Thursday 9 December 2010

Breakfast:  Eggs + soy chorizo, usual toast, usual coffee x2

Mid-morning:  I had a hair appointment, so I stopped by 3 Bees again and got a double cappuccino for me and a latte for my stylist.  Yum!  (She bought this time.  I'd buy hers every time, but she insists we alternate.)  Not shown: the ginger chew I ate because I was out of cough drops and started hacking.

Lunch:  Green salad with walnuts and TJ's Tuscan vinaigrette, more walnuts on the side, and an apple.

And for dessert?  14 almonds.

Snack time:  1/4 cup of wasabi dry-roasted edamame.

I was hungry, I had the calories...so why did it feel a little like defeat to eat these?  (Although it's just as well that I did, I ended up needing to stay later at work than I was expecting to observe a test system being set up.)

A crawdad on a Christmas tree....?

...Laissez-les bon temps rouler!  It's a Mardi Gras Christmas!  (The gal at work in charge of keeping things festive-looking around here had a great time with her theme.  Aren't the inflatable alligators a hoot?)

Yes, please!

Dinner:  Forks and spoons at the ready for 4 oz. of tri-tip steak with sauce, 1.5 cups of Brussels sprouts with 1 tsp olive oil and lemon pepper and garlic powder, and a cup of non-fat milk.  Ahhh.  I was so hungry!

Nutri-stats!
Total calories:  1790 (Under my new daily budget of 1798 - the tally I use drops your budget as you drop weight.)  No exercise today, so this was my net calories, too.
Fat: 100.9 grams (18.7 saturated) - 49%
Carbs: 132 grams (32.9 fiber, 66.1 sugars) - 29%
Protein: 102.8 grams - 22%

So, how am I feeling?
Pretty good!  I feel like this is hard but doable during the week, but I'm not sure how the weekend will go.  We have a concert on Saturday night and will probably go out to eat, and I'm taking the kids to a birthday party on Sunday, and we might be making cookies (sugar or gingerbread, which aren't as tempting - chocolate chip cookies need to be off the agenda for awhile).  So we'll see how it all goes.

Weight-wise, I'm back to where I'd been maintaining for quite some time now.  (This morning I was .4 lb from where I ended last year.)  You know, I didn't used to be quite so concerned about weight creeping up, and it's not very fun to have to micromanage.  But that's part of what I had to change to make sure I would at least be able to maintain what I've achieved so far.  It's giving me some confidence to see that I have the ability to reverse a trend.

So...now I have a choice.  The calorie tracker I use has calculated my budget based on a 1 pound per week loss rate.  So do I keep it here and see how long I can go, do I modify it to "lose 1/2 pound per week," or to I set it to "maintain?"  On the one hand, I'm kind of on a roll and am curious to see what happens.  On the other hand, with photos and logging, it's a lot of steps before I actually stick food in my mouth - how long will that be doable?  Not to mention it's kind of demoralizing to see that calorie budget drop.  I think I'll leave things put for now and see what happens.  By observing, I hope to be able to catch when it starts getting crazy-making and avoid feeling a backlash.  The plus side is that I should have a really awesome a1c test result in January! :-)

Wednesday 8 December 2010

Breakfast:  Cheddar + tomato omelette, usual toast, usual coffee (2 mugs)

Cappuccino stop:  I had a follow-up appointment with the podiatrist, and I had a little time to enjoy a double cappuccino at my favorite coffee place, 3 Bees Coffee in San Mateo.

Hello, Bee!  (We have to fake our icicles here.)

Pre-workout:  I knew I'd need good fuel for L's torture today, aka "Chisel" class, so I had 2% Greek-style yogurt, a Cutie orange, and some walnuts.  (Sorry, this looks pretty gross.)

Workout:  I warned L that I might not be able to keep up on the legs today, but it went pretty well.  I have a little soreness in the shins on both legs, but it's mild and we didn't do anything high-impact.  My knees tolerated the plies, lunges, and one-legged deadlift routine just fine.  I took along a bottle of low-sugar sports drink and I think that helps quite a lot in this class.  We get very sweaty!

Lunch:  I ate this while waiting for my pork and green beans to cook.

To answer your question, Debby, this was an impulse buy.  I got a pack of these because they are low calorie and chocolatey but also sugar free.  I do like "real" food better, too, but this was sure convenient.  What makes me laugh is that I have a few packages of make-it-yourself Jell-O sugar-free and fat-free puddings (chocolate and banana) languishing in my cupboard...apparently "add milk and stir" was too taxing, so I had to buy the individually packaged, ready-to-eat ones.  (Sheesh, what kind of crunchy-green California girl am I?!?! ;-D )

2 oz. pork tenderloin with about 1 Tbsp BBQ sauce (lower carb), 1 cup green beans in hot & sour broth (Better than Bouillon, a few shakes of Tapatilo sauce, and some rice wine vinegar), and an apple.

And 12 pecans.  You know I really wanted to be chugging these by the handful.

This held me nicely over until dinner.

Thing 2 helped me prepare dinner and took the photos.

Dinner:  1 cup of nonfat milk, about 2 cups of cauliflower with 1 tsp olive oil + garlic powder + lemon pepper, a low carb tortilla cheese quesadilla, and some salsa.

I had 29 calories left.  This allowed me 2 turkey meat-doggies (not shown), which is almost more of a tease.  Oh well.



ACTION CAULIFLOWER!!!

Nutri-stats!
Total calories:  1905
Estimated workout calories burned: 101
Net calories: 1804 (1807 budgeted)
Fat: 96.3 grams (30.7 saturated) - 45% of calories
Carbs: 160.4 grams (36.4 grams fiber, 80.7 grams sugar) - 33% of calories
Protein: 108.8 grams - 22% of calories

I've been fairly well-satisfied at this level, once I upped my veggies.  My tummy is still a bit hungry-feeling at night, but not too bad.

Scenes of the season:  Here's our tree!  It's artificial (of course) and we replaced our old one last year after 1/2 the lights went out and Mr. Handsome-and-Handy spent 4 hours trying to replace bulbs.  This one is skinnier than our other one, so it fits a little better in our small house.  It went up in about 10 minutes (all we had to do was put together the 3 segments, fold down the branches, and fluff them a little.  The Things swarmed it for another 15 minutes, and voila!

Like Biz, I love snowmen!  You'll find more of them than any other ornament.

Here's my favorite snowman!

Tuesday 7 December 2010

I'm baaaaaaack! I'll cover my trip eats a bit more in my race report, but I feel like I did pretty well. I didn't go crazy...in fact, we only dined out three times, one being grabbing a quick sandwich at a Starbucks' stand in the bowels of the MGM Grand on the post-half-marathon death march. I pretty much subsisted on Kind & South Beach bars, nuts, milk, and low carb sports drinks.

And it's funny: the scale dropped with a huge THUNK on Saturday morning back to my "happy weight" range, but of course it was back up when I got home and weighed in Tuesday morning. Oh well.

So...back to the portion control and calorie budget, until I can get back to the happy range and stick it for a couple of weeks.

Before breakfast:  How weird - my muscles felt rarin' to go this morning! So they hauled me out of bed and plopped me on the stationary bike for about 25 minutes.  I did a programmed ride for 20 minutes and spent the rest on the lowest setting, for about 4 miles.

Breakfast:  Soy chorizo and eggs, usual toast, 2 mugs of the usual coffee.

Mid morning (not shown):  Chia seeds in green tea.

It's going to be a Cajun Christmas up in here at work, all y'all!  Ooooooo-eee!
I liked the clever way our receptionist used glittery pipe cleaners instead of hooks to secure the ornaments to the tree.  I'll definitely share a photo of the completed master piece.

Lunch:  1/2 package of frozen spinach and broth, 1 cup of 2% Greek-style yogurt with 1/2 cup blueberries, and 2 cheese sticks.

Mid-afternoon snack:  A sugar-free Jell-o pudding.

Dinner: 4 oz pork tenderloin, 2 Tbsp BBQ sauce (my usual lower carb stuff), Brussels sprouts with 1 tsp olive oil and lemon pepper + garlic powder, and green salad with 1 Tbsp Italian dressing and extra vinegar.
Not shown - about 1/2 cup baby carrots later on when I started feeling snacky.

The Numbers:
Total calories = 1767 calories (1800 budgeted)
Exercise estimate = 77 calories
Net calories = 1690
Fat: 93.6 grams, 20.3 saturated (48% of calories)
Carb: 115.8 grams (38.3 grams fiber, 33.9 grams sugar) (26% of calories)
Protein: 116.7 grams (26% of calories)

Thursday 2 December 2010

Wow!  We were doing the morning rush, and then Mr. Handsome-and-Handy noticed that the curtains were glowing pink.  So we rushed over and saw a magnificent sunrise! (It was, of course, a lot more gorgeous and glowing than in the photo.  But I had to try and share it with you all.)

Breakfast:  2 eggs with chorizo (forgot to ask Mr. H&H if it was regular or the TJ's soy chorizo - I think the latter, because it tasted like taco meat!), usual toast, 2 mugs of the usual coffee.

Snack:  I'm guesstimating 1/2 an ounce of pecans?  One of these scoops is a little over 2 Tbsp.

Lunchtime stroll:  I walked 2 miles at lunchtime, and it's beginning to look a lot like....

...cute penguins!!!  (I'm feeling covetous of this one.  Wish we had more storage space!)

I also got to chat with my BFF Abbie on the phone.  She lives in Portland, OR, and I got to 'fess up that I'm feeling kind of nervous about the Las Vegas trip.  Will it be fun?  Will I fit in?  Can I go 13.1 miles on foot?  (My longest ever has been 8 miles.)  Oh, and where will I eat?!?  There are almost too many choices and super pricey.  I haven't been to that city in 13 years, and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed.  I'm also kind of laughing at myself:  I've done some pretty bold stuff in my life, yet this trip has me quivering in a scaredy-weenie way.  Fortunately, I have the amazing Foodie McBody and her daughter, Jr. McBody, to hang with! :-)

Lunch:  Leftover "chicken especial" (2 oz. chicken, about 3/4 cup of the soupy part), 6 mini dill pickles, 1 large apple, and 1/2 a bag of spinach.  The spinach I ate through the afternoon with 2 tsp of "Better than Bouillon" veggie base - it makes a wonderful broth.  I felt nice & full all day.

Snack: 14 almonds

On arriving home, I found that my reading material for the trip arrived!  It's blogger and writer extraordinaire Charlotte Hilton Andersen's book, "The Great Fitness Experiment!"  OMG and Woo HOOO!!!  Thing 2 had to get in the picture, too.  "Do I look like a baby kitty?"

Dinner time!  I enjoyed 4 chicken legs, 1 cup of cauliflower, and a nice green salad with tomato, celery, and cucumer.  Oh, and my new favorite dressing on all the veggies:  Potsticker/gyoza dipping sauce!  The one I found in the cupboard had only 10 calories per tablespoon - a lot better stats than salad dressing!  The main ingredients are water, soy sauce, sugar, and a skosh of sesame oil, so it would be easy enough to make.

I also had some calories to spare, so I had a nice, cold glass of non-fat milk with dinner.

Things I'm proud of today:
- Another "no sugar added" day (that's 4 now)
- I skipped the weekly goodie tray at work
- I was under my calorie goal!
- I got plenty of fluid - I'm drinking up lots of water with electrolytes that I got at Whole Foods and the broth with the spinach helped a lot, too.  Met my goal there.
- Also met my veggie/fruit goal.
- I got outside for a walk.

Nutritional data:
1694 total (if we take away the 138 exercise calories, that's 1555 net calories)
88.1 grams of fat (21.8 grams saturated)
108.7 grams carbs (20.3 grams fiber, 54.7 grams sugar)
121.4 grams protein

Friday postcript:  Well, the scale was up .2 this morning.  I'm not surprised - I really didn't feel any different.

The inner toddler rages:  "No FAIR!!!  I've been GOOOD!!!  I don't WANNA - You can't MAKE ME!!!"
The inner parent smiles in gentle amusement:  "She cleaned her room today.  (Oh, but everything's just stuffed in the closet - hey, I used to do that!  Hee hee.)  So she's expecting a pony?"

Here's how I'm dealing:  I put on one of my new blouses (scored at Target!  J'aime beaucoup le TarJJJJAY!) and some of my favorite earrings and necklace - I hardly ever wear jewelry, but this cheered me. And I've budgeted calories for a Starbucks skinny caramel latte at lunchtime.

P.P.S. - Welcome, Kathy!  So glad you enjoy the blog!  Oh, those nuts are really something, aren't they?  So tasty, so healthy...yet so calorically dense.  To fill you in a little, I lost most of my weight through following a program based on serving sizes and food types, with lots of weighing and measuring.  I then moved to calorie counting for a bit.  That got a bit crazy-making, so I winged things for awhile (ala intuitive eating), and stayed pretty stable.  I fired up this food blog to help keep me aware and accountable during that time, and it worked for awhile.  I have a tendency toward "portion creep" if I don't pay attention; I suspect that caused my recent upsurge that wouldn't go away.  So now I'm in "retraining" mode, to get myself to be a bit more aware of what a "normal" portion size is again and back in touch with what I really need food-wise.

Wednesday 1 December 2010

Breakfast:  The usual chedder + tomato omelette, usual toast, 2 mugs of the usual coffee

Pre-workout [not shown]: The other half a bag of Kale Crunchies.

The workout:  My strength class at the gym (60 minutes).  We did the one-legged deadlifts combined with a reverse lunge, used the pilates rings for some inner thigh work, and we used the resistance bands for some leg and bicep work; also ab, back, and tricep work.  This class hits everything!  Which is why I keep coming back.  (My hammies, glutes, and arms are really feeling it today!)

I took a bottle of water with low-sugar electrolyte drink mix; I think this really helps keep my energy levels up during class.

Lunch: 2 oz. rib meat, 1/2 sweet potato (about 2 oz.) with butter, and a clementine orange.

I also had a handful of pecan nuts (est. 1 oz.).  I think I was craving more salt.

Later on: 17 raw almonds.

Ooooo, decisions!  Nope, the cup of tea won today!  The chocolate remains unopened.

Dinner: 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes

Bless that man, he had to go and make guacamole! I started with 7 chips and guacamole.  I had 5 more of that lovely combo after that.

Main dish was our chicken especial - I had 4 ounces of the chicken, and I'm estimating about a cup of the "soup" part (enchilada sauce, sour cream, cream cheese, chiles, and onion).

Nutritional summary of the day:
2243 calories (about 2142 net; I estimated my class to burn 101 calories, my old estimate for BodyPump class, based on a study I'd read somewhere about its calorie burn.)
145.6 grams fat (51.7 grams saturated)
147 grams carbs (19.3 fiber, 52.9 sugar)
110 grams protein
3rd "no sugar added" day in a row.  Not that it's helping >;-/
Made my 3+ veggie goal
Made my fluid goal (had 9 cups, counting the coffee)

Why does this feel so bleeping hard?!?  How can such a seemingly "normal" amount of food end up being so many calories? Yeah, I know, even healthy fats like nuts and avocado are calorically dense.  I suppose I could cut back on fats used as condiments (my sweet potato would probably have tasted just fine without that pat of butter on it).  To make "budget" today, for example, I could have cut the butter and been more careful about the guacamole (measured instead of just scooping and guesstimating, for example).  Oh, well, better luck with it tomorrow....

Tuesday 30 November 2010

Breakfast:  Spinach + cheddar omelette, usual toast, 2 mugs of the usual coffee

Lunch: 1/2 package of Kale Crunchies!

Well, imagine this was a lovely green salad with spinach, celery, tomato, cucumber, avocado, feta cheese, and Tuscan dressing.  As you can see, I couldn't wait to dig in!

Afternoon snack: apple + chia.  (The apples are small, but I think the camera angle is distorting things a bit, Debby.)

Dinner:  Well, this is weird. I tried a couple of times to send the photos from Tuesday evening, but it didn't work.  Thing 2 got some cute ones.  I had the following:

• 4.5 oz. of rib meat (pre-packaged ribs with sauce, picked off the bone)
• Half of a small sweet potato (about 2.5 oz.) with 1 Tbsp of butter
• 1 cup (approx.) of steamed broccoli with 1 tsp of olive oil + garlic powder + lemon pepper
• 1 jell-o pudding cup (sugar free)

This was really satisfying.  And whoa, no nuts!  2nd day of "no sugar added," too.

Nutritional data:

2089 calories (My budget was 1811.  Honestly, Lori, how on earth do you manage just 1500 calories?!?)

129.9 grams fat (41.7 grams saturated)

160.7 grams carb (43.4 grams fiber, 48.7 grams sugar)

90.4 grams protein

After everyone else fell asleep, I hopped on the stationary bike and did 2 30-minute programmed rides and 40 minutes on my own.  Yep, I got sucked into a movie.  I did 20 mile in 1 hour and 40 minutes.  (Which, unlike spin class, I think is probably pretty realistic - mph and perceived effort seem to equate better with my actual bike.)  Do I get a cupcake, Lori?  What, I have to ride 40 miles?!?  Darn...