TGIF!

TGIF! Not like I really had a lot on my plate this week anyways ;o) Although I do have a 3 page Econ paper to write this Sunday. That's bound to be super fun! Not much going on right now or this weekend. Things are going good, eating is good, clothes are fitting very nicely and looser :o) Even though two of my days were off this week because I ended up not being able to sleep and had an extra meal each night, I figured out what my macros should be for the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday so I can keep my total average for the week in "body fat loss" mode! Yay!

Instead of going out to dinner for our date night on Saturday I'm making Chix Parmesan for us and for the family. Mom raves over it and I haven't made it this week yet (yes, she likes it at least once a week--what kind of monster have I created?! haha) and Jeff has yet to try it. Also, when I asked for his request for Saturday he said chix and some kind of pasta, so Chix Paremesan it is! It's a very quick and easy recipe to fix.

Here's the recipe:

Chicken Parmesan

Serves 2

6oz chix
4oz No sugar added pasta sauce (Rague Light Tomato & Basil is great)
3oz Kraft Fat Free Shredded Mozzarella cheese
0.6oz Kraft Reduced Fat Parmesan Cheese topping
2oz pasta (weigh dry) (Annie Chun’s Soba Noodles are good)

Cook pasta according to directions.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Spray skillet with PAM and brown chix. When done take it out of the pan and place chix in baking dish.

Spoon pasta sauce over chix. Then top with mozzarella cheese.

Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top.

Put into oven for about 25 min. It’s done when cheese is melted.

Spoon on top of the pasta and serve.

MACROS per serving:
Calories 296
PR 37.3
Carbs 28.6
F 3.1


Today's plan consists of Tae Bo early this AM then training this early afternoon so I'll be done with everything by 2pm for my massage. I have a massage with the lady who used to work at the chiropracters so hopefully she'll be able to give me somewhat of an adjustment and loosen me up like she did last time.


2/6/09: CARDIO, TRAINING; LOW
Pre-Cardio: corn thins, cashew macadamia pb, BCAAs, Glut
CARDIO
Post-Cardio/PreWO: wey, WF choc syrup, stevia, coffee, Glut; Genie’s Apple Loaf; BCAAs
TRAINING
PWO: whey, stevia, Glut.; sweet potato
M1: (HG’s Chix Lo Mein) 1 bag tofu noodles, chix, snow peas, carrots, cornstarch, soy sauce, Splenda pkt, chix broth
M2: Thomas Light Eng Muffin, EW, ff slice cheese, Bluebunny NSA yogurt
M3: EW, BSN LD, almonds, Splenda Granular

Is a Treat Meal Really a "Treat"?

I decided (yes, I actually thought before I acted) to let myself have a treat meal mid-week. I had a turkey sandwich with a slice of fat free cheese, some baked Doritos, and a pop-tart. My little brother has Strawberry Milkshake ones and they are to DIE for! Heck, any pop-tart, fresh or stale, is gold in my book! haha

I finished eating about 15 min. ago and my tummy is in the process of blowing up like balloon! I cannot believe how touchy I'm getting to processed foods. I also feel kinda sick to my stomach and I'm really regretting eating that before bed. I need to go lay down and get to sleep within the next hour and I feel awful! I hear TUMS calling my name.

The reason I let myself have this treat meal mid-week instead of on my usual Saturday night is that I was so happy and proud of the progress and fat loss I have made so far. I'm kinda shocked that I'm losing BF considering how off my eats were last week. I know what caloric range I need to eat at to drop BF and I was probably hovering right around that number last week but I'm still shocked I'm seeing changes--a good shock that is! ;o)

Off to bed to get rested for two classes tomorrow and training in between!

Another early day and early workout! Just finished my corn thins with cinnamon raisin peanut butter--yummy! I'm trying to figure out why I woke up bloated like a fish?? My belly looks like I sucked down a bag of candy with sugar alcohols! WTH is with that?? It feels all full of air and gas moving around too. I've come to realize that if anything weird could possibly happen to my body, it will haha

Today consists of nothing too exciting: Tae Bo workout, shower/get ready, go to Jeff's to pick up a book I'm taking to the post office for him, going to the post office, then home to do more office work with Mom. Jeff's coming over this evening and I'm making Caribbean Rum Chix with Asparagus Parmesan. I've made the chix reicpe before and it's quite good. The asparaugs is a new recipe but I always love me some asparaugs so I'm sure it'll be good. I'm also whipping up some peanut butter fudge protein bars this morning. I've noticed that since this pb recall has grown, I've been eating more pb haha

Meals for the day:
Pre-Cardio: corn thins, cinn raisin pb, BCAAs, coffee/almond milk/stevia, Glut.
CARDIO
Post-Cardio: Essen Nutri whey, WF choc syrup, stevia, Glut, BCAAs
M1: instant oats, EW, BSN LD, stevia
M2: Thomas Light English Muffin, EW, ff slice cheese, Blue Bunny yogurt
M3: Caribbean Rum Chix, Asparagus Parmesan, sf fudgesicle
M4: Peanut Butter Fudge bar
? M5: BSN LD, EW, Splenda Granular

CARDIO: ON- doing the original BootCamp series this week
TRAINING: OFF
MEALS: Low

The Early Bird Catches The Worm

I decided to try something new this week. I decided to get up at 6am so I could get a Tae Bo session in before Econ class at 12:30pm and then I can still get a training session in when I come home after class. I get up at 6am for church on Sunday's and I am a super morning person (especially early AM), so I thought, why not use that time? The only time I'm not a morning person is when I get little sleep. But I'm still taking the 5-HTP along with two Melatonin about an hour before bed and I'm sleeping like a baby!

The cardio session today was fabulous! I did Fat Blasting Cardio that uses the black bands (the first ever Tae Bo dvd I did!) and it was a kick butt workout! Super high energy and felt great! I think having a very light pre-cardio meal really helped out too. Instead of having something like oatmeal with pp or an English muffin with eggwhites and cheese, I had some corn thins and peanut butter. Yes, I'm still sucking down pb and pb prodcuts despite the recalls. All my products are (so far!) okay and I've been eating out of the same pb jar for about 6 months and I'm not sick yet haha But I am convinced a very light meal pre-cardio helps because I don't feel full or "weighed down" by a heavier gut feeling and I don't burp it up (I get heartburn very easily during cardio if I don't watch what I eat).

It's a good thing I did my cardio this AM because this afternoon my Planter Fasciitis is acting up again. I've been wearing my wrap for the past two days and worn my good New Balance's most of the day yesterday. I called my podiatrist this afternoon to get a new wrap because mine's getting gross from wearing it during workouts and the nurse said he may want to see me again since it's still bothering me--ugh. I feel like I spend so much time at all these doctor's! Watch him tell me that I need cortisone injections in my foot. Lord please no! Getting them in my spine is fine because she numbs me first, but for foot ones they don't numb you and I heard those suckers hurt! Although I think I'd take that pain before stopping Tae Bo for awhile while it heals. I'll take the pain of a shot before I'll quit Tae Bo! ;o)

I just finished my preWO meal of Genie's Apple Loaf (you can find the recipe on her blog: Third Wish) and some whey. I have to say, I was very reluctant to try her loaf because it has no pp in it, just EW. Every loaf I've ever made has had pp in it and I thought it was going to taste very eggy but it's quite good! Very filling! I'm making more of them tonight to keep on hand thoughout the week.

Let's see...I think that's it for now. Meals for yesterday and today have been ON. It really helps planning meals the day before. I'm so Type A anyways that I love schedules and plans so I don't mind it. I actually find it quite comforting to have my meals all planned out so I don't have to wing it throughout the day or come to realize at 7pm that I've used all my macros up for the day.

Wrap up for the day:
CARDIO: ON
TRAINING: ON- FB
MEALS: ON-MEDIUM

Pre-Cardio: corn thins, pb, BCAAs, coffee/almond milk/stevia/Glut.
CARDIO
Post-Cardio: (whey shake) Essen Nutri whey, Glut, WF choc syrup, stevia
M1: 1/2 Pure Protein Choc PB bar (didn't realize it had pb in it til right after I swallowed the last bite lol)
PreWO: Genie’s Apple Loaf, BCAAs, Essen Nutri whey, Glut
TRAINING
PWO: sweet potato, (whey shake) Essen Nutri whey, WF choc syrup
M2: (HG’s Chix Lo Mein) 1 bag tofu noodles, 3oz chix, 85g snow peas, 4.5oz carrots, 3/4 tsp cornstarch, 1TB soy sauce, Splenda pkt, 1/8c chix broth; sf fudgesicle
M3: (whey cake) BSN LD, EW, almonds, Splenda Granular

Patience Is A Lost Virtue

While getting my daily AM dose of Facebook time in, I came across a note written by my crazy fitness friend Nicole (love ya!). She made a statement that really hit home and I loved it so much that I had to copy and paste it: "I try to remember one meal at a time, one day at a time. Sounds cliche I'm sure but for anyone who has ever tried to lose weight/change their body composition, patience is very often a lost virtue."

Amen to this! I've never realized it, but I think in a whole day format. If I have one meal that is unplanned (like last night I had a subway 6 inch turkey breast on 9-Grain bread instead of their salad because I just wanted the carbs damnit lol), my mentality is always, "Well I blew this DAY. May as well eat off plan the rest of the day." I always, always, always think in DAY format. Nic's note made me realize that it's not the whole day that counts, it's every little meal you have that adds up to that whole day. Ya, your calories may be over for the day, but by just letting that one meal be unplanned instead of meals 4, 5, and 6, you're doing yourself a favor mentally and physcially.

Mentally because, I know that at least for me, when I get done with my meals for the whole day and if I've been off plan for 3 of the 6, I beat myself up over it. I know that I could have stopped and had planned meals for 5 and 6 but didn't because I said, "This day is shot! May as well keep it up." I then procede to ask myself over and over, why did I do this? I didn't really want those food choices. Physcially because, well the obvious: calorie deficiet for the day is a goner.

And I've begun to notice that processed foods are really affecting my gut. After I ate that sandwich last night I blew up like a balloon! Sorry if this is a little TMI, but I got gas too! I came home and figured out the nutrition facts, and while they weren't that bad at all, the processed shit in that bread was enough to make your stomach turn! High-fructose corn syrup, caramel color, and it's not even whole wheat! Tricky, tricky Subway! I don't even want to know what is really in their turkey meat and how much sodium I sucked down.

And on that note, I'm proud to say that today has been an excellent day...despite awful back pain and TOM cramps. I rested today because it's been about two weeks since my last rest day and my body is just exhausted. It's been sore from workouts almost every day for the past two weeks and this rest day felt great! I think just about all my soreness is gone and just in time for my upper and lower body training tomorrow to make it sore all over again! haha I'm debating on resting Sunday which is my usual rest day because I get up at 6am for church and I'm pooped all day from getting up so early (because I usually can't fall asleep til 1am or later). We'll see how the back is feeling and how antsy I am for some Billy time come Sunday.

Speaking of sleep, I'm highly convinced those 5-HTP pills are God's gift to man! I've been taking roughly 200-300mg before bed for the past two nights and I get nice and relaxed within an hour of taking them and fall asleep quickly. I then sleep like a baby and feel so rested in the morning!

Wrap up for the day:
MEALS: LOW and ON
CARDIO: OFF
TRAINING: OFF

M1: Thomas Light Eng Muffin, EW, ff slice cheese, Bethany Frankel’s LF Fudge Muffin; coffee/stevia/almond milk
M2: 4 choc. espresso beans, Primal Teriyaki strip; instant oats, BSN LD, EW, cashew butter; Sonic diet cherry limeaid (these are another of God's gift to the dieting man!)
M3: Hungry Girl's Chix Low Mein: 1 bag tofu noodles, 4oz chix, 1/4 tsp ginger, 1/2 tsp garlic, 85g snap peas, 2oz carrots, Splenda pkt, 1/8c chix broth, 1TB soy sauce, 3/4 tsp cornstarch
M4: TBD

What Happened This Week!?

So tomorrow is Friday and I realized that 4/5 days of this week have been chalked up as "off" days. Good news is that I didn't do anything stupid like binge eat and say, "To hell with this!", and feed my face like I used to. I had smart choices. And I know I can wish for my transformation from crazy binge eater/no control to cool/calm/collected eater to be instantaneous, but let's face the facts. That won't happen. As Billy says, "You may stumble along the way but then you reach that curve and you start cruising. And when you're cruising, you're moving."

I did set up a 12 week goal for myself which I started on January 18th. So this Sunday I'll be 10 weeks out. I haven't decided how intense I'll take it, but those of you who did the SOS competition diet know how crazy it gets! I'll have you know that to this day I'm scarred for life of eating broccoli or green beans with just chix. My gag reflex kicks in just thinking about it! Luckily I have the time to prepare veggies in main dishes now and I'm getting my whole family to eat them!

I haven't been on the scale in a week and don't want to get on it until next Wednesday (the day I do my normal weekly weigh-ins). I've been PMSing incredibly bad for the past week, week and a half despite the fact that I haven't gotten my cycle! Not like that's news for me. But the fact that I did all this leg work and then don't get it!? That ticks me off! lol I also know I'm holding a good amount of water weight because of the extra food I've eaten the past 4 days.

I have no idea what else I was going to say, I'm actually getting tired (yay!) and forgot. I do know that I have two more days this week to end on a positive note and I'm going to strive to do just that.

Tomorrow is finally a rest day! I haven't had one in almost two weeks! My body is exhausted and constantly sore. I can't wait for the lazy day!

Head In The Clouds

Wow it's early....or it was at 7am! It would have been even earlier if I would have gotten up at 6am like I should have. I planned out my whole day and meals last night, thinking that if I got up at 7am I could workout around 8:15am and be ready to head out of the house by 11:45am. Negative. I ended up realizing at 8:15am that, "Crap!", I have to go workout now so I can shower, eat a post-cardio meal, and get ready to leave by 11:45am! So I had to do a quick 30 minute Tae Bo workout on a full belly--only 15 minutes after finishing breakfast! Yucky! Luckily my pre-cardio meal wasn't too heavy.

Luckily I fell asleep pretty quickly last night and slept great until 3am. Then I woke up wide awake. Like, "Let's get up, it's morning!", awake. Crazy. I was also starving! My tummy was even growling. I was quite tempted to go eat one of those amazing butterscotch cookies but then I thought, do I really want one? I had freakin' 4 of them last night! I could pretty much still remember what it tasted like and it's not like they're going to be gone soon (she made like 30+ of them). Plus, Mom has the recipe and I bet I could clean it up and sub some applesauce for the oil/butter and Splenda Granular for the sugar so it wouldn't be so awful for you. Hmm..I'll have to work on that ;o)

Anyways, so I decided that no, I really didn't want one or need one. I was going to try and just let the hunger pass but it got bad. So I settled for a Balance bar that I had in my room. I keep them in the mini fridge I have in my room (I won it at my Senior All Night Grad. Party--why waste it? lol). So I ate the bar, played some solitaire on my Nintendo DS (it's pink of course!) and then went back to sleep like 30 minutes later. And I slept great until my alarm went off at 7am. I really wanted to turn it off and go back to bed until 10am but figured that sitting 3 1/2 hours at the theater today would make my back hurt so bad that I needed to loosen it up before going.

My BFF and I are going to see Legally Blonde at the Fox this afternoon. I'm really worried about the sitting for 3.5 hours because as I'm sitting here now, my back is already hurting bad! I see my arthroscopic surgeon February 9th but I'm really worried about what she's going to suggest. The pain got really bad last night. I got shooting sharp pains through my left hip and leg any time I moved. It only lasted about 15 minutes but I know when I get that pain or a tingling that nerves are getting involved. The only thing I can do right now is pray and take pills. What a combination haha

Here's a wrap up of the day....at 10am haha:

Cardio: ON- Tae Bo Cardio Bootcamp Live with the black bands (wow did I feel the burn with already sore triceps and hami's from Tuesday's weight workout!)
Training: OFF
Meals: LOW (yesterday was over because of the cookies, but lord they were good!)

Pre-cardio: EW, shredded ff cheese, Thomas Light Eng Muffin, New Hope Mills orange cran. muffin; tea w/ glutamine
CARDIO
Post-Cardio: Essential Nutr whey, stevia, banana, coffee, glutamine
M1: 1/2 Supreme Protein bar
M2: instant oats, BSN LD
M3: Subway turkey breast salad with Kraft FF Italian dressing pkt; Bethany Frankle’s LF Fudge muffin
M4: BSN LD, EW, almonds

I really liked the daily tip on the Tae Bo boards this morning: "Be all that YOU can be, not what you think everyone wants you to be."