Wednesday, October 14, 2009

CUTTING OUT THE REFINED...

Last week I took steps to eliminate refined sugar and flour. Basically, I tried to eat nothing processed. I didn't do it 100% but I ate very well. And I lost 5 pounds. Yeeeeaaaaaaah. I lost 1.5 pounds more than I lost all of last month. So that was really nice. And I felt (feel) great. Interesting thing happened...when I wasn't eating any sugar (except fresh fruit), I didn't want sugar. I didn't miss it AT ALL. But one afternoon, I saw a gum ball on the counter. And without even thinking about it, I popped it in my mouth. I struggled with cravings for the rest of the day. Just from chewing that one piece of gum! Craziness.
Last night was The Great Cotton Candy Binge of '09. I enjoyed every. single. bag. Yes, I had BAGS of cotton candy. Every bite was blissful. Pretty sure I won't touch cotton candy for another year. Back to yummy whole foods today.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

BACK TO NORMAL
I am finally "back to normal" again. I am enjoying my children, I am loving being back in the kitchen, I am fitting into a few of my old clothes, I am homeschooling, and I don't feel crazy hormonal. It is nice to feel like we are back in the swing of things. I have been cooking up a storm and am just so happy about it. We have cut way back on eating out because I have been cooking up some yummy stuff in the kitchen, and honestly, I have been enjoying that so much that I haven't wanted to go out to eat.
The weight is sloooooowly coming off. And I do mean slowly. Last month I lost a meager 3.5 pounds. But hey, it is better than nothing. And I feel GREAT. I am on week four of the couch to 5K running plan. Running for me is really about pleasure so much more than it is about weight loss. In fact, I don't really factor in running to the weight loss equation at all. It seems in the past that the more I run, the hungrier I am, so the more I eat...
But, I run because I love being alone with my thoughts, being in the fresh air, pushing myself to run faster and farther than the time before. It just feels so darn good!!
Also, I usually do 50 or so squats while I am in the shower, washing my hair. I want to do the 100 push up challenge too.
This is what I ate yesterday. It was a little light on the veggies and heavy on grains. But, other than the 1/2 piece of sausage and sips of sprite, this was a really good food day!
9:30 AM:
-2 eggs, fried in olive oil
-1 piece of cinnamon raisin Ezekiel Bread with fresh almond butter

12 PM:
-1/2 piece of sausage
-handful of grapes

12:30 PM:
-homemade veggie soup

2:30 PM:
-1 piece Ezekiel toast with homemade pumpkin butter

6 PM:
-grilled salmon
-Sauteed spinach with garlic and olive oil
-Quinoa
-Apple

8:15 PM:
-popcorn
-a few sips of Matt's Sprite

9:30 PM:
-homemade granola with milk

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

FOOD JOURNAL FOR 9-8-09

I had a good day of eating today. I ate small amounts of (mostly) healthy foods. I only ate when I was hungry. Actually, I have been really happy with my food choices this week. We have all been eating better. More fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, less butter and refined products in general. I was still a little heavy on the grains and light on the veggies. I felt awful all day with a killer headache and cough and just wanted soothing foods.

Also, I thought this was a very interesting article from Time Magazine about hard exercise and how we eat. Basically, the premise was Hard workout= more hungry = eat more= don't lose weight. I don't plan to stop running any time soon b/c I really love it but I did find things to think about in the article.

9 am: 2 waffles* with pure maple syrup

12 pm: 1 cup of broth based soup with onions, chicken, and brown rice

2 pm: goldfish** and grapes

4 pm: HUGE green smoothie

5:30 pm: goldfish**

6 pm: 1 cup of cockaleekee soup that a friend brought over (broth, pulled pork, etc)

7:30 pm: a bowl of steel cut oatmeal with 1 tsp. of butter, drizzled with pure maple syrup and topped with chopped walnuts and dried cranberries. OH MY GOODNESS. This was the yummiest bowl of fall comfort food. It was soooo good. Actually, most of the foods I ate today were fall comfort foods. I love fall food!! I can't wait for apples!

8:30 pm: 2 marshmallows**

*I made the following substitutions to make them healthier. Substituted ground almond meal for the 1/4 cup white flour, agave for the sugar, and almond milk for the regular milk. My whole family LOVED them and they didn't even know they were good for them *grin*.

**These were the foods that I would have been better off without, nutrient wise. But it's no biggie to have them in small quantities. I really don't want to fall into the mindset of good food/bad food. Any food should be enjoyed in moderation, in my opinion. I just want to make sure that the bulk of my family's meals are made up of plant based foods (fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and nuts).

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Day 10

FOOD JOURNAL: 8-26-09

9:30 AM:
-22 ounces green smoothie (pineapple, spinach, ground flax seed, banana)
-1 piece Ezekiel Cinnamon Raisin Bread toast with honey

2:30 PM:
-Grilled chicken Sandwich with B-B-Q sauce
-1 small cup peach sorbet

5:15 PM:
-3 candy pumpkins
-5 almonds

6:30 PM:
-chocolate
-lasagna
-1 piece of bread, dipped in olive oil
-salad
-sweet tea

Monday, August 24, 2009

DAY 8

I thought that for the next few days, I would record not only what I am eating but what my kids eat as well. Over the last few weeks, everyone's eating has gone down hill as I have chosen convenience over health. But, I am ready to get our family back on track, starting today. We have been talking about the importance of healthy foods this morning, what they do for the body, etc. I have gotten rid of all, OK, most, of the junk food (there is still some yogurt that Matt bought and some renegade Rice Crispy cereal, left over from making rice crispy treats).

9:30 AM:
Laurel:
-18 ounces green smoothie (banana, blackberry, ground flax, spinach)
-1 slice Ezekiel Cinnamon Raisin Bread with honey (no butter)

Boys:
-green smoothie (Bauer and Landing)
-2 bananas each (all boys)
-1/2 slice banana bread (all boys)

11 AM:
Laurel:
-1/2 slice banana bread

1:30 PM:
Laurel and Boys:
-1/2 PB & J sandwich (homemade bread, natural peanut butter, reduced sugar homemade jam)
-1/4 of an apple

3 PM:
Laurel:
-15 roasted almonds

4:30 PM:
Laurel and boys:
-popcorn
-frozen grapes

7 PM:
Laurel:
-Miso Soup
-rice and stir fried veggies
-2 egg rolls

Boys:
-Not sure what they had for dinner, since we were on date night and they were fed by the babysitter.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

MAKIN' A PLAN

So, while last week wasn't a flop, there was PLENTY of room for improvement, which I plan to make this week. My mini-goal is to be at 165 by the time I can start running in 11 days. A little ambitious but perhaps doable. We shall see.

Here's what I did RIGHT last week:
-had a green smoothie every day, usually for breakfast
-had a salad with/for lunch or dinner 6 out of 7 days
-no soda

What I could IMPROVE:
-CUT OUT REFINED SUGAR. I colossally failed at this last week. But I have a plan. I have just taken all the sweets/junk and removed them from the pantry. Out of sight, out of mind. Secondly, I am making a list of foods without refined sugar that I can have instead. It's all about the plan! Here's the short list of my go-to snack foods.
-frozen grapes (these are my favorite food when I am wanting something sweet. They are SO GOOD)
-bananas
-apples
-popcorn with olive oil and sea salt
-hot tea with honey
-roasted almonds
-Ezekiel Granola with frozen mixed berries and honey
-Ezekiel Cinnamon Raisin Bread

And while I am on the subject of plans, here is my (tentative) running plan:
9-4-09: Start back the Couch to 5K Running Plan
11-21(?)-09: Turkey Trot 5K through downtown. Last year I ran it in 27:34. This year I will probably aim for under 30 minutes, since I will have just been running for two months, after almost a year off.
12-5-09: Enmark Savannah River Bridge Run 10K (goal is to do it in under an hour)
2-6-10: Critz Tybee half marathon (this is a big maybe, dependent on how quickly I am able to get back into shape)

Long term goal is to continue to build my speed and endurance over the summer of 2010, then run another half marathon in the fall and train through the winter to run a marathon in the spring of 2011. Of course, all this could change, based on how quickly I get back in shape, what other things are going on in our lives, etc. But I like to have a basic idea of what I am aiming for, even if it does have to change a little along the way.
WEEK ONE WRAP UPThis picture is to show you the blessing and curse of being married to a food salesman. Matt walked in with this box of french bread earlier this week. I don't know if you can tell from this picture, but after the box was emptied, my almost 4 year old hid down inside it. That's how big it was. I was so proud of myself for giving it all away...then the hubby came home and informed me that there were 9 more boxes!
Later this week I am going to take a bunch of food samples to the food bank in town. I have to get this junk food out of my house! The upside to being married to a man in Matt's profession is when I do need something, I can usually get it for cheaper than the store. For example, this week he ordered me 4 pounds of organic spinach for $16. I had paid $3.28 for 9 ounces of spinach at the grocery store earlier in the week, so buying it in bulk from Matt is about 1/3 less.
I have been INHALING sugar this week. Seriously, I don't know what my problem is. I can't remember the last time I have eaten so much sugar in a day. I am starting afresh tomorrow and am going to get really serious about cutting out the refined sugar. Sure, it will probably be tough for a day or 2 but then the cravings should ease off.
I didn't record Thursday-today, partly b/c it was just more of the same and partly b/c my DSL was being feisty a couple of days and I didn't feel like messing with it. BUT, I did lose 2.5 pounds this week, so that was exciting. Maybe if I can kick this sugar habit this week, I will have another big weight loss week.
So, have any weight loss tips you want to share with me? What single thing has made the biggest difference in your weight loss journey?

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

DAY 3

Today's Weight: 170.5...soooooo close to the 160's!

I am so thankful for all the food that our dear friends have been bringing over. It has been such an encouragement to me and am so grateful for the time and effort these families have put into serving us. While some of the things I have been eating are not as healthy as I would normally eat, I am enjoying them and am thankful for them. I am just eating smaller amounts and filling in with salads, veggies, fruit, and green smoothies.

Food Journal for 8-19-09

8:30 AM:
-16 ounces green smoothie (banana, ground flax seeds, spinach, and mango)
-1 1/2 pieces of Ezekiel Raisin Toast with butter and honey

12:30 PM:
-Peas
-Poppyseed chicken
-French bread dipped in olive oil
-1/2 banana
-1/2 cup raspberry sorbet

6:30 PM:
-Spinach salad
-Hummus and pitas
-1/2 slice artichoke and mushroom pizza

9:45 PM:
-Sugar babies...this no white sugar thing is a lot harder than I anticipated:::sigh:::

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

DAY 2

Today's Weight: 171.5 (0.5 pound lost from yesterday)

Today's smoothie was MUCH better than yesterday. It was too watery yesterday and was gross. I choked it down, but it wasn't pleasant. Today's was yummy. Probably have the same tomorrow. I only used one banana yesterday, that was the problem. Not enough smoothie texture. Two bananas today solved the problem.

FOOD JOURNAL: 8-18-09

9:45 AM:
-18 ounces green smoothie (banana, ground flax seeds, spinach, and mango)
-1 1/2 pieces Ezekiel Raisin toast with butter and honey

1:15 :M:
-2 cupcakes...I know, I know!!! They were the last two, and needed to be removed from the house. I took care of THAT little problem!! ;)
-Mixed greens salad with sunflower seeds and curry chicken salad

7 PM:
-Poppyseed chicken
-pickles
-peas
-salad
-pear and cherry crisp with whipped cream

Monday, August 17, 2009

GREEN SMOOTHIE CHALLENGE, DAY 1

Today was the first day of the green smoothie challenge. All in all, I did pretty well. The guidelines are:

-Drink at least 16 ounces of Green smoothie every day
-Add a leafy green salad to lunch or dinner
-Cut out all soft drinks
-Cut out white sugar
-Add at least 15 minutes of exercise a day

I am ten days post-partum from a c-section, so I am not really worrying about the exercise portion yet but just trying to let my body heal from the surgery. For now, taking care of a house, husband, and four small children is enough. I will resume running in about 2 1/2 weeks. I don't drink any sodas anyway, so that is taken care of. While I did reduce my white sugar today, there is definitely room for improvement (cookie, 2 cupcakes). The cupcakes were the exception to the rule. We were celebrating my father in law's birthday. Normally, cupcakes are not a part of my diet. But man, were they good.
Hope to do even better tomorrow. Had a killer headache for a good part of the day.

Food Journal: 8-17-09

9:30 AM:
-16 ounces green smoothie (blackberry/blueberry, spinach, banana)
-1 1/2 slices Ezekiel raisin bread toast with butter and honey

12:15 PM:
-Large mixed green salad with sunflower seeds and a large spoonful of curry chicken salad. No dressing needed.
-a chocolate chip cookie.

3:45 PM:
-Popcorn, made on the stove with olive oil and sea salt

6:30 PM:
-Green beans
-Lasagna
-2 cupcakes

Friday, August 14, 2009

LONG TIME, NO SEE
It's been awhile...ahem...I seem to have become pregnant and given birth since I posted here last. So, I am one week post-partum and am ready to get in shape. I can start running again in three weeks. I am very excited but know that I am going to have to start from square one and work my way back up. I have 113 days until the Savannah River Bridge Run 10K, which I am signed up for. I have 44 pounds to lose as well.
Oh, and I am starting this challenge on Monday to help get back on track. I will be posting pictures, journalling meals, and posting weight loss here as a way to keep me honest. I appreciate your feedback.
So, in the name of full disclosure, here is a picture of me from eight days ago, one day before I delivered. I weighed 193. I am not brave enough to post a picture of me today, but I have lost 19 pounds so far. It isn't pretty but I am trying to not be impatient. Besides, who has time to worry about their flabby stomach when they have a sweet baby to kiss on all day? :)