle discomfort. But this is a primal urge to eat. Day 5, I went to run inclines on the treadmill at the gym and 20 minutes in, I feel like I'm going to pass out. I ate my prescribed breakfast, but I'm completely out of gas. I stick to the eating plan knowing we will go out to dinner in the evening. Looking forward to eating something different, though worried about what to order. I don't want to totally blow it. We went to Mexican food so I ordered chicken fajitas, did not partake in sour cream or guac, ate one tortilla and ate the rest of the filling with no tortilla. It was really a half order because I shared with my husband. Yum. Food. We went to dessert. A true Courthouse Nutrition animal would've passed. But I pulled out the excuse of my traumatic, starving week and ate a small vanilla cone at DQ. Felt a little bad, but got over it instantly. With 2,300 calories, surely I am a metabolic inferno!
Day 5...I'm sorry, did I say metabolic inferno? Yeah...not so much. Up .4 today and today is going to be an anti-plan day. We have an event tonight that is once a year and unfortunately completely centered on eating. The food is top notch and there's lots of it. And I'm going into it with a loaded gun...I'm hungry!! And have been for a week!! I'll be honest. I didn't even really try today at all to stick to the plan. It felt great to eat tasty food that sticks to the ribs and with as much as I ate, I'm not sure I ever even felt stuffed. Oh well, what's one day?
Day 6...I'm sorry, did I say what's one day? Try gain it all back in a day! Surely I'm just bloated from real, unclean food. The problem is, the drastic gain on the scale and the taste of the nasty but delicious unclean food has made me want more. I continue to be Mrs. Anti-Plan on Day 7, finishing out my week certainly unlike the way I started.
I recognize this is a lifestyle change and let's face it, sometimes we just don't have it. But here's what this week is teaching me about myself: I'm a weekend diet saboteur. I'm spotless during the week. I make fairly healthy choices when we go out to eat, but no matter what I get at a restaurant, it will never be as calorically balanced and beautifully low-fat as my homemade plan food. And we tend to eat out a few times each weekend, so I need to reach out to my ever-helpful NT prior to this next weekend and have her help me navigate this pitfall of mine.
All in all, I really like the program. In my NT, I feel like I have a buddy alongside me ready to answer questions and cheer me on at anytime. The food gets better tasting over the week and they happily offer alternatives if there's something you don't like or the prep won't work for you. They try to give you food that is findable in a regular grocery store and realistic that you might want to actually eat it. And they try to give you healthy portions to control the rabid cheetah hunger. So far, so good.
Week One Summary
Week One was an adjustment. And I was already eating pretty "clean". I liked that my grocery bill was low, since I'll be eating the same thing every day all week. Simple. Cheaper. I didn't like that my non-domestic butt was in the kitchen for 2 and a half hours on Sunday making all my food for the week. And I forgot to make two things!
The food plan is tricky. Only in the sense that they somehow make all this healthy food add up to 2,000 calories! I get six meals a day, to try to eat 2 1/2 to 3 hours a part. As a massage therapist, this could get sketchy. My days are usually booked to the minute, no real lunch break to speak of, and the timing could get hard to adhere to. But I'm motivated to see some results and I'll figure it out.
Breakfast is a fruit/protein smoothie. Not good with Greek yogurt, but YUMMY with whey protein. Close to what I was already eating before.
Snack is egg+egg whites and plain oatmeal with frozen berries mixed in. Probably so it doesn't taste like eating a bowl of cement. Blech. I actually came to love the oatmeal by the end of the week by adding a packet of Stevia and mashing the frozen berries in it so much that it flavored every bite.
Lunch is a Greek turkey burger (their recipe, which is DELICIOUS!!) on an Oroweat sandwich thin and some fruit. Yummy, but not filling enough for me.
Snack is a string cheese and 15 Kashi crackers. Yummy, but not filling enough for me.
Dinner is a chicken salad with balsamic vineagar and oil dressing and some random nuts and fruit thrown in for good measure. Yummy. And satisfying.
Snack is 3/4 cup cottage cheese (is it me or does this plain taste like it is a rotten food? Blech.) and raw vegetables.
My problem came as early as day 1. Breakfast great. Snack great. But an hour later I'm starting to get hungry. Moderately hungry. Already. Eat lunch and it doesn't even register on the radar. Uh oh. By afternoon snack I'm a rabid cheetah and inhale the cheese and crackers. Not even a blip on the radar. Dinner helped and evening snack helped. But it's very stressful to feel the panic of starvation and I went to bed feeling okay but a little worried about tomorrow. Day 2 was just as I feared. Even worse than Day 1. I'm starving and I can't do this. I have to eat. In the afternoon I add a Zone Perfect bar to my snack. It helps a little, but I'm not in a good way at this point. I starve the rest of the day. And I'm down 4 pounds in two days, but I'm sure it's not all fat mass and I'd gladly trade some poundage for a meal at this point.
Day 3, 6:30 am I email my NT a desperate plea for more calories. Please. Help. Me. Salvation is delivered into my Inbox by 8:30am with a 2,300 calorie plan. Who would've ever thunk it? So happy to have authorization to eat more, I happily do. The plan basically stays the same, they just increase your portions on certain things and lo and behold...they added a Zone Perfect bar to the menu!! What are the odds?!?! Downside is I didn't exercise at all today. So, up .4 pounds on morning of Day 4. I tell myself not to panic. The calorie fairy is not going to come in and take my extra 300 calories away today for gaining a little weight. I plan to workout hard today, so it will more than make up for it. My workouts today were weight training for an hour, a very vigorous step aerobics class and then my schedule opened up that night so I came back for Zumba. Lots of exercise today. I was fine all day until after Zumba. Then the starvation returned with a vengeance. I told myself it was because I exercised extra today and it will all even out in the wash for tomorrow. Wrong. Day 4 I stick to it but man, I'm hungry. I'm not a pansy about this sort of thing, either. I can handle discomfort. But this is a primal urge to eat. Day 5, I went to run inclines on the treadmill at the gym and 20 minutes in, I feel like I'm going to pass out. I ate my prescribed breakfast, but I'm completely out of gas. I stick to the eating plan knowing we will go out to dinner in the evening. Looking forward to eating something different, though worried about what to order. I don't want to totally blow it. We went to Mexican food so I ordered chicken fajitas, did not partake in sour cream or guac, ate one tortilla and ate the rest of the filling with no tortilla. It was really a half order because I shared with my husband. Yum. Food. We went to dessert. A true Courthouse Nutrition animal would've passed. But I pulled out the excuse of my traumatic, starving week and ate a small vanilla cone at DQ. Felt a little bad, but got over it instantly. With 2,300 calories, surely I am a metabolic inferno!
Day 5...I'm sorry, did I say metabolic inferno? Yeah...not so much. Up .4 today and today is going to be an anti-plan day. We have an event tonight that is once a year and unfortunately completely centered on eating. The food is top notch and there's lots of it. And I'm going into it with a loaded gun...I'm hungry!! And have been for a week!! I'll be honest. I didn't even really try today at all to stick to the plan. It felt great to eat tasty food that sticks to the ribs and with as much as I ate, I'm not sure I ever even felt stuffed. Oh well, what's one day?
Day 6...I'm sorry, did I say what's one day? Try gain it all back in a day! Surely I'm just bloated from real, unclean food. The problem is, the drastic gain on the scale and the taste of the nasty but delicious unclean food has made me want more. I continue to be Mrs. Anti-Plan on Day 7, finishing out my week certainly unlike the way I started.
I recognize this is a lifestyle change and let's face it, sometimes we just don't have it. But here's what this week is teaching me about myself: I'm a weekend diet saboteur. I'm spotless during the week. I make fairly healthy choices when we go out to eat, but no matter what I get at a restaurant, it will never be as calorically balanced and beautifully low-fat as my homemade plan food. And we tend to eat out a few times each weekend, so I need to reach out to my ever-helpful NT prior to this next weekend and have her help me navigate this pitfall of mine.
All in all, I really like the program. In my NT, I feel like I have a buddy alongside me ready to answer questions and cheer me on at anytime. The food gets better tasting over the week and they happily offer alternatives if there's something you don't like or the prep won't work for you. They try to give you food that is findable in a regular grocery store and realistic that you might want to actually eat it. And they try to give you healthy portions to control the rabid cheetah hunger. So far, so good.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Courthouse Nutrition Plan - The Consultation
July 7, 2010
Today I signed up for the Courthouse Nutrition Plan. Here's what got me here:
Back in February, me and my fitness coach had figured on a base of 1450 calories and on days that I run several miles or do two workouts, to add back about 60% of the calories I burned so my body knows it's not starving. That worked to get 7 more pounds of fat off my body. But to cut any more (and I'm talking a measly 50 calories a day) I was hitting a MAJOR wall. I'd be starving and because I was so hungry just abandon the whole darn thing and eat whatever, whenever until it filled me up. Then get frustrated and guilty and start all over again. I've been riding that roller coaster since April and out of desperation, joined the Courthouse Nutrition Plan. For those of you who do not live in Salem, Oregon, no, I am not an inmate or otherwise affiliated with the judicial system here in Salem. The Courthouse is our local gym that has managed to take over our town with 5 locations. They've created an image that makes people feel status-y by belonging there and they get away with charging roughly double what the others in town charge all while keeping the major chain gyms struggling in their wake. It's impressive. As a budding entrepreneur, I can only watch in awe and inspiration. Ahem, anyway. I like the Courthouse because I feel at home there. Their staff rocks and are always willing to roll up their sleeves and get all up into my fitness business when I ask them to. So it seemed natural to gravitate toward my "home away from home" for my eating dilemma.
This program was just rolled out in June and due to me never being aware of my surroundings, I didn't catch wind of it despite the posters, pamphlets, etc. until now. The consultation is a 30 minute one-on-one with Personal Trainer-now-dubbed-Nutrition Trainer (who I will now refer to as NT). I explain my problem and the trainer takes my weight and does a caliper test to test my body fat. We establish I am 23% body fat and while that is a healthy number, it's not uncommon for someone in their thirties to be in the teens and since I feel I am not to my goal for my body, we decide to press on with some more weight loss. We decide that if I lose 10 pounds, and if it is all fat mass (and not losing any lean muscle), we may be well at our goal. I am encouraged to think that 10 pounds is all I have left. I mean, I've already lost 50, so 10 seems like such a manageable number! On the other hand, I've been through hell trying to lose ONE POUND as of late, so... Then we look at my activity level. She has me guestimate on average how much I work out. I'm a maniac. I admit it. I love exercising. Mostly I love to dance and move my body in choreographed bliss. And as an adult, exercise classes seem to be the closest I can get to that on a regular basis. I started to weightlift and run, hated those at first, but grew to love them for the way they alter my body athletically. So, I exercise a lot. Mostly because I so rarely have quiet time in my head and time to just listen to music and be me, that I treasure my workout time and fit it in whenever I can. So my estimate is 1 1/2 - 2 hours a day. It's fair. Some days it's more. Somedays it's not. Every once in awhile if I'm tired, I take a day of rest. It's a good number. Based on that, she puts my calories at 2,000. 2,000!! Scary because it's more than I'm used to, comforting because it means I might actually get to eat something. She asks me to trust her and I tell her of course I will, because obviously what I'm doing now is not working. She gives me a booklet that has a grocery list, meal plan, and outline of the "10 Healthy Habits" they want you to strive for as a lifestyle (things such as hydration, rest, yada yada yada). She tells me to wait until Monday to start so I can get my groceries, prep a lot of my food on Sunday and get a running start for the first week. I'm eager to start now, but do as she says. I get a "free" (aka totally paid for in my new nutrition dues) lunch bag, measuring cups and spoons, food scale, food journal. "No excuses" she says as she hands it to me.
Today I signed up for the Courthouse Nutrition Plan. Here's what got me here:
Back in February, me and my fitness coach had figured on a base of 1450 calories and on days that I run several miles or do two workouts, to add back about 60% of the calories I burned so my body knows it's not starving. That worked to get 7 more pounds of fat off my body. But to cut any more (and I'm talking a measly 50 calories a day) I was hitting a MAJOR wall. I'd be starving and because I was so hungry just abandon the whole darn thing and eat whatever, whenever until it filled me up. Then get frustrated and guilty and start all over again. I've been riding that roller coaster since April and out of desperation, joined the Courthouse Nutrition Plan. For those of you who do not live in Salem, Oregon, no, I am not an inmate or otherwise affiliated with the judicial system here in Salem. The Courthouse is our local gym that has managed to take over our town with 5 locations. They've created an image that makes people feel status-y by belonging there and they get away with charging roughly double what the others in town charge all while keeping the major chain gyms struggling in their wake. It's impressive. As a budding entrepreneur, I can only watch in awe and inspiration. Ahem, anyway. I like the Courthouse because I feel at home there. Their staff rocks and are always willing to roll up their sleeves and get all up into my fitness business when I ask them to. So it seemed natural to gravitate toward my "home away from home" for my eating dilemma.
This program was just rolled out in June and due to me never being aware of my surroundings, I didn't catch wind of it despite the posters, pamphlets, etc. until now. The consultation is a 30 minute one-on-one with Personal Trainer-now-dubbed-Nutrition Trainer (who I will now refer to as NT). I explain my problem and the trainer takes my weight and does a caliper test to test my body fat. We establish I am 23% body fat and while that is a healthy number, it's not uncommon for someone in their thirties to be in the teens and since I feel I am not to my goal for my body, we decide to press on with some more weight loss. We decide that if I lose 10 pounds, and if it is all fat mass (and not losing any lean muscle), we may be well at our goal. I am encouraged to think that 10 pounds is all I have left. I mean, I've already lost 50, so 10 seems like such a manageable number! On the other hand, I've been through hell trying to lose ONE POUND as of late, so... Then we look at my activity level. She has me guestimate on average how much I work out. I'm a maniac. I admit it. I love exercising. Mostly I love to dance and move my body in choreographed bliss. And as an adult, exercise classes seem to be the closest I can get to that on a regular basis. I started to weightlift and run, hated those at first, but grew to love them for the way they alter my body athletically. So, I exercise a lot. Mostly because I so rarely have quiet time in my head and time to just listen to music and be me, that I treasure my workout time and fit it in whenever I can. So my estimate is 1 1/2 - 2 hours a day. It's fair. Some days it's more. Somedays it's not. Every once in awhile if I'm tired, I take a day of rest. It's a good number. Based on that, she puts my calories at 2,000. 2,000!! Scary because it's more than I'm used to, comforting because it means I might actually get to eat something. She asks me to trust her and I tell her of course I will, because obviously what I'm doing now is not working. She gives me a booklet that has a grocery list, meal plan, and outline of the "10 Healthy Habits" they want you to strive for as a lifestyle (things such as hydration, rest, yada yada yada). She tells me to wait until Monday to start so I can get my groceries, prep a lot of my food on Sunday and get a running start for the first week. I'm eager to start now, but do as she says. I get a "free" (aka totally paid for in my new nutrition dues) lunch bag, measuring cups and spoons, food scale, food journal. "No excuses" she says as she hands it to me.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Introduction
Well, I've been meaning to do this for about a year and a half. Last January I woke up one day and realized I have a pretty great life. I have a great husband, family & friends. I have a career that I love and my own business which is holding it's own. I've got it all! Well, except for one thing. I was fat, out of shape and managed to be unhappy about that most of the time. And for some reason that morning I was seeing things more clearly than usual and realized that it's stupid to continually beat myself up for something I have total control over changing. I had a decision to make: I either stay the way I am and quit the self-destructive thoughts or I do something to change it. And in my heart, I wanted to change. So, I laced up my tennies and thought I would run a mile and then go take a weightlifting class at the local gym (which I had signed up for a free two week trial membership and it was going to waste quickly). So I left the house and started jogging. I was mortified to realize that about 20 steps in, I was exhausted and ready to stop. Had I really become so disconnected with myself? I was shocked and angry. I kept running. I started to do that wheezy breathing thing because my lungs were struggling so much I had all kinds of stuff shaking loose. There was this landscaper along the side of the road and he stopped what he was doing and just stared as I wheezed and limped on by. Ouch. I ran the mile. It just about killed me. But I was so mad and determined to not keep that my reality, I went to the gym and did the weightlifting class too. And so my journey began.
My regret is not posting daily from that day to this point. Because I've been on quite a journey and am now on the other side of things. I've lost over 50 pounds, I'm fit, I'm thin-like, and I'm joyful in my own body. Since that fateful day I have run three half marathons, learned countless lessons in body image, fitness, nutrition and the dysfunctional relationship our society has with all of these things.
My purpose now for posting is twofold: 1. I would like to keep a journal of this endeavor because I've become inspiring to myself and on the days I forget how I was ever strong enough to get here, I may find it helpful to come back and see what I'm capable of. 2. I've recently started a new nutrition program through my gym and I have some friends and family that are interested in how it's going. And my poor Facebook friends have been getting countless updates on my calorie intake that they may not wish to know about. So, here goes. I guess I'm a blogger now.
My regret is not posting daily from that day to this point. Because I've been on quite a journey and am now on the other side of things. I've lost over 50 pounds, I'm fit, I'm thin-like, and I'm joyful in my own body. Since that fateful day I have run three half marathons, learned countless lessons in body image, fitness, nutrition and the dysfunctional relationship our society has with all of these things.
My purpose now for posting is twofold: 1. I would like to keep a journal of this endeavor because I've become inspiring to myself and on the days I forget how I was ever strong enough to get here, I may find it helpful to come back and see what I'm capable of. 2. I've recently started a new nutrition program through my gym and I have some friends and family that are interested in how it's going. And my poor Facebook friends have been getting countless updates on my calorie intake that they may not wish to know about. So, here goes. I guess I'm a blogger now.
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