Day 5: Spoke Too Soon

I weighed 106 when I went to bed last night and 105 when I weighed in this morning. Bummer. I guess I spoke to soon yesterday when I announced that I had lost 1 pound. Or I did something wrong yesterday. I don’t really think I overate. Maybe it was the falafel pita. I bet they fried those little falafel balls. (I bake mine.) Maybe my low-intensity workout should have been raised a notch or two.

Breakfast 4 blackberries, 1 tablespoon of vanilla coconut milk yogurt, and 2 tablespoons of Ezekiel 4:9 Golden Flax Cereal. Gotta hit the farmer’s market today and stock up on my fruit.

Workout 1 We did the Just Keep Going workout for our WOWs today. It’s a set of 11 exercises, most using a medicine ball. Moving quickly from one to the other gets really tough as your muscles start to fatigue. But that right there – the pushing when tired, the making the body go when it wants to stop – that is what I am there for.  I made a few adjustments to raise the challenge level of this workout – and thus my PF Level. 1 second breaks between sets of squat thrusts; instead of jogging in place, I did high knee runs at a rapid tempo for the minute; I engaged and really squeezed my abs for every second of the plank hold (not one second of cruising allowed – and you know you can so do that with planks); and on the Umpas, first, I did them declined, with my head lower than my feet, and every time I pulled the medicine ball back to my chest I released as I pulled it, then caught it at my chest. This was a great workout physically and mentally.

All my groceries fit in those cool orange bags.

After the workout I jumped on my bike and rode to the store to do some grocery shopping. It’s not far to the store, but the ride home is all uphill. Even though it was a bit of a workout for my quads, it didn’t count as Workout 2. It was just the active, human-powered way I want to live.

Lunch Half a sandwich – sort of “chicken”-veggie-pesto sandwich. Let me describe it for you. I toasted one slice of Rudi’s Sourdough bread (the healthiest version of sourdough I have found, thus far), then spread some sundried tomato pesto (that I made this morning from the basil in my garden) on it. I cut the bread in half and put four Trader Joe’s Chicken-less Strips between the slices of bread. These are the vegan substitute for chicken. They don’t “taste just like chicken” but they’re close enough. I also put in two tomato slices, some chopped red bell peppers and grated about a teaspoon of VeganRella Natural Cheese Alternative. This is a really yummy sandwich. And did I mention is tastes good too? On the side I tried the Kale Chips we bought from Lazy Acres, but they were too “cheesy” for me. They have a cashew cheese topping that was just overpowering. So after one of those, I had 10 Kettle Brand Baked Hickory Barbeque Chips.

Workout 2 I went for a 35 minute run, from our house to downtown Santa Barbara for the farmer’s market that takes over State Street every Tuesday. Time to stock up on veggies and fruits for the next few days.

Dinner Experimental meal night. We do this a lot. Tonight I tried out a recipe for making pasta out of zucchini (from our garden). Then I sautéed some garlic, onions (from the farmer’s market), and some chopped up swiss chard (from our garden), and garbanzo beans (gotta get our protein). Then I tossed in some broccoli (from the farmer’s market). While that was warming up I heated up some of my homemade sundried tomato pesto (made this morning). Then I put it altogether. It ended up being a tiny bit of zucchini pasta, lots of the veggies, some pesto, then a bit of fresh chopped tomatoes and even some avocado (added after the picture), and a sprinkling of Parma (vegan parmesan). This experiment, yet to be named, actually tasted quite wonderful. That zucchini pasta ain’t bad at all. On the side I had one slice of Rudi’s sourdough bread, topped with a tiny bit of Earth Balance Buttery Spread Soy Free and some granular garlic. Of course, since I’ve been such a good girl, I got to have my one sweet treat for the day – a small homemade chocolate chip cookie with nothing nasty in it.

Weight Loss: on Track

Losing weight takes perseverance especially when faced with summertime barbeques, vacations, ice cream trucks and the like.  The temptations abound, it seems, during warm months.  So, what do you do if you’re trying to lose weight?  The good news is that you can eat what you want….as long as you make room for it.

So many people get off track by throwing in the towel (no pool pun intended!)  If you think that one day of bad eating means your whole week is a waste, you need to change your mentality now.  You will probably over do it while at your neighbors BBQ, but the very next day you have a clean slate to start with.  The longer you stay out of the saddle, the harder it is to get back on.  Don’t lead yourself down the weight-gain path by continuing the cycle.  All diets need wiggle room in order to be successful.

Planning is a key component of achieving your weight loss goals.  Making room for the little slips is important.  That way, when they happen, you haven’t failed.  You’ve simply stayed on course.  Start by knowing when you will be seduced by food.  Then, in the days leading to the event, eat less and/or exercise more.  If you struggle to get to the gym, schedule yourself an appointment by actually writing your workout time down in your planner.  When that hour block is filled, it’s hard to plan something else at the same time.  It’s a mind trick that actually works!  You’ll think:  Hey look – I have something planned at 5pm today.  Try it:)

Another trick is to have a mantra.  I love dessert.  It’s my absolute weakness, but many times I remind myself of my mantra.  I ask myself two questions when deciding if I’m allowed to have it:  1) did I workout today? and 2) am I happy with the way I look in the mirror?  If my answer is no, I can sometimes convince myself to skip dessert.  Notice I said “sometimes.”  It’s not 100% foolproof, but it is powerful enough to stop me most of the time.  Find a mantra that works for you and see how it can lower your caloric intake.

Never deprive yourself of any food you love.  It will only lead to overeating when it is sitting in front of you or calling your name from the grocery shelves.  Enjoy in moderation.  Best of luck to you for the remainder of the summer!

Dear Diary

 

July 12, 2009

Dear Diary,

Today was a good day – saw my bf off to NJ by 7am.  Had lots of food, but good food and worked out.  I ran 4km in 30min this morning.  I did sets of 50 push ups – 30, 50, 50, 50.  I think I can do more than 50.  So I will be able to do 100 push ups and complete the 100 Push Ups Challenge!  I also did some ab work while watching Transformers (first one).

Breakfast 5:30am 2 eggs, ham, ancient grain toast dry, coffee, water

Breakfast 10:0am 2 eggs, ham, water

Snack: apple, part skim mozz cheese stick

Lunch: hamburger patty, peach, cheese stick

Dinner: salad bar (again, yes, but went to Blockbuster and “happened” to find myself at the salad bar)

Snack: apple, cheese stick, water

Eat More to Lose More

Why Eating More Food, Not Less, Is My New Weight Loss Secret

I’ve done other weightloss programs before. I am a four-time loser at Weight Watchers. I have had and wasted 5 gym memberships, and I have a whole stack of workout clothes in my closet. I have overeaten, undereaten and not eaten at all. Everything was successful, at first, but it was impossible to maintain. Up, down. Down, up.

I thought I had the answer, just not the willpower to mailtain it: Eat Less, Move More. Seems completely obvious. But I was really only into half of it. The Eat Less half, of course. Moving more was going to happen after I lost the weight. Some plan.

So you can imagine how shocked I was when, after my second workout, Coach Ryan sat me down and talked to me about food. I’d been tracking all of my meals, snacks and nibbles on mycaloriecounter.com. I thought I had done poorly. The first day I ate about 1350 calories, the next day about 1250 and the third day about 1300 again. I had always heard that the ideal calorie count for losing weight was 1200 calories a day, and I was over the mark. But this is what Coach Ryan said…

EAT MORE

You read that right. Eat more, but eat better. Ryan told me that my optimum calorie range, once my fitness improved, was 1600-1800 calories. 400 more calories a day than I thought was correct for me. And right away, as soon as I started training, I was to increase my calorie count to 1500 a day, but there were rules. Those calories had to be 50% protein, 30% fat and 20% sugar.

Translated, that equals 183 grams of protein, 50 grams of fat and max of 50 grams of sugar.

You’d think a fat girl being told to eat more food each day would be like winning the lottery – I didn’t get fat because I have an aversion to food. It didn’t work that way, though. Getting that many grams of protein was almost impossible, especially without getting the fat and sugar grams out of whack. One yogurt in the morning was 12 grams of sugar and about 6 protein.

Coach Ryan suggested protein shakes and protein bars, which ended up being the perfect solution for me. I get to have chocolate milk and chocolate-covered bars every day and still be within my diet. I’ve also found cookbooks for diabetics to be helpful – they’re high on protein and (obviously) light on carbs. Try www.diabetic-recipes.com.

Why eat more? To fuel our bodies, yes, but to make our bodies use the fuel WE want our bodies to use – body fat. More on that next time in “getting in the heart rate zone”.

Of course, increasing my calorie intake would be stupid if I also weren’t increasing my output. I’m at the gym three days a week @ 6a.m., and I don’t want to waste those workouts because I didn’t eat right.

Road Map To Success

Current blast officially started back on May 13. I have not started a cruise yet as my weights are still progressing nicely and overall I feel pretty good.

A1 – Upper Torso

• Inc. Smith Machine Press (15-25r) RP
• Hammer Delt Press (15-25r) RP
• Reverse Grip Smith Bench Press (15-25r) RP
• Lat Pulldown (15-25r) RP
• T-Bar Row (6-8) SS / 10-12 SS

A2-Bi’s / Legs

• Inc. DB Curl (20-30r) RP
• Reverse Curl (10-20r) SS
• Seated Calf Raise (DC recommended reps/but soon changing to R-P sets)
• Romanian Deadlift (10-20r) SS
• FreeMotion Squats (Still putting a few exercises in to figure out which feels best for my back) – (8-12r) SS
• Goblet Squat – Widowmaker (I really like these and I only learned about them in mid-June. I may use them for the 8-12 set as well)

B1 – Upper Torso

• Inc. Hammer Press (15-25r) RP
• Military Press (15-25r) RP
• Parallel Bar Dips (15-25r) RP
• Chins (may take these out as I’m now finding it hard to progress in weight) (15-25r) RP
• Rack Pulls (6-8) SS / (10-12) SS

B2 – Bi’s /Legs

• Hammer Preacher Curl (15-25r) RP
• Preacher Reverse Curl (10-20) SS
• Sliding Calf Raise (DC style)
• Single Leg Romanian Deadlift (10-20r) SS
• Leg Press (8-12r) / Widowmaker

C1 – Upper Torso

• Dante’s recommended Pec Dec rep scheme
• One Arm DB Press (15-25r) RP
• Seated Cable Overhead Extension (15-25r) RP
• Hammer Iso-Row (15-25r) RP
• Hammer Hi-Row (6-8r) SS / (10-12r) SS

C2 – Bi’s /Legs

• Barbell Curl (20-30r) RP
• Hammer Curl (10-20r) SS
• Donkey Calf Raise (DC style)
• Leg Curl (10-20r) SS
• Hack Squat (8-12r) – I’ve been having a really hard time with these as my back feels like it’s the weak spot. Therefore I do my first SS here, and then I move on to…
• DB Reverse Lunge – Widowmaker

No set morning cardio is done as I am a married father of 5, so I get it in whenever time allows. To get up in the morning before work is tapping into sleep time and I already have no idea what it is like to sleep a straight 8 unless I’m sick, which is usually what happens. However I park a good distance from my office, only take the stairs (on the 5th floor) multiple times a day, do a planned 15 minute walk at work, and bike ride at least 25 miles a week and play ball with the kids regularly. So the only time I’m really sitting on my butt is at work.

Cooking healthy with the ResultsBy chef-Turkish Delight

Turkey was one of my surprisingly favorite places I have been to, the beaches in Bodrum, the ruins in Ephesus, the white salt deposits in Pumukkale which make you feel like you are in Alaska in winter  but with 100 degree weather, the breath taking beauty of Istanbul and the pure culture shock. Each place was so unique, I drove from Bodrum to Ephesus and would have sworn I was driving through the Red lands in Northern California except for the insane drivers. I stayed in the Sultanahmet district in Turkey which was amazing, in one direction I could see the Blue Mosque and in the other just 200 meters away, the Hagia Sofia, two of the most awe inspiring structures I have ever seen!   The real circus in Istanbul is the Grand Bazaar, miles of anything from huka pipes, ginormous rugs, beautiful dishes, Turkish delights… The most pleasing to the eye though was the spice market, the aromas were so good that I did not want to leave, ever.  So when I had the Kabobs I thought I was going to flip, the spices tasted even better than the smell. I wanted to bring back these flavors and every time I have these Kabobs, I’m brought right back to that spice market, smiling and never wanting to leave. So join me in my Turkish delight and let’s cook up some Yogurt Marinated Chicken Kabobs.

Break out the grill and let’s get the ingredients.

What you need:

Let’s get the ingredients together

2 tsp. of dried crushed red pepper

2 tsp. of paprika

1 cup of plain Greek yogurt

3 tblsp. of olive oil

2 tblsp of red wine vinegar

2 tblsp of tomato paste

a dash of sea salt

fresh ground pepper

2 lemons, 1 sliced into thin rounds and the other in wedges

2-4 organic fresh chicken breasts

1 red pepper

1 yellow pepper

1 zucchini

Lets get prepped!

Let’s get prepped

In a large mixing bowl put the dried crushed pepper and paprika in with 2 tblsp. of hot water and stir until it becomes a paste. Then add the yogurt, olive oil, tomato paste red wine vinegar , salt and pepper to taste in  the mixing bowl and stir until  everything is mixed together. Add the chicken and stir and cover and put in the fridge, let it marinate for at least a couple of hours. Then cut the peppers into 1 and a half inch squares and the zucchini into one half inch and thread on the skewers.

Heat up the barbecue on medium heat for 10 minutes and oil up the grill rack. Thread the chicken and lemon circles on the skewers. place the chicken and veggies on the grill for about 12 minutes, flipping the skewers occasionally.

You can serve this on a nice platter with some hummus or just place it on the plates and serve up a beautiful, healthy and delicious meal.

This is my Turkey dish, next time I will do my pistacio sirloin Kabobs but I am sure you will enjoy this. Happy eating all and happy 4th of July!

Let’s chop & mix Almost ready…let’s set up the table. And here we are Enjoy!

Day 2 Raw

So, I think I’ve eaten 100% raw for 2 days. I don’t know that I will stay 100% but the more I look around the more ideas I get. Also…my local supermarket has a full like of Lara Bars so I sampled the Apple Pie flavor and it was soooo good! Loved that there were practically no ingredients lol I’m used to everything in a package having a laundry list of weird ingredients!!

Today I made my first Green Smoothie. I somewhat feared the thing but it was soooo good!! If that was my first attempt then it can only get better! If you have a great smoothie recipe that can be made in a blender (i have no juicer or food processor) please share!!!

So, it was about 2 cups of spinach, 5 or 6 small local strawberries, 2 bananas. It was supposed to be 1 but i freaked out last minute because it looked thin and I added another banana. I look forward to making another one tomorrow – it was cool, yummy, inexpensive and filling!

To backtrack… here’s what I ate:

Breakfast
cantaloupe

Lunch
Green Smoothie

Dinner
1/2 mango
about 3/4 c crushed walnuts

Snacks throughout the day
cherries
green grapes
1/2 avocado
Lara Bar
Blackberries

Goal for tomorrow: Learn more about combining foods. Eat more protein. I am soaking 3 kinds of beans to make a bean/cucumber salad that I love and eat more veggies.