I have definitely started anticipating and looking forward to lunch. It is the time where I get to eat my meal, which has been different everyday, but delicious all the same and do some intentional reflection.
Today I am having my favorite Lean Cuisine Meal:
CHICKEN WITH BASIL CREAM SAUCE
Chicken breast with rib meat and angel hair pasta
7 grams of fat and 240 calories
My goal is to run at leat 3 miles tonight and try to accomplish more, but also keeping a realistic prospective that 3 miles is an awesome triumph for someone that has been dormant for several months.
15 Minutes from now I have to attend a presentation by the Metro United Way. I am torn, because they work with the Salvation Army which is a good program as well as some other really awesome inititives, however I do not like their stance on many items as well as the huge overhead that comes off donations.
So that was a quick lunch...I am finished and ready to go to this meeting. Something I have noticed this week is that I have had to urinate a lot less this week. I relate this to not consuming all the caffeine that is in soda. I am actually able to sleep through the night and not get up 20 times.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Day 5: Staying on Track
Weigh-in: 213.5
I was a bit disappointed when I got on the scale this morning and saw that my weight had fluctuated back to only a .5 weight loss. However, it could be a number of things. I ate a package of steamed vegetables before bed last night as a snack and it was high in fiber. This morning I am sure it was still sitting on my stomach. On the bright side of things I ran three whole miles last night. It was as if all the stars were in line. As I ran I reflected on the fact that for four days I had not eaten fast food, drank water instead of sodas, and have ran 3 days in a row. I am extremely proud and I know it seems like such a small achievment, but it is so much more. Today is Day 5 and by the end of the weekend I will have made it through 7 days of this diet. Meaning I am one major step closer to being a healthier person. My plan is to run tonight and Saturday and leaving myself Sunday to rest and recoop, unless I decide to run.
I can not emphasize enough the power this blog is having in helping me stay on track. It motivates me to know I have to put my weight and progress out there each day.
The real success for me is not eating fast food for this many days. Sad to say, but for the last two years I can not really think of a week where I went more than two days without consuming some form of fast food. I suppose in years from now I may see the actual havoc it has reaked on my body. However my plan is to avoid it for awhile and hopefully clean my system of all the toxins.
I am loving all of the vegetables I eat at night. They are delicious and have such a good taste and tend to fill me up. Last night I was picking up some items from Wal-Mart and so I grabbed a 12 inch veggie sub with lettuce, tomato, onion, cucumber, and light mayo. Great and feeling for the first hour, but does not last in the long run, hence why I ate steamed vegetables after my run. I was still well under my calorie count.
Only 4 more days after today until I head to South Carolina! YAY! I am so ready to be there I can not even tell you. It will be awesome to get away from Louisville for a couple of days and test my ability to stay on the diet. I am excited to run in their neighborhood...LOTS OF HILLS!
I was a bit disappointed when I got on the scale this morning and saw that my weight had fluctuated back to only a .5 weight loss. However, it could be a number of things. I ate a package of steamed vegetables before bed last night as a snack and it was high in fiber. This morning I am sure it was still sitting on my stomach. On the bright side of things I ran three whole miles last night. It was as if all the stars were in line. As I ran I reflected on the fact that for four days I had not eaten fast food, drank water instead of sodas, and have ran 3 days in a row. I am extremely proud and I know it seems like such a small achievment, but it is so much more. Today is Day 5 and by the end of the weekend I will have made it through 7 days of this diet. Meaning I am one major step closer to being a healthier person. My plan is to run tonight and Saturday and leaving myself Sunday to rest and recoop, unless I decide to run.
I can not emphasize enough the power this blog is having in helping me stay on track. It motivates me to know I have to put my weight and progress out there each day.
The real success for me is not eating fast food for this many days. Sad to say, but for the last two years I can not really think of a week where I went more than two days without consuming some form of fast food. I suppose in years from now I may see the actual havoc it has reaked on my body. However my plan is to avoid it for awhile and hopefully clean my system of all the toxins.
I am loving all of the vegetables I eat at night. They are delicious and have such a good taste and tend to fill me up. Last night I was picking up some items from Wal-Mart and so I grabbed a 12 inch veggie sub with lettuce, tomato, onion, cucumber, and light mayo. Great and feeling for the first hour, but does not last in the long run, hence why I ate steamed vegetables after my run. I was still well under my calorie count.
Only 4 more days after today until I head to South Carolina! YAY! I am so ready to be there I can not even tell you. It will be awesome to get away from Louisville for a couple of days and test my ability to stay on the diet. I am excited to run in their neighborhood...LOTS OF HILLS!
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Brrr...it is cold outside
I just got back from picking up keys from one of the apartments and now I am eating my delicious lunch.
FIESTA GRILLED CHICKEN:
Seasoned & Grilled Chicken Tenderloins with Santa Fe- Style Rice and Beans
7 grams of fat and 250 calories
It is pretty good. It has a good flavor. As I look out my window here at work I am thinking to myself and now rambling on here about how cold the initialy five minutes of my run will be. I am shooting for running 3 miles and then walking a mile. Realistically I may end up doing much less...but will poste an update tomorrow.
FIESTA GRILLED CHICKEN:
Seasoned & Grilled Chicken Tenderloins with Santa Fe- Style Rice and Beans
7 grams of fat and 250 calories
It is pretty good. It has a good flavor. As I look out my window here at work I am thinking to myself and now rambling on here about how cold the initialy five minutes of my run will be. I am shooting for running 3 miles and then walking a mile. Realistically I may end up doing much less...but will poste an update tomorrow.
DAY 4: Morning Reflection
Weigh-In 210.5
I did pretty good last night. I ate healthy, but then probably snacked a little too much before bed, but I think I stayed under my calorie count. I ran hard last night and was able to run further than the night before. I pushed myself to do 2 and 1/2 miles and I ran/ walked the other 1/2 mile meaning I clocked 3 miles all together. I will be so glad when I get back to being able to do 4 and 5 miles, there is nothing better than just running for an hour or so and being in my own world. I know I have said it before, but this year I am going to run a marathon. I know if I continue running I will be prepared by the time derby rolls around. I will also participate in the triple crown of running as well which is a 5k, 10k, and 10 mile run. I did this the year before last and it was awesome. I skipped out last year because I was all over the place, unprepared, and not focused to participate. There is nothing more exhilerating than being pushed along and surrounded by other runners as you strive for your own personal goal. It is amazing to think about each person with his or her own goal and pushing themselves as hard as they possibly can.
I am still trying to work through this emotional connection to food. I am hoping that time will help me to sever this tie, because when the going gets tough I crave food more than anything else. The worse part of that is that if I give in I feel even worse, because then I have the initial stress and the guilt of making poor dietary decisions.
It is amazing how much water weight running can knock off. This week I have dropped about 3.5 pounds in water weight that is sweated off. It is important for me to tell myself this, because there is a good chance I will get on the scale in several days and 214 pop back up on the scale. My goal is to lose 2-4 pounds per week. Most likely I will lose about 2 pounds per week if all goes well. Running is a miracle when it comes to shaving off the pounds. The negative to this...once you start running...walking and speed walking do not have the same effect in taking the pounds off. I used to be able to speed walk and lose some weight, but once I switched to running my body seems to not respond to anything else.
One more thing in regards to running, it is for EVERYONE! It was awesome to see the diverse body types that were running in a 10 mile run. From large to emaciated you see the full gammot, which emphasizes most anybody can do it. Running is a matter of building and working up to adding mileage.
I did pretty good last night. I ate healthy, but then probably snacked a little too much before bed, but I think I stayed under my calorie count. I ran hard last night and was able to run further than the night before. I pushed myself to do 2 and 1/2 miles and I ran/ walked the other 1/2 mile meaning I clocked 3 miles all together. I will be so glad when I get back to being able to do 4 and 5 miles, there is nothing better than just running for an hour or so and being in my own world. I know I have said it before, but this year I am going to run a marathon. I know if I continue running I will be prepared by the time derby rolls around. I will also participate in the triple crown of running as well which is a 5k, 10k, and 10 mile run. I did this the year before last and it was awesome. I skipped out last year because I was all over the place, unprepared, and not focused to participate. There is nothing more exhilerating than being pushed along and surrounded by other runners as you strive for your own personal goal. It is amazing to think about each person with his or her own goal and pushing themselves as hard as they possibly can.
I am still trying to work through this emotional connection to food. I am hoping that time will help me to sever this tie, because when the going gets tough I crave food more than anything else. The worse part of that is that if I give in I feel even worse, because then I have the initial stress and the guilt of making poor dietary decisions.
It is amazing how much water weight running can knock off. This week I have dropped about 3.5 pounds in water weight that is sweated off. It is important for me to tell myself this, because there is a good chance I will get on the scale in several days and 214 pop back up on the scale. My goal is to lose 2-4 pounds per week. Most likely I will lose about 2 pounds per week if all goes well. Running is a miracle when it comes to shaving off the pounds. The negative to this...once you start running...walking and speed walking do not have the same effect in taking the pounds off. I used to be able to speed walk and lose some weight, but once I switched to running my body seems to not respond to anything else.
One more thing in regards to running, it is for EVERYONE! It was awesome to see the diverse body types that were running in a 10 mile run. From large to emaciated you see the full gammot, which emphasizes most anybody can do it. Running is a matter of building and working up to adding mileage.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Day 3-Continuing the trend
Weigh-in: 211.5
I was quite surprised to see a 2.5 weight loss in such a short period of time. I even got back on and off the scale to double check. I credit this to the proverbial "Water Weight" we each carry. I went running last night after all and was able to complete my 2 miles. I was proud of myself for pushing through and running the two miles. I even did a cool down walk for the heck of it. It had been raining all day and as I was cleaning house I realized it was only misting rain. I got my clothes on and headed to the track.
Last night at the grocery I bought a ton of Lean Cuisines and some healthy snacks. The healthy snacks included apple slices, grape tomatoes, cottage cheese single servings-90 calories, and yogurt-100 calories. I had pistachios (160) for my morning snack and will have a cottage cheese cup and 10 grape tomatoes for my afternoon snack around 3:00. I had a Lean Cuinsine for lunch:
Chicken Parmesean: Roasted chicken breast with spaghetti, tomato, and basil sauce.
Quite delicious for only 260 calories and 5 grams of fat.
My friend January gave me a great tip of throwing in some vegetables as filler for my Lean Cuisines. I used this idea last night and it was great. I had my Santa Fe Chicken and Rice Microwave meal and then also had steamed carrots and broccoli on the side. I ended the meal feeling full and as if I ate healthy.
Essentially what I have done is create a nutri-system of my own using microwave meals. Tomorrow night will be different. Zach and I are cooking, which will require me to be careful of planning the meal and assuring it is something I can eat without too much fat and calories.
I am particularly enjoying the veggies.
If all goes well I will go running again tonight. I need to load more songs on my Nano so that I have more upbeat motivating music.
I talked to my friend Angie last night and she did well on her diet yesterday as well, she is supposed to start the exercise portion of her plan today! GOOD LUCK TO ANGIE. We decided we needed to figure out what our reward will be at the end of the 90+ days if we reach our goals.
I was able to purchase all my snacks, Lean Cuisines, and steamed Veggie servings for about 56 dollars. If I divide this by 14 days, which includes pretty much all of my meals I am looking at roughly $4.00 a day. This is crazy to actually consider seeing as I have been spending between $20.00-$30.00 a day on food...including eating out with friends and co-workers. It is amazing how much money one can save by dieting and what a reality check it can be to figure up the amount of money we spend on food.
I must admit I am feeling a bit anxious about the Turkey day holiday, because I will be visiting my sister and her husband. I need to use self control and try to continue some of the eating I have been doing here. It will test me to use my skills at restaurants of choosin healthy foods. I will at least be able to continue running there. Running in new areas is fun and exciting and keeps it from becoming monotonous.
I was quite surprised to see a 2.5 weight loss in such a short period of time. I even got back on and off the scale to double check. I credit this to the proverbial "Water Weight" we each carry. I went running last night after all and was able to complete my 2 miles. I was proud of myself for pushing through and running the two miles. I even did a cool down walk for the heck of it. It had been raining all day and as I was cleaning house I realized it was only misting rain. I got my clothes on and headed to the track.
Last night at the grocery I bought a ton of Lean Cuisines and some healthy snacks. The healthy snacks included apple slices, grape tomatoes, cottage cheese single servings-90 calories, and yogurt-100 calories. I had pistachios (160) for my morning snack and will have a cottage cheese cup and 10 grape tomatoes for my afternoon snack around 3:00. I had a Lean Cuinsine for lunch:
Chicken Parmesean: Roasted chicken breast with spaghetti, tomato, and basil sauce.
Quite delicious for only 260 calories and 5 grams of fat.
My friend January gave me a great tip of throwing in some vegetables as filler for my Lean Cuisines. I used this idea last night and it was great. I had my Santa Fe Chicken and Rice Microwave meal and then also had steamed carrots and broccoli on the side. I ended the meal feeling full and as if I ate healthy.
Essentially what I have done is create a nutri-system of my own using microwave meals. Tomorrow night will be different. Zach and I are cooking, which will require me to be careful of planning the meal and assuring it is something I can eat without too much fat and calories.
I am particularly enjoying the veggies.
If all goes well I will go running again tonight. I need to load more songs on my Nano so that I have more upbeat motivating music.
I talked to my friend Angie last night and she did well on her diet yesterday as well, she is supposed to start the exercise portion of her plan today! GOOD LUCK TO ANGIE. We decided we needed to figure out what our reward will be at the end of the 90+ days if we reach our goals.
I was able to purchase all my snacks, Lean Cuisines, and steamed Veggie servings for about 56 dollars. If I divide this by 14 days, which includes pretty much all of my meals I am looking at roughly $4.00 a day. This is crazy to actually consider seeing as I have been spending between $20.00-$30.00 a day on food...including eating out with friends and co-workers. It is amazing how much money one can save by dieting and what a reality check it can be to figure up the amount of money we spend on food.
I must admit I am feeling a bit anxious about the Turkey day holiday, because I will be visiting my sister and her husband. I need to use self control and try to continue some of the eating I have been doing here. It will test me to use my skills at restaurants of choosin healthy foods. I will at least be able to continue running there. Running in new areas is fun and exciting and keeps it from becoming monotonous.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Rainy Days and Weigh In
I weighed in this morning (as soon as I woke up and free from all clothing). To my surprise I was on the lower end of my estimate. I currently weigh 214 pounds. This means I will be at 184 if I lose 30 pounds. WHICH WOULD BE MY IDEAL WEIGHT TO BE AT!!! I chose 30 because is puts me past my yo-yo weight. Often I lose the 20 pounds only to stop before I reach my target weight.
Well...last night was a success food wise. I stayed under my 1500 calorie limit and I did not go snack and soda crazy. I did not make it running, because I ended up with a splitting headache at the end of the work day and upon arriving home I took two advils and a nap. I suspect the NO caffiene which I usually drink a lot of in a day has something to do with the sudden onset of a throbbing headache. Today so far I have had:
Lots of water
a small can of V-8 juice
a few pistachios (10)
and a Lean Cuisine
(SESAME CHICKEN)- sesame breaded chicken tenderloin with pasta, green beans and red peppers.
Quite good for 340 calories!
Tonight I am going to the store and buying some nutritious snacks and more microwave meals. I doubt I will go running due to the rain, however if it stops I will be pounding pavement. I figure even if I am unable to run I am still upholding the healthy eating end of the bargain. Keep your fingers crossed that the rain will go away for an hour or so and let me make it to the track.
I had the worst cravings last night between 5-7:30. I need to probably start eating right around 6:00 to assure I tide myself over and prevent me from going crazy snacking.
I think for dinner tonight I am going to have a salad and a microwave meal and probably some steamed vegetables.
It is interesting that when you begin a "lifestyle change" or DIET that becomes all you can think about in the first couple of weeks. I just was talking to a co-worker and I mentioned how nice it would be to have a fast food patch or gum similar to cigarettes. Smokers complain of the addictive quality of nicotine, but fast food is far WORSE. How many times in a day do I think of fast food? ALOT.
Well...last night was a success food wise. I stayed under my 1500 calorie limit and I did not go snack and soda crazy. I did not make it running, because I ended up with a splitting headache at the end of the work day and upon arriving home I took two advils and a nap. I suspect the NO caffiene which I usually drink a lot of in a day has something to do with the sudden onset of a throbbing headache. Today so far I have had:
Lots of water
a small can of V-8 juice
a few pistachios (10)
and a Lean Cuisine
(SESAME CHICKEN)- sesame breaded chicken tenderloin with pasta, green beans and red peppers.
Quite good for 340 calories!
Tonight I am going to the store and buying some nutritious snacks and more microwave meals. I doubt I will go running due to the rain, however if it stops I will be pounding pavement. I figure even if I am unable to run I am still upholding the healthy eating end of the bargain. Keep your fingers crossed that the rain will go away for an hour or so and let me make it to the track.
I had the worst cravings last night between 5-7:30. I need to probably start eating right around 6:00 to assure I tide myself over and prevent me from going crazy snacking.
I think for dinner tonight I am going to have a salad and a microwave meal and probably some steamed vegetables.
It is interesting that when you begin a "lifestyle change" or DIET that becomes all you can think about in the first couple of weeks. I just was talking to a co-worker and I mentioned how nice it would be to have a fast food patch or gum similar to cigarettes. Smokers complain of the addictive quality of nicotine, but fast food is far WORSE. How many times in a day do I think of fast food? ALOT.
Monday, November 12, 2007
LUNCH DAY 1
Lunch:
My typical rutine would be to run to mcdonalds or Taco Bell and eat the following:
Medium Fry
Large Coke
Double Cheeseburger plain
Deluxe Club Chicken Sandwich
or
Large Mountain Dew
Two Bean Burritos
Nachos Bel Grande without Beef and Bean
Easentially I would down my whole days worth of calories and then feel guilt for doing it.
Today I had a 220 calorie Lean Cuisine which was entitled:
Thia Style Chicken: Grilled chicken tenderloins in a red pepper sauce with basil, coconut milk, soy, ginger, served with rice.
It tasted really good, but I will have to get used to portion sizes. I also need to accept that I will NEVER BE FULL! Realistically I just need to eat nutritious foods and be satisfied with that.
I have realized that over the past four years I do not require myself to make food choices. Instead of choosing what I want from the bazillion options I allow myself several different options, which leads to eating too much, and making poor decisions. An example of this can be seen in my daily lunch choices I make. Yet, the "dollar menu" enforced this concept through making it all too easy and cheap to order serveral items.
I suspect I will be slightly food obsessed over the next couple of days...as I change some of the negative behaviors and habits.
I plan on going to Kroger tonight to pick up some more microwave meals. What I like about these meals is that they are portion controlled, convenient, and many very tasteful. I usually try to wait until the new years to start a plan such as this, but then if I mess it up I feel extremely guilty and usually fall off the bandwagon. Jump starting should help me get into the process before the pressure of the season arrives.
I have also realized I should be saving a great deal of money that I will not be spending on going out to eat. I will be using my lunchtime to blog and reflect on this experience, perhaps I will have some cathartic experience that helps to fully understand why I have yo-yoed for years and that I use food as cruch when I am emotionally overwhelmed. Not to mention it will save me from driving up the street from temptation lain. Within a 1/2 mile radius of work I have the following temptations:
Krispy Kream, Mcdonalds, Taco Bell, Ralley's, Dairy Queen, Sonic, Arby's, Wendy's, Pizza Hut...and probably any other fastfood goodness you can imagine.
Ok enough rambling for now.
My typical rutine would be to run to mcdonalds or Taco Bell and eat the following:
Medium Fry
Large Coke
Double Cheeseburger plain
Deluxe Club Chicken Sandwich
or
Large Mountain Dew
Two Bean Burritos
Nachos Bel Grande without Beef and Bean
Easentially I would down my whole days worth of calories and then feel guilt for doing it.
Today I had a 220 calorie Lean Cuisine which was entitled:
Thia Style Chicken: Grilled chicken tenderloins in a red pepper sauce with basil, coconut milk, soy, ginger, served with rice.
It tasted really good, but I will have to get used to portion sizes. I also need to accept that I will NEVER BE FULL! Realistically I just need to eat nutritious foods and be satisfied with that.
I have realized that over the past four years I do not require myself to make food choices. Instead of choosing what I want from the bazillion options I allow myself several different options, which leads to eating too much, and making poor decisions. An example of this can be seen in my daily lunch choices I make. Yet, the "dollar menu" enforced this concept through making it all too easy and cheap to order serveral items.
I suspect I will be slightly food obsessed over the next couple of days...as I change some of the negative behaviors and habits.
I plan on going to Kroger tonight to pick up some more microwave meals. What I like about these meals is that they are portion controlled, convenient, and many very tasteful. I usually try to wait until the new years to start a plan such as this, but then if I mess it up I feel extremely guilty and usually fall off the bandwagon. Jump starting should help me get into the process before the pressure of the season arrives.
I have also realized I should be saving a great deal of money that I will not be spending on going out to eat. I will be using my lunchtime to blog and reflect on this experience, perhaps I will have some cathartic experience that helps to fully understand why I have yo-yoed for years and that I use food as cruch when I am emotionally overwhelmed. Not to mention it will save me from driving up the street from temptation lain. Within a 1/2 mile radius of work I have the following temptations:
Krispy Kream, Mcdonalds, Taco Bell, Ralley's, Dairy Queen, Sonic, Arby's, Wendy's, Pizza Hut...and probably any other fastfood goodness you can imagine.
Ok enough rambling for now.
Reality Check
So for the past couple months since my mom passed away I have considered and tried to get into a healthy lifestyle. Needless to day...this has proved less than fruitful. I have tried and failed on most days. This past weekend I got to see my friend Angie for a couple days, which was awesome. On Saturday night before bed we discussed how important it is for us to lose weight and to take care of our bodies. The outcome of this conversation was the creation of the following goal.
30 DAYS ='s 30 POUNDS LOST
Seems easy enough right? Well...WRONG!
I currently way in at 220 lbs and have created a slew of bad habits including an addiction for fast food, sodas, and a sedintary lifestyle.
I will be adhearing to the following guidelines:
1200-1500 calories each day
NO SODA- Water, Juice, and Milk only
Exercise 5 days a week for 30 minutes or more and building
These stipulation seem manageable and yet I know the reality is a great deal of will power and tenacity to make this happen. If I am able to lose the 30 pounds it will place me right outside my ideal weight range of 190. Even better is that if I run daily I should be in good shape for the various running adventures that come with spring weather.
So...as the holiday approach I am preparing to do something that will be TOUGH...DIET. It is my hope that I will be able to keep the weight off once and for all, versus yo-yoing the rest of my life.
Today so far so good...I need to do the official weigh-in tomorrow, because I forgot to this morning, but the last time I checked I was somewhere around 215-220. I will update tomorrow. I accidently slipped a had a sip of ginger ail this morning, but poured it out and drank two glasses of water. I also had a V-8 juice which is 30 calories. I am having a lean cuisine for lunch and more water. My plan is to go running when I get off work at the track by UofL. I am going to try to push myself to run 2 miles. I may only be able to accomplish 1 and 1/2 which is frustrating, because a year ago I was able to run 5 miles each day.
My goal is to update this blog daily and post my progress as I go.
Here's to getting on the healthy track!
30 DAYS ='s 30 POUNDS LOST
Seems easy enough right? Well...WRONG!
I currently way in at 220 lbs and have created a slew of bad habits including an addiction for fast food, sodas, and a sedintary lifestyle.
I will be adhearing to the following guidelines:
1200-1500 calories each day
NO SODA- Water, Juice, and Milk only
Exercise 5 days a week for 30 minutes or more and building
These stipulation seem manageable and yet I know the reality is a great deal of will power and tenacity to make this happen. If I am able to lose the 30 pounds it will place me right outside my ideal weight range of 190. Even better is that if I run daily I should be in good shape for the various running adventures that come with spring weather.
So...as the holiday approach I am preparing to do something that will be TOUGH...DIET. It is my hope that I will be able to keep the weight off once and for all, versus yo-yoing the rest of my life.
Today so far so good...I need to do the official weigh-in tomorrow, because I forgot to this morning, but the last time I checked I was somewhere around 215-220. I will update tomorrow. I accidently slipped a had a sip of ginger ail this morning, but poured it out and drank two glasses of water. I also had a V-8 juice which is 30 calories. I am having a lean cuisine for lunch and more water. My plan is to go running when I get off work at the track by UofL. I am going to try to push myself to run 2 miles. I may only be able to accomplish 1 and 1/2 which is frustrating, because a year ago I was able to run 5 miles each day.
My goal is to update this blog daily and post my progress as I go.
Here's to getting on the healthy track!
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