Month At A Glance

It's Friday - Yay! I have been missing most of this week, but wanted to quickly check-in on the blog. I am doing well. The jar lunches are going well. The low-carb this is not going well because I love carbs waaaayyy too much! I exercised 3 times this week, and will agian tomorrow. So that's three rest-days this week, not two like I had planned initially. But I'm okay with that.

At the start of this month, I started keeping a monthly calendar of my eating and exercise behaviors. I got this idea from Skinny Hollie's Blog (http://www.skinnyhollie.com/), and it has been a good visual reminder of what I am doing. I mark what I do on the calendar - green stars on days that I eat well and don't binge, and gold stars for days that I exercise. At the end of the month, this is what it looked like:

As you can see - 8 days of eating well and 11 days of exercise. This is quite interesting, since I always imagined that it was easier for me to eat well than it was for me to exercise. It looks like I was able to do exercise more easily than maintain a reasonably binge-free day of eating. The second observation I made is that over the last two weeks when I have made an intentional plan for exercising, I exercised more - DUH!!! I guess I should keep making weekly goals!

Here was the food for yesterdaay -

BREAKFAST

Blueberry Greek Yogurt - Surprisingly, it did not have much sugar in it!

SNACK

It was no surprise that I was hungry an hour and a half later.
Hummus and Balsamic-Basil Triscuits

LUNCH

Lunch from the jar - Yummy!

DINNER - CARB WARNING!

I dined with my friend L. after our usual Thursday walk together.
We started with bread, olive oil, vinegar and parmesan.

We split an appetizer of grilled bread with whole roasted garlic and baked "Cambrozola" Cheese (Camembert, Brie and Gorgonzola). This was garlicky, cheesy and yummy!

I had the penne with pesto

L. had this yummy looking lasagna.

Then we each had a giant scoop of ice-cream that was so yummy we forgot to photograph it.

EXERCISE
1 hr walk with L.

Weekday Lunch Prep

First things first - I weighed in this morning at 225.6 lbs. That is a 1.6 lb loss this week. I am happy about this. I hope I keep going at this pace, and by the end of the year, I shall be very satisfied with myself. I mostly stuck with my exercise plan for last week - I took an extra rest day. This week, I plan 2 rest days, and will exercise the other days.

Now to more exciting things... My weekday lunches are not often well-planned. I try to bring leftovers for lunch when there are leftovers. I have a husband with a healthy appetite, and frequently we don't. I usually have a frozen meal at work, and if there are no leftovers, then I have that. Occasionally, I will go out and get lunch at one of the cafeterias with a co-worker. And rarely, I go on my own to the cafeteria.

I decided for a change to do what appears to be all the rage - Mason Jar Lunches. Only, I am too cheap and lazy to go out and buy mason jars specifically for this purpose. So, it's reused Salsa Jar lunches instead.

The jars were too small for all my planned ingredients, so I also brought spinach, cucumber and chickpeas to add to the contents of the jars. Not quite just a jar lunch - but I'm still excited about them. I feel very prepared!!! Here is what I have in them

Raspberry Balsamic Vinaigrette
Cherry Tomatoes
Artichoke Hearts
Large Black Olives
Farfalle Pasta
Feta Cheese

Now, the food for yesterday -

BREAKFAST

Oats with Curried Mung Beans, Peanuts

LUNCH

Santa-Fe Rice and Beans, Banana

SNACK

Chocolate. I ate the whole thing - I had meant to only eat half.
Unphotographed crackers and cheese.

DINNER

Cabbage-Cucumber Salad; Veggie Burger; Fried Rice
Unphotographed watermelon

EXERCISE
1/2 Hour Elliptical; 1/2 Hr Weights @ the Gym

Weighing on Weekends

Remember a few blogs ago when I said that I would not weigh myself between posted weigh-ins? Well, after a few days of mini-binging, I decided that it would be a good idea for me to step on the scale today - Saturday. As I have said before on this blog, weekends are the most difficult days for me to stick with my diet and exercise plan. I thought that if I weighed myself today, and knew how much I weighed, then I would probably stick more closely with maintaining a healthy routine. I was certain because over the last few days I have been sneaking in several un-photographed snacks, that I would have gained some weight. imagine my surprise then when I saw the number - 225.0! I guess that's motivation to keep me going. I wasn't going to eat breakfast, and was contemplating not working out. But, the number on the scale motivated me to do so. I feel slightly ashamed that a number can have this effect on me!

I think in the future I am going to do this weekend weighing thing. I will weigh myself on Saturdays to maintain motivation to have a healthful weekend. and, I will post my blog weigh-in on Mondays as usual. I guess I'm definitely in the 220s now. I have updated my goals page.

I am also noticing that the novelty of taking pictures of everything I eat is wearing off. Especially when I go on mini-binges, I don't photograph what I eat. Today, I forgot to photograph all my meals except breakfast. I think I might experiment with trying a different way of tracking and posting here.

BREAKFAST

Tea, Biscuits

2 Scrambled Eggs w. Beans, Onions, Mozzarella Cheese

EXERCISE
-- I was motivated, and meant to, but was too tired to exercise --

Short Post

I work late on Wednesdays, and got home late. I did not want to go walking after that, but forced myself to go out for a walk, and felt better after that. I wish I could get more excited about exercise. Is there a way to do that? What motivates you to exercise when you don't actually get to see the results of it immediately?

BREAKFAST

Smoothie w. 2 carrots, banana, milk

SNACK

Pepperjack Cheese, Rice Crackers

LUNCH

Cheese Pizza; Carrots & Hummus

SNACK
Unphotographed Spinach Dip & Saltines - this was definitely a mini binge.

DINNER

Lentil, Barley and Veggie soup w. cheese.

I planned on eating only half the cookie. I ended up eating the whole thing.

EXERCISE
1 hr walk medium-brisk pace.

Thai Tea Icecream

Two days ago was the first day in many when I stuck with my meals for the day and did not binge. Good for me. Yesterday, I had two mini cupcakes that a coworker brought in for her birthday. So, I skipped dessert after dinner to balance it out. And although it does not seem like much, I did pick the mini-cupcakes and not the larger sized ones. Also, I was stuck at work late, so did not get to go for an evening walk. So, I made yesterday the rest day and am going walking today instead.

Here is the recipe for the Thai Tea Icecream that I promised. I will note that although the icecream was delicious, it did not taste as much of tea as I had expected. I will post some modifications at the bottom of the recipe that may help improve the flavor.

INGREDIENTS
2.5 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup sugar (I used a mix of half honey and half brown sugar)
5 egg yolks
1 tsp pure vanilla essence *
3 pods of ground cardamom **
5 tea bags of black tea ***

METHOD
1. Bring the milk, heavy cream, vanilla, cardamom and half of the sugar to a slight boil.
2. Add the teabags to the milk mixture as it is warming up.
3. In the meantime, whisk together the remaining sugar and the egg yolks till fluffy.
4. Add the egg mixture to the milk mixture.
5. Stir constantly on low heat and do not let the yolks cook/curdle.
6. Continue heating until the mixture thickens to coat the back of a wooden spoon. (~5 min)
7. Remove from heat and discard the tea bags.
8. Cool to room temperature and then transfer to fridge to chill for at least 2 hours.
9. Add to ice cream maker as per instructions and freeze for a few hours before serving.

* I would skip the vanilla because this may have contributed to diminish the tea-flavor.
** Like the vanilla, the cardamom was quite a strong flavor. I will add only 1 pod next time.
*** For a stronger tea flavor, I would add more tea bags or use loose black tea. If using loose tea, strain it out after cooling.

My low-carb plan is not working as well as I would have wanted it to - of course, I am not really putting any effort into it. Maybe that's why! ;-)

And, here's the food for yesterday -

BREAKFAST

Oats, curry, mung beans - leftovers for breakfast! And I like savory breakfasts anyway.

SNACK

Mini cupcake. Then I had another one.

LUNCH
Had lunch at the cafeteria and forgot my phone - so no picture. Scrambled tofu, potatoes, artichokes, mushroom and vegan sausage. The veggies and sausage were good - the tofu was pureed and laced heavily with turmeric - it was bitter and awful. I ended up not eating most of it.

SNACK

Pepperjack Cheese

DINNER

Cheese Pizza; Cabbage-Cucumber Salad w. Cumin-Yogurt dressing.
I then had some more salad and a second slice of pizza.

EXERCISE
REST DAY

New 30-Day challenge

I am back from vacation. I had an extremely teeny-tiny loss that is probably just water weight or the clothes I was wearing. I was not at all in an eat-healthy mindset when I was on vacation. Well, I hope to be back on track again this week.

Yesterday, my husband, "D" said out of the blue that he thinks we should eat less sugar. I don't think we eat a sugar heavy diet anyway (except for all the easter candy I ate the last couple of weeks). We eat a small amount of sugar (usually dessert after dinner). I asked him if he meant low-carb, and he said no - low sugar. I said that he was welcome to eat less sugar if he wanted to. I think I might try to aim for low carb. Not excessive carb-restriction since I have no intention of depriving myself of things I love. But I could eat a small scoop of icecream instead of two large scoops, or trade white rice out for rolled oats, or give away any remaining Easter Candy.

I also have to be mindful of exercise. I notice that unless I set very specific goals, I am not going to exercise. So, I have scrapped my GBA challenge since that was not happening. I am going to set a new 30 day challenge - exercise for 1 hour each day with one day of rest per week. This is what I will do this week:
SUN: 1.5 hr walk - DONE!
MON: 1 hr Body Sculpt class at the gym - DONE!
TUE: 1 hr walk after dinner
WED: Rest Day
THU: 1 hr walk with my friend L.
FRI: 1/2 hr cardio, 1/2 hr weights at gym
SAT: 1 hr walk

I brought my workout clothes to work today, and changed and headed to the gym right after work. No excuses!

BREAKFAST

I overslept and rushed out of the door with no time to make a proper breakfast.
Balance bar and Banana

LUNCH

Santa-Fe Rice and Beans; Baked Sweet Potato

SNACK

Pepperjack Cheese; Rice Crackers

DINNER

Oats, Curry, Mung Beans (Swapped white rice for oats)

Thai Tea flavored icecream. I will post the recipe tomorrow.

EXERCISE
1 hr Body Sculpt Class

Friday!

Yay! It's Friday! I have nothing much to report food-wise.

I ended up getting home late last night, and never did my GBA Challenge. Doing taxes today - turns out we owe more to the state than we are getting back from our federal return. :-(

I may not post for the next several days. I am traveling to Seattle, and may not get around to posting pics daily. I'll recap when I get back. Food -

BREAKFAST

Rushing out to work today. No time to make a leisurely breakfast
Peanut Butter Protein Bar. I ended up not eating the banana.

SNACK

Raspberry Scone. I should have eaten the banana. Unhealthy choice. But delicious one!

LUNCH

Had lunch out with a co-worker. Grilled Portobello Mushroom in a Naan with Garlic Aioli (Weird combination!!!! But tasted good); Fresh Sweet Potato Chips; Picked Radish

SNACK
Handful of m&ms

DINNER

Working late today. Santa-Fe Rice and Beans. Apparently, I eat this a lot!

Leftover Thai Tea Icecream from yesterday

EXERCISE
None!! Should I just plan on restarting GBA after I return from my vacation?

To Snack or Not To Snack

My diet downfall is very frequently snacks that are sneaked in between meals. Frequently, this happens before I have thought about it or weighed whether or not they are good snacks for me. Also, since they are not usually very large snacks, I dismiss them as not important enough to log or take pictures of. However, they add up over the day.

I have tried in the past to do 6-ish small meals a day. This did not work for me. I work in an 8-5 job with hour long appointments with little time between appointments. I can't find time to do multiple small meals. Also, small meals never satisfy me as much as the larger 3-meal-a-day meals. So, I am sticking with three main meals and small snacks in between.

How then do I manage to not snack so much? One idea I had was only keeping fruit or something like that around. But then I just end up feeling deprived. Should I give up snacking altogether? What do you all do? How do you keep snacking in check?

BREAKFAST

2 Egg Scramble with Asparagus and Goal Cheese Crumbles; Tea

SNACK

Rice Crackers w. Chipotle Cheese

LUNCH

Santa-Fe Rice and Beans; Banana

SNACK
Unphotographed Easter Candy - a handful - mini binge!!

DINNER

My friend L. and I go to dinner after our Thursday walks. We tried a new Chinese place. It looked very traditional and authentic. I had Spicy Tofu w. Noodles in broth.

Then we had dessert - I had Thai Tea Icecream

L. had a Tapioca dessert. This was much tastier than it looks

I did not finish the icecream, so they packed the rest to go on ice! So wonderful!!

EXERCISE
GBA Challenge: --
1 hr walk with my friend L.

30-Day Challenge

I am starting a 30 days Guns Buns and Abs challenge:

I did not hop on the scale this morning. That's good - sticking to the resolution so far!

I have noticed that over the last few days, I am eating a few snacks that are un-photographed. I don't know if this is because it is a pain in the backside to take pictures of absolutely everything I eat, or if I am avoiding taking pictures because I am eating them without thinking, or am too ashamed of taking these unscheduled and unexpected snacks. Probably a bit of both. Well, at any rate - I can log them even if I don't photograph them. But, I will try to photograph them anyway.

BREAKFAST

Oatmeal w. dried peaches, milk, sugar; Banana

SNACK

Rice Crackers and Chipotle Cheese

LUNCH

Quinoa & Curry

SNACK

Thai Savory Bar. I also had a handful of pretzels later.

DINNER

Veggie burger w. Mozzarella; Baked pinwheels; Seasoned Fries; Garlic Asparagus
Unphotographed Mexican Chocolate Chili Icecream and 5 pieces of Eater candy!!!!!!

EXERCISE
GBA Challenge - 50 squats, 5 pushups, 25 leg lifts

New Resolution for the week

Okay - I have decided that I am not going to weigh-in during the week. I frequently feel dejected at the end of the week because I choose to weigh in daily. I should be excited about a 1 lbs loss at the end of the week, but I don't because somewhere during the week, I would have had a 1.5lb loss. Then the 1 lb loss seems more like a failure than an accomplishment. So, this week I will choose to not weigh. My next weigh-in will be next Monday.

BREAKFAST

Same as yesterday - Egg scramble w. shredded cabbage, carrots and onions; Banana

SNACK
Unphotographed homemade sourdough bread w. pumpkin butter

LUNCH

Hummus, Carrots; Santa-Fe Rice & Beans

SNACK

Pepperjack Cheese; 1/4 cup Cheez-its

DINNER

Quinoa Enchilada Casserole; Seasoned Fries

2 pieces of Easter Candy; 1/2 cup Mexican Chocolate-Chili Icecream

EXERCISE
None