Daily Food Summaries (June 9)

Today was another scorcher! But that did not stop me from eating well or getting in my exercise. :) My pup and I walked 6 miles, and I kept to my goal calories. Woohoo.

Foods and Beverages Ingested:
2 cups coffee with agave nectar
Enjoy Life Cinnamon Crunch Cereal with almond milk
Salad (beet, fennel, apple all finely diced; olive oil, vinegar, mustard, salt, and pepper mixed to make dressing)
1/2 gluten-free brownie
Fat free Greek yogurt with 1/2 banana
Salad (baby spinach, tuna, peppers, salad olives, blue cheese dressing)
Remaining 1/2 gluten-free brownie
2.5 liters of water

1 cup of thai coconut tea (not milk or sugar)

Tuna Salad

I have decided that I currently have mixed feelings about beets. They taste fine (not too rooty) after being marinated for a bit in the vinegary dressing. But, they are not a veggie I would snack on raw with nothing to help the taste. I have another large beet in my refrigerator. I will try roasting it and will sample the roasted beet with one or two of the dressing recipes I found online. For a picture of my beet, fennel, and apple salad, please see yesterday's daily summary.

I had a fantastic blue cheese dressing today, made by Cindy's Kitchen. This blue cheese is so much better than the awful one I had last week. I highly recommend it, if you can find a bottle.

Cindy's Kitchen Dressings (just a few of many)

Daily Food Summaries (June 5 & 6)

A quick daily summary. I am off to the in-laws house for the weekend. For the week, I think I will end up a little over 1300 calories per day, instead of 1200, which isn't great. In general though I am not to displeased. I reduced the salt I was eating this week and increased the veggies (yum-o).

Yesterday, I felt I did pretty well... until I looked up how many calories are in steak, so I ended up at about 300 calories over where I wanted to be. In general, I am pretty pleased that I didn't order dessert or a second drink yesterday. Something, however, did really upset my system eating out yesterday. I tried to order something without any flour or other ingredients to which I am allergic. I looked up the ingredients in the gluten-free beer, and it was fine, so perhaps the steak I ate was cooked with something.

Food Ingested (June 5)
1.75 cups of coffee with agave nectar
Oats with water, sprinkle of cinnamon and sugar
1 bowl of Rachel Ray Green & White Lightening Chunky Chili (more like soup than chili)
2.5 cups jicama (morning and afternoon snack)
1 banana, 1 nectarine
2 3oz pieces of steak, medium fries
1 Redbridge beer

A note on the beer - Redbridge beer (gluten free) is not nearly as tasty as the New Grist beer that I had a week or so ago. I will not be trying the Redbridge again.

Food Ingested so far (June 6)
2 cups coffee with agave nectar
Oats with water, sprinkle of cinnamon and sugar
Rice cakes with peanut butter
Fat free Greek yogurt with 1 medium banana
1/2 cup orange juice, 1/2 cup peach sugar free soda
1 nectarine

I will be taking some food with me for the trip this weekend.

Exercise: I got in 6 miles of walking yesterday and 40 minutes of yoga. Today, I also got in 6 miles of walking.

PROPS! Big props out to my mom and miss piggy who have snuck some exercise into their schedules this week. Keep it up! I heard rumors that my sis might, too. If she has, props out to her as well!

Daily Food Summary (June 1)

Today was a decent day food and exercise day. As usual I went over my calories, especially by not keeping track of my calorie count while eating at the in-laws for dinner. I still weighed 1.5 pounds heavier than last week, so I recorded yesterday's weight, which brings me right back to my starting point. I have faith though and have noticed nice muscle changes in my arms and legs... now to just notice some changes in my hips and thighs... :)

Foods & Beverages Ingested:
Breakfast:
2 cups of coffee with agave nectar
2.5 left over pizza slices (gluten-free chickpea crust, fontina cheese, diced garlic tomatoes, gulf shrimp, tarragon butter)

Lunch:
1 medium banana
1 medium latte

Snack:
Grilled potatoes with hummus

Dinner:
2/3 cup cooked white rice
Part of a boob and some dark meat of a smoked chicken (no skin)
Salad (spinach leaves, tiny bit of tomato, olive oil and balsamic vinegar)
1/2 orange
3 oz white wine

Exercise: I ran 6 miles, averaging 9 minutes and 17 seconds per mile. I am back up to being a bit speedier than I was on Friday. I also did 30 minutes of power yoga.

Memorial Day Weekend Report

Well, I went a bit over my planned calories this weekend. Not too bad. I was 250 calories over for all of last week, mainly due to some unplanned ice cream on Saturday. I was a hundred calories over yesterday and today due to chocolate and chips respectively. I am pretty bad about staying in my calorie ranges on the weekend and know I need to work on it. At least this weekend, I wasn't quite as bad as I have been in weekends prior to my starting the push to lose the 20 pounds. So, here are my three days of meals:

Saturday, May 24th (Great wedding and night out)
1 Cocoa Loco Snack Bar
Medium Skim Latte
Mango salad with grilled chicken
1 cup frozen sangria
2 small balls of ice cream rolled in coconut and sliced almonds
Dinner buffet - 2 small crab cakes, 2 chicken skewers, cheese blocks, mixed fruit
3 glasses of wine (2 white at the wedding, 1 red while out later)

Sunday, May 25th (Big breakfast day)
2 cups coffee with sugar
Oats with raisins and little bit of brown sugar
Scrambled eggs
Mixed sliced fruit
Smoked Salmon with Cream Cheese
Cocoa Loco Bar
Falafel
Grilled beef (thinly sliced) & rice
Hummus
Cucumber yogurt salad
1 chocolate truffle

Monday, May 26th (Memorial holiday with a bit too much grilled sausage)
2 cups of coffee with agave nectar
Oats, rice milk, heated with frozen raspberries thrown on top
Serving of kettle potato chips and hot salsa
Fage 2% Greek Yogurt with 1 tbl spoon of black currant jam
2.5 hot Italian turkey sausage, grilled
Grilled veggies (squash, asparagus, broccoli)
Slice of gluten-free bread with a little butter
1/2 orange

The sweets on Saturday and Sunday, left me craving more sweets today. I had to fight a tough urge to have chocolate this evening. Still feeling it, but confident I have succeeded for the day. Now if my hubby would stop mentioning Krispy Kreme...

Exercise: On Saturday I did a few sit ups, push ups, leg lifts, and stretches. They made my body feel a little better after the two flights and layover. No exercise Sunday. Today, I ran 4 miles at a new record: 8 minutes and 33 seconds per mile. I didn't do any speed training, but I did make an effort to be speedy. I did do about 15-20 minutes of strength training: sit ups using a workout ball, crunches, push ups, light arm movements with 2lb weights, and a few yoga moves that help strengthen my back and keep my bum from going flat.

Keepin' On (the Program)

Today was a successful day. Not an easy one... as for the past four five days, I have been both trying to make up for Sunday's overeating and saving some calories for tomorrow when I know I will have a glass or two of wine at the wedding. I have saved up an extra 240 calories for tomorrow, which should work out well with my travel eating plan (see next entry).

Food & Beverages Ingested:
2 cups coffee with agave nectar
Oats with 1/2 banana, rice milk, no honey
1/2 banana
Slice of turkey meat and 1/2 slice of Swiss Cheese
Open face toasted sandwich (One slice gluten free Whole Foods bread, once slice all natural Swiss cheese, tbl spoon and a half of hummus)
Fage 2% Greek Yogurt with 1 tbl spoon of black currant jam
Veggies and Hummus
1cup decaf Maple Vanilla Tea
2.5 liters of water

Exercise: Ran 6 miles with no speed training, and surprisingly still had a great time (for me) of 9 minutes and 13 seconds per mile. No exercise planned for tomorrow, other than perhaps some dancing.

Alligator Arms (Daily Summary May 22 '08)

No, my title isn't about scaly skin or anything like that. I am a big lotion and sunscreen fan, so no problems there. What my title means is that like alligator arms, my arms did not appear to move in all directions that they normally would today. I wasn't sore after an 8 mile run on Tuesday, but strength training yesterday left me a bit sore today in that little area where my arms connect to my chest, between the shoulder and underarm. I still managed to run without problems other than the bit of soreness.

I also stayed up too late last night. I had to fight to not have an extra cup of coffee like I did yesterday. Today, is one of the many days where I fully believe that there is a link between not enough sleep and being overweight. The days I have to wake up very early to fly out (to where ever my client happens to be) are the hardest in terms of getting in exercise and eating well, because I constantly want to munch on something or have another cup of coffee and do not feel like exercising. A nice little article on the link between sleep and weight loss from WebMD:

The Dream Diet: Losing Weight While You Sleep

Even given the soreness and sleep deprivation, I managed to make it through the day within a few calories of my goal and ran what were probably my fastest 6 miles.

Food & Beverages Ingested:
2 cups coffee with agave nectar
Oats with 1/2 banana, rice milk, no honey
Open Face Toasted Sandwich (One slice gluten-free Whole Foods bread, once slice dill Havarti cheese, natural honeyed turkey slice)
Pickle quarter
1/2 banana
Fage 2% Greek Yogurt with 1 tbl spoon of black currant jam
Slice of turkey meat and 1/2 slice of Swiss cheese
Pacific's organic red pepper and tomato soup
1 cup Trader Joe's Pomegranate White Tea
2.5 liters of water

Exercise: I ran 6 miles, averaging 9 minutes and 3 seconds a mile over the six miles. That is very speedy for me. I usually run a little over 10 minutes per mile. I am intentionally trying to pick up the pace, as I want to improve my time when I run the Army Ten Miler this year (and burning the extra calories is a bonus). I did just a little bit of speed training, but not as much as I had hoped to do. Still, I am quite pleased.

May 21, 2008 Daily Summary

I had a big surprise today. I wasn't sore! I am not sure I have ever not been sore after an eight mile run, but I woke up feeling just fine and dandy and stayed that way all day long.

That said, today was a difficult day food-wise, because I woke up quite early to take my hubby to the airport. I had breakfast two hours early, but saved a banana for a mid-morning snack. The banana did not help much. I was still very hungry two hours before lunch time. I was hungry before lunch, after lunch, and I wasn't satisfied until I had dinner. I ended up eating 76 calories more than planned trying to stave off eating a full meal. The calories came in the form of some pickle spears, extra cherries, an extra cup of coffee with agave nectar. All in all, I am still pleased with today's results will modify tomorrow's meal schedule slightly to make up for the extra calories today. (I had planned for tomorrow to be higher calorie day than today.)

Food and liquids ingested today:
3 cups of coffee
1 egg, 2 turkey sausages
1 banana
3 pickle quarters
Open face sandwich (One slice gluten-free bread, once slice all natural Swiss cheese, natural honeyed turkey slice)
1.33 cups of cherries
Salad with greenery, 2 Turkey Sausages cooked this morning, goat cheese, tomato, Cindy's Kitchen Chipotle Ranch Dressing (wheat, soy, corn free, yippee!)
2 ounces red wine
1 can of Diet Hansen's Black Cherry Soda

Exercise: walked an hour and ten minutes with my dog (4.5 miles) and strength trained and stretched for 50 minutes. I got my new Nike + iPod sensor in the mail, so I am back to tracking my distance and time more accurately.