Reworked Food for June 30, 2010

Okay, after much poring over cookbooks and calculating and consulting the CRON-o-meter, I have a new and majorly delicious food o' the day!! Try not to be too jealous:P

-3 raw spring rolls w/ mock peanut sauce (Jennifer Cornbleet's book)
-Jerusalem salad (cucumber and tomato and onion) w/ tahini lemon dressing
-Cucumbers w/ mint (Cornbleet)
-Green smoothie (pineapple, banana, kale, lime juice)
-Bean and Kale Minestra from my old Moosewood book
-1 large slice sourdough (for soup)
-2 c watermelon
-coffee

Total= 1696

Yeah baby!!! Summer time and the eatin's easy.....

C25K Progresses

Week 1, Day 2 of the C25K looks exactly like day one. It's intervals: walking 90 seconds, running 60 seconds, repeat for 20 minutes. I have to say, yesterday was easy. But I want to start from the beginning and start easy so I don't burn out. I think when you're starting out it's better to stop on a high note, even feeling like, "Oh, I sooo could have gone another ten minutes." That way you feel like a success. Then once you get a little better and in shape, let it rip!

Yesterday I had some last minute substitutions. Instead of the hummus wrap I've been eating every single day now, I had some pasta salad I made. It didn't have much oil in it and it had lots of veggies. And I had some ice cream late last night:( My little one got up 4 times last night. I think he was having a nightmare. Well, whatever it was, it left me up and roaming the kitchen at 2am. But I did adjust the calories this morning, and I was over 200. Still under 2000, and I did work out yesterday, so I'll take it and move on.

I'm once again feeling bored with my food. I am going to write out my 'possible' food for the day. I have it all written out, but I'm thinking I may go back through my cookbooks and tweak it. I'm just seeing the same stuff over and over on repeat!

Intake:
-Coffee
-2 c watermelon
-Gazpacho
-Peach/Blueberry/Hemp/Almond Milk smoothie
-Hummus wrap w/ tomato
-Minted zucchini
-Romaine salad with cuke, peppers, reduced fat feta, and creamy cucumber dressing
-3 Brazil nuts

Total as is= 1602

C25K Baby!!!

I did it. I got off my heiney and started the C25K again. I'm on Week One, Day One and I felt sooo damn good. I was worried about my breathing a bit, but I was downstairs in the cooler air and had no problems. I think the sweat and activity may actually help me move the lung cheese out. I did skip boxing, b/c I thought it would be overdoing it.

But either way, I did it! Go me!

Sorry

Yes, I'm apologizing. I don't want this blog to turn in to a downer of an experience. It's ok to write about disappointments and feelings and such, I just feel like it's been on the depressing side lately. That said, I am aware and will try to lift it up a little. What can I say? That's been where my head's at recently. I want this blog to help others, and sharing my trials and tribulations can help, but I doubt how I've felt lately could help anyone....So, moving forward.

My lungs seem to feel slightly better this morning. I think. It's a little early, so I can't really tell yet.

I wanna go boxing so much, but I don't think it's smart for a few reasons, one being the lung gak, and two being this oppressive muggy heat. *Sigh*....it better be a go for Saturday, I'll say that much!! Grrrr.

Food. Hmmmm. Let's ponder the edibles. I can already hear my veggie and vegan friends' shocked outcries on this one, but I make no apologies: I picked up some bologna for the boys yesterday. They eat this crap probably twice a year. And make no mistake, I do think of it as crap, ha. But that being said, I bought it for the boys, and yet I had two slices on whole grain bread!!! Aaaaaah! I haven't had it in forever. The taste was 'meh'. I could have lived my life without it. BUT....those extra calories I had left yesterday disappeared as fast as you can say "Oscar Meyer". I can assure you the rest of my food yesterday was angelic, full of veggie and fruit goodness, and raw! So we'll call it a draw:) We all pigged out on ice cold watermelon after dinner last night. So darn good! There's just something about this muggy heat and chowing down on a watermelon:) It makes me smile.

The vanilla hemp protein powder is much better than the dark chocolate. There was a change of plans in yesterday's smoothie. The mango was not looking so good (poor thing), so I replaced it with frozen banana. I always take my overripe bananas and throw them in the freezer. Perfect for smoothies and they don't go to waste. However I discovered that using frozen peaches AND frozen bananas makes for a very very thick smoothie. Me no like. I like to have a slightly runny, straw-friendly smoothie. So in addition to the cup of almond milk, I had to throw in some water to get it all mixed up right. It was about three regular-sized glasses full! I was filled to the gills after that smoothie.

On to the raw carrot ginger soup. The original recipe calls for a 1/2 c of macadamia nuts. A problem on two levels: it also had avocado in it and I didn't care for the fat content, and I didn't have any macadamias. So I left them out and just used the avocado for body and creaminess. The recipe also calls for a large chunk of fresh ginger. I chopped it up and threw it in, but it just didn't blend in well, and when I was eating it I kept having to pick out chunks of ginger. The flavor of the chunks would overpower the whole soup. I think just for texture's sake, next time I'll use powdered ginger. Just my opinion.

The raw tabouli is a favorite, especially on summer days. It's got tons of lightness from all the parsley and mint, and the tomatoes are delish with the dressing of just a little olive oil and lemon juice. I had this after dinner as a snack while watching Lie To Me, and it had been chilling all day.

Oh, and I've rediscovered my inner gamer-chick! It was so hot yesterday that I ran for cover in the air-conditioned office with my boys in tow. Well, I have a game that M got me ages ago that I never played. So I popped that bad boy in and we were off for a good hour and a half. I'm into the fantasy type role-playing-games (RPGs) and this didn't disappoint. It's supposed to be in the 90s here again today. I plan on dodging the heat this way again:)

What I'll be digesting today:

-Coffee a la me
-2 c watermelon
-Minted zucchini (raw)
-Banana/peach/almond milk/vanilla hemp smoothie
-Hummus wrap with tomato and cucumber
-Carrot Ginger soup (raw)
-2 Brazil nuts

Total= 1591, a little short again, but don't worry about me, I'll find a way.....:)

Mostly Rawkin' Today:)

Yep. A lot of my food is raw today. It's really really hot and muggy here, and the thought of cooking is just gross.

I still have something funky in my lungs. I am ok for a large part of the day, but then there are random times where I feel like I've been holding my breath and am almost gasping for air. Not good. I told M that if it doesn't improve today, I'll visit my friend at the urgent care clinic. I probably need an inhaler or something. All of this is thwarting my efforts to exercise. I am feeling a little panicky already at the whole 'not being able to breath right' thing, and working out would just exacerbate that. So it's on the back burner for now. However, I do know for a fact that one can still lose weight with CR and no exercise. I'm keeping my eyes on the prize!

Ag's inspired me to think about running again. I used the Couch to 5K program with good results. I was never a runner. The only time you'd catch me running is if Godzilla were on the rampage or something. But this program eases you into it. I liked it. I like what she had to say about running clearing the head space. I need that. I've been such a bitch lately. I bet my meds are off. Yep, the crazy meds must not be working...yeah, that's it.

Yesterday was horrible for me mentally. I actually broke down and started crying over CR and exercise. I am just not seeing the results I want as quickly as I want, and I was just overwhelmed with writing everything and counting everything and just being overly consumed/obsessed with it. Like, I don't feel like I'll ever be able to just relax and enjoy food anymore. Food has become almost automatic, a necessary evil. I haven't even been enjoying eating lately. I just shovel it in while on the computer or something, in a fog. I count my calories, get my nutrition, and beyond that food gives nothing. I used to loooove eating. I'm feeling robbed. Poor M didn't know what to do or say, but he hugged me so that was good. We came to the conclusion that we are drinking too much and maybe only drinking every third weekend might help shed some pounds. SO...that's the next tactic. Something's gotta give, right?

So, in protest of unaware automatic eating, I'm actually making a few new recipes today. See if I can't wake up my taste buds a little:) They could sure use it.

Food....Meh.

-coffee a la the usual way
-peach/mango/hemp protein/almond milk smoothie
-2c watermelon
-hummus wrap with grilled zucchini
-Carrot Ginger Soup (from Idiot's Guide to Eating Raw)
-Raw Tabouli (Jennifer Cornbleet's Raw Food Made Easy)
-Minted Zucchini (from Kristen Suzanne's Easy Raw Vegan Sides and Snacks)

All this veggie goodness equals 1523 calories.

I went to one of the health food stores near us yesterday and picked up brazil nuts (holy expensive Batman!!!) and some hemp protein shake mix, vanilla flavor. I didn't care for the dark chocolate variety of this hemp protein, but maybe the vanilla will mix better with my fruit.

Again, the calories are a little low, but I honestly couldn't figure out what else to eat! I was wandering through the kitchen in a daze, looking for stuff....so maybe later the light will come on!

More Veggie Burgers

Seems like I'm eating a lot of these guys. These Morningstar Farms Grillers Prime. I usually have a different dinner from my family, and these burgers are just easy to throw on the grill next to the regular burgers, or nuke in the microwave when I've made something else for them. I like them a lot.

I got so irrationally pissed at M last night. First of all, let me say he is thin and healthy, no weight problem whatsoever. Well, he eats like a frickin' pig! Last night, I made salmon fillets with sauteed swiss chard with pine nuts and feta cheese on it. Both sauteed in olive oil. Well he ate two fillets and a nice portion of the chard. Then he had ice cream. Then he goes back and has the last fillet of salmon! And he's always finishing what's left on the boys' plates. Oh, and for breakfast yesterday? Two eggs scrambled with bacon and cheese on a flour tortilla! He works out 4 days a week compared to my 5 or 6. I was so annoyed and I told him. His answer? "Well, I guess I just have faster metabolism!" I was really peeved, let me tell you. I sit here and parcel every damn calorie that goes past these lips and lose 1 pound a week when I'm angelic with the diet, which to be honest, I go over around 100-200 calories a few times a week. But still, with CR, that wouldn't cause me to gain! It just makes me not lose. I was having a seriously "why me" moment last night. A pity party. Oh, and I just LOVE when he gives me advice on eating or exercising:) I'm like, "Please." So, that's my random vent for the day, moving on.....

Foodie Goodness:

-coffee (half and half and stevia)
-2 c cantaloupe (always by itself)
-hummus wrap
-peach/mango smoothie (no almond milk today, just water and ice)
-leaf lettuce/tomato/cuke/pepper salad with cucumber dill dressing and 1/4 c reduced fat feta
-1/2 large zucchini, grilled
-veg burger, whole grain bun, ketchup and mustard
-1 rum and coke zero

Total- 1734

I also realized I never told you guys that I do take a multivitamin for nutritional insurance. I can hit around 90-95 of my targets without it some days, but other days not so much. It is just a women's one from GNC. I also take a few other supplements, but I've been really slacking lately, so it hasn't counted. I'll do a post sometime on what I take. I became obsessed with Dr. Amen's Change Your Brain, Change Your Body program, so I went and started taking what he recommended. It's just a lot of pills and my stomach can't handle them unless I've eaten a decent meal. Of course, then you also need to remember to take them, ha.

Lame

I'm feeling something nasty brewing in my lungs. I have very thick hard-to-cough-up mucous and it's making my throat raw from constantly coughing and clearing my throat. I was wheezing last night and took one of my son's albuterol treatments, which helped some. Therefore, I can't box this morning. It would kick my booty. But I still want to try to get in some of the "Shred" today, I'll just take it a little easier. This sucks. It seems like every time I try to get serious and on track (again), something slows me up. I'm still struggling with the idea of actually going boxing, but I honestly think it would be a mistake. But I'm kinda dopey like that! Breathing is a good thing....

Yesterday we signed the boys up for the library reading club. It was crazy! I've never seen so many people in the library. It was a madhouse. They gave us a little packet with a beach ball, and Jackson also got to have ice cream and make a sand art necklace. Then when we got back home, I realized I forgot to sign myself up! Too funny. It's pretty common to forget about yourself when you're a mom, I suppose. Then Jackson proceeded to sit in the big comfy chair and read every single book we got, even the ones to read to Ivan. He's supposed to get a prize after every 50 pages, and read 200 pages to complete the program, and he's already at around 150. Silly boy.

No late night snacks for this girl last night! Woo hoo! I actually went about 150 over my calories yesterday, which is kinda stinky, but nothing compared to the damage I could normally do, so I'm moving on. My sleep is getting better in fits and starts, not steadily, so I think that's helping some with the eating. It's hard to be asleep and eat:) At least for me it is, I don't know about any of you....

The farm was awesome. In addition to our share, they were offering fresh eggs and local honey. We picked up some of the honey. They are actually looking for someone to work the beehives with them, and M did that a few times with his uncle back in the day. So he gave them his number and now he's all excited for doing the beehive thing. We got all sorts of stuff: lettuce, carrots, onions, parsley, zucchini, swiss chard, garlic scapes, and ummm.....I think that's it.

Food for today:

-coffee w/ half and half and stevia
-2 c cantaloupe
-lettuce, cuke, and pepper salad w/ cucumber dill dressing
-blueberry/mango/almond milk smoothie, with a few leaves of chard thrown in
-1 1/2 c grilled zucchini
-hummus wrap
-raw gazpacho
-2 rum and cokes

Total= 1536

It's on the low side, but I want that little extra wiggle room. I seem to overdo it every other day or so, and this is a new tactic. If I leave some room for those extra calories, maybe it will balance out. Give me some space for the spontaneous-ness of life:)

EDIT- Hey I just looked in my handy dandy spreadsheet o' progress, and even though it seems like I'm going up and down with weight, its showing a five pound loss for the last 4 weeks. So...it may be coming off really really really slooooowly, but it's coming off! Also, in randomness, yesterday was my 100th post! Yay!