Day 41... 23.8 to go (down 16 lbs)
Same as it ever was... I've now spent one full week at the same weight. Not up, not down... just the same. I had a long, hard look at last week today, and realized that I only had 2 workouts, and that's 3 down from my norm. So perhpas I'm not actually plateau-ed as much as just not quite on my game.
Tomorrow is the end of the 6-week period I committed to for this change. I'm going to keep going. I feel healthier than I have in a long time, and even though I'm sure I'll be lucky to lose even a 1/2 lb a week moving forward, I have a great start. :)
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Day 35
5 weeks... 23.8 to go; down 16 lbs. :-)
I've had a strange eating day -- Garlic & Herb Couscous with fresh corn, cherry tomatoes and mushrooms for breakfast and lunch. I ate the entire batch I cooked (must've been hungrier than I thought).
For dinner, I"m going to have a salad -- I feel the need, the need for green.
I've had a strange eating day -- Garlic & Herb Couscous with fresh corn, cherry tomatoes and mushrooms for breakfast and lunch. I ate the entire batch I cooked (must've been hungrier than I thought).
For dinner, I"m going to have a salad -- I feel the need, the need for green.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Day 34 -- 25.4 to go (down 14.4 lbs)
Almost five weeks in, and continuing to make slow and steady progress.
Two things I learned this week:
1 - my period is entirely different on this diet. I'll spare the gorry details, but far, far easier.
2 - my workouts really are quite impactful. While I started today down 14.4 lbs, after eating breakfast (oatmeal and a fresh peach) and then spending an hour with Michael & Company, when I jumped on the scale post-workout, I was down 15.4. And that's with soaking wet hair!
Two things I learned this week:
1 - my period is entirely different on this diet. I'll spare the gorry details, but far, far easier.
2 - my workouts really are quite impactful. While I started today down 14.4 lbs, after eating breakfast (oatmeal and a fresh peach) and then spending an hour with Michael & Company, when I jumped on the scale post-workout, I was down 15.4. And that's with soaking wet hair!
Sunday, August 28, 2011
The Last Heart Attack
Day 28. 26.6 to go (down 13.2 lbs)
Yesterday I spent the day on Vashon Island, with the O'Shea-Millinovich family and their assorted friends. It was a great day, beautiful, peaceful and warm out on the water. Of course, gatherings with my neighborhood crew typically include an absolutely alarming amount of food, and despite Megan's pleas to keep it to a minimum, the meat offerings included: 2 different kinds of sausages, 2 different kinds of steaks, 2 racks of ribs, fresh salmon steaks, and hot dogs. There were 10 of us out at the cabin. 10 of us, and I'm not eating meat.
We also had appetizers and compliments to the meal, including hummus & crackers & carrots, strawberries & peaches, guacamole with corn chips, and bruschetta. I did fully enjoy the fresh guac, and the tomato conconction that went with the bruschetta was also very good (sans bread).
I brought 2 portobello mushrooms that were delicious cooked on the grill, and a giant bowl of brown rice. :)
Among the group yesterday was Megan's spin class instructor. When I turned down M&M's and various other snacky foods, mentioning that I'm following a vegan, no gluten, no refined sugar diet -- she actually walked out of the cabin, saying over her shoulder, "I can't even listen to this. I'm a professional in the industry and what you're doing is not sustainable." To say I was shocked is an understatement.
Why does everyone in the world think they're an expert on EVERYTHING? I am a gracious enough guest to not have an argument about the merits verses detriments of a vegan diet, particularly with someone who is so quickly irritated by the mention of it. But to say it didn't bug me is absolutely untrue.
Tonight I caught a piece on CNN with Dr. Sanjay Gupta called, "The Last Heart Attack." Among the things the piece espouses is a diet not dissimilar to the one I'm currently on... advocated by Dean Ornish (highlighted in the piece), who wrote the book several years ago called, "Reversing Heart Disease."
http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/25/becoming-heart-attack-proof/
One of the subjects of the piece is President Clinton, who after having a quadruple bypass heart surgury went on to have a stent put in (not uncommon in cardiac patients) and experienced significant lethargy as he went about his rather hectic schedule post-Presidency. After Ornish reached out to him to say that whatever he was doing clearly wasn't working, Clinton adopted his vegan-based diet 2 years ago. He allows himself "one bite" of turkey on Thanksgiving, but is otherwise completely vegan now (with very little oil as well).
Clinton has lost 24 lbs since adopting the diet, while maintaining his excercise regimen.
So I thought it was very interesting for numerous reasons, but the thing that stuck with me most? Sub-Sarahan African culture follows a vegan diet... and heart disease is virtually non-existent in their culture. I think that's amazing.
And not to further incent Megan's instructor, but clearly they (and President Clinton, and Dean Ornish, and tens of thousands of other people) are able to sustain it just fine, thank you very much.
Yesterday I spent the day on Vashon Island, with the O'Shea-Millinovich family and their assorted friends. It was a great day, beautiful, peaceful and warm out on the water. Of course, gatherings with my neighborhood crew typically include an absolutely alarming amount of food, and despite Megan's pleas to keep it to a minimum, the meat offerings included: 2 different kinds of sausages, 2 different kinds of steaks, 2 racks of ribs, fresh salmon steaks, and hot dogs. There were 10 of us out at the cabin. 10 of us, and I'm not eating meat.
We also had appetizers and compliments to the meal, including hummus & crackers & carrots, strawberries & peaches, guacamole with corn chips, and bruschetta. I did fully enjoy the fresh guac, and the tomato conconction that went with the bruschetta was also very good (sans bread).
I brought 2 portobello mushrooms that were delicious cooked on the grill, and a giant bowl of brown rice. :)
Among the group yesterday was Megan's spin class instructor. When I turned down M&M's and various other snacky foods, mentioning that I'm following a vegan, no gluten, no refined sugar diet -- she actually walked out of the cabin, saying over her shoulder, "I can't even listen to this. I'm a professional in the industry and what you're doing is not sustainable." To say I was shocked is an understatement.
Why does everyone in the world think they're an expert on EVERYTHING? I am a gracious enough guest to not have an argument about the merits verses detriments of a vegan diet, particularly with someone who is so quickly irritated by the mention of it. But to say it didn't bug me is absolutely untrue.
Tonight I caught a piece on CNN with Dr. Sanjay Gupta called, "The Last Heart Attack." Among the things the piece espouses is a diet not dissimilar to the one I'm currently on... advocated by Dean Ornish (highlighted in the piece), who wrote the book several years ago called, "Reversing Heart Disease."
http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/25/becoming-heart-attack-proof/
One of the subjects of the piece is President Clinton, who after having a quadruple bypass heart surgury went on to have a stent put in (not uncommon in cardiac patients) and experienced significant lethargy as he went about his rather hectic schedule post-Presidency. After Ornish reached out to him to say that whatever he was doing clearly wasn't working, Clinton adopted his vegan-based diet 2 years ago. He allows himself "one bite" of turkey on Thanksgiving, but is otherwise completely vegan now (with very little oil as well).
Clinton has lost 24 lbs since adopting the diet, while maintaining his excercise regimen.
So I thought it was very interesting for numerous reasons, but the thing that stuck with me most? Sub-Sarahan African culture follows a vegan diet... and heart disease is virtually non-existent in their culture. I think that's amazing.
And not to further incent Megan's instructor, but clearly they (and President Clinton, and Dean Ornish, and tens of thousands of other people) are able to sustain it just fine, thank you very much.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
More of the Same
Day 25. 28 to go (still).
Yesterday I was up 1.2 lbs (salt). Today I'm back to my low (so far). I've learned that salt and sugar are really NOT my friends. Salt seems to cause me to hang on to EVERYTHING I eat, even though what I'm eating is well within the bounds of this diet; sugar meakes my stomach hurt -- even when it's natural sugar (like the gluten-free, vegan cookie I had this afternoon).
I'm also trying to kick the diet coke habit... I wish I didn't love the fizzy stuff so much. I'm down to no more than 1 can per day. I think once I make it to the end of week 6, that will be next off the list.
If I lose a lb a week between now and the end of the year, I'll be within 10 lbs of my goal weight.
Yesterday I was up 1.2 lbs (salt). Today I'm back to my low (so far). I've learned that salt and sugar are really NOT my friends. Salt seems to cause me to hang on to EVERYTHING I eat, even though what I'm eating is well within the bounds of this diet; sugar meakes my stomach hurt -- even when it's natural sugar (like the gluten-free, vegan cookie I had this afternoon).
I'm also trying to kick the diet coke habit... I wish I didn't love the fizzy stuff so much. I'm down to no more than 1 can per day. I think once I make it to the end of week 6, that will be next off the list.
If I lose a lb a week between now and the end of the year, I'll be within 10 lbs of my goal weight.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
3 Week Checkup
Day 23 - 28 to go (down 11.8 lbs)
The scale was kind to me post-Texas. I'm down 1.2 lbs from Saturday.
I've had a strange eating day. I ate dry corn chex for breakfast; lunch was Pad See Ew with mixed vegetables (and no egg); I had french fries with Tara at our meeting this afternoon; and brown rice with hummus and cherry tomatoes for dinner. Not sure how all of that will affect the scale tomorrow -- my stomach was not happy post-french fries, though.
The scale was kind to me post-Texas. I'm down 1.2 lbs from Saturday.
I've had a strange eating day. I ate dry corn chex for breakfast; lunch was Pad See Ew with mixed vegetables (and no egg); I had french fries with Tara at our meeting this afternoon; and brown rice with hummus and cherry tomatoes for dinner. Not sure how all of that will affect the scale tomorrow -- my stomach was not happy post-french fries, though.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Being a Vegan in Texas
I'm sitting in George Bush International Airport in Houston, on my way home from Austin. I've had an interesting food weekend, including 2 "cheats" while I was away.
When I travelled in on Saturday morning, I managed to find vegan, no-gluten, no refined sugar energy bars in the magazine shop at the airport. Who knew? That and a banana were breakfast. I had a very bland spinach salad at the airport in Denver for lunch, and an avacado with tomato when I finally got to Mike's house.
The dinner party at Mike and Ben's house was really, really fun... and I managed to NOT eat any of the food cooked on teh grill. I had a huge, delicious salad. But then the wheels fell off the cart. Ben had bought a giant carrot cake for the evening, and after watching EVERYONE else eat it, I also had a piece. A Texas-sized piece (although my state of Texas was half the size they were serving up for everyone else). I love carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, it was truly outstanding.
What I found interesting, though, is that I woke up with an absolutely horrendous headache on Sunday morning. Absolutely head-splitting. I read in the Alicia Silverstone book that it can be an offshoot of eating sugary food after abstaining for a while... really? It's only been 3 weeks! I will definitely put me off sugar for a while though.
We spent Sunday morning on the Lake waterskiing. I had a peach for breakfast, and was starving by the time we made it to fabulous Tex-Mex for lunch. I indulged in chips & salsa (how could I have known that tortilla chips do not have gluten?) and a corn flour tortilla stuffed with roasted mushrooms and red peppers. Delicious. And on-diet!
I met Scott and Renee at her storage place in the afternoon, and hoofed boxes and bags up 2 flights of stairs in 107 degree heat. I have NEVER sweated like I did yesterday afternoon - not even in my most difficult workouts with Michael. Renee's dorm room is small and cozy, and she is in love with it. I think Scott wishes it was bigger - he's worried about how she's going to fit all of her things in. Renee was confident, though, and happy to be getting settled in. She truly LOVES school.
We went to her favorite sushi place for an early dinner, where Renee and I shared a bowl of edenmame and 3 roles. The roles had tuna, white rice and spicy mayo... none of which is on my diet. And my stomach really, really, really hurt for a while post-dinner. We walked all over campus so that Renee could show me her school -- such a beautiful campus. More sweating, and then I was off for the night.
This morning at the airport I'm back on track. I had another vegan, gluten-free, refined sugar free energy bar with a banana for breakfast. I had steamed veggies and rice noodles for lunch, and am not happily sipping away on an all-fruit smoothy while I wait for my flight to Seattle.
I'm anxious to see how this weekend affects the scale... but will have to wait to the morning to find out. 3 weeks down; 3 to go... though truthfully I'm already feeling like I'll stay with this beyond the 6-weeks I committed to. I just feel that good. :)
When I travelled in on Saturday morning, I managed to find vegan, no-gluten, no refined sugar energy bars in the magazine shop at the airport. Who knew? That and a banana were breakfast. I had a very bland spinach salad at the airport in Denver for lunch, and an avacado with tomato when I finally got to Mike's house.
The dinner party at Mike and Ben's house was really, really fun... and I managed to NOT eat any of the food cooked on teh grill. I had a huge, delicious salad. But then the wheels fell off the cart. Ben had bought a giant carrot cake for the evening, and after watching EVERYONE else eat it, I also had a piece. A Texas-sized piece (although my state of Texas was half the size they were serving up for everyone else). I love carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, it was truly outstanding.
What I found interesting, though, is that I woke up with an absolutely horrendous headache on Sunday morning. Absolutely head-splitting. I read in the Alicia Silverstone book that it can be an offshoot of eating sugary food after abstaining for a while... really? It's only been 3 weeks! I will definitely put me off sugar for a while though.
We spent Sunday morning on the Lake waterskiing. I had a peach for breakfast, and was starving by the time we made it to fabulous Tex-Mex for lunch. I indulged in chips & salsa (how could I have known that tortilla chips do not have gluten?) and a corn flour tortilla stuffed with roasted mushrooms and red peppers. Delicious. And on-diet!
I met Scott and Renee at her storage place in the afternoon, and hoofed boxes and bags up 2 flights of stairs in 107 degree heat. I have NEVER sweated like I did yesterday afternoon - not even in my most difficult workouts with Michael. Renee's dorm room is small and cozy, and she is in love with it. I think Scott wishes it was bigger - he's worried about how she's going to fit all of her things in. Renee was confident, though, and happy to be getting settled in. She truly LOVES school.
We went to her favorite sushi place for an early dinner, where Renee and I shared a bowl of edenmame and 3 roles. The roles had tuna, white rice and spicy mayo... none of which is on my diet. And my stomach really, really, really hurt for a while post-dinner. We walked all over campus so that Renee could show me her school -- such a beautiful campus. More sweating, and then I was off for the night.
This morning at the airport I'm back on track. I had another vegan, gluten-free, refined sugar free energy bar with a banana for breakfast. I had steamed veggies and rice noodles for lunch, and am not happily sipping away on an all-fruit smoothy while I wait for my flight to Seattle.
I'm anxious to see how this weekend affects the scale... but will have to wait to the morning to find out. 3 weeks down; 3 to go... though truthfully I'm already feeling like I'll stay with this beyond the 6-weeks I committed to. I just feel that good. :)
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Steady State
Day 18 - 29.2 to go (down 10.6 lbs)
Under the 10lb mark! Perhaps my weekend in the Texas heat will help me sweat it down a bit further. :)
Under the 10lb mark! Perhaps my weekend in the Texas heat will help me sweat it down a bit further. :)
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Cravings
Day 17 - 30.2 to go (down 9.6)
I fully intended to crave sugar, bread and cheese - and discovered tonight that I'm craving completely other things. Tonight, post-workout, for example -- the only thing I wanted was tomatos and avacado. It's a strange dinner, and yet I am completely sated.
Breakfast today was also odd... I forgot to take it with me, so I had carrot sticks and hummus that I had in the fridge at work.
Lunch -- Thai food. The King & I was so accommodating: rice noodles with steamed veggies in veggie broth. It had tons of garlic, and was absolutely delicious. I think the rice noodles were processed rather than brown-rice, but I'm gonna let that one slide for the day.
Hoping to be under 30 lbs to go by tomorrow morning. :)
I fully intended to crave sugar, bread and cheese - and discovered tonight that I'm craving completely other things. Tonight, post-workout, for example -- the only thing I wanted was tomatos and avacado. It's a strange dinner, and yet I am completely sated.
Breakfast today was also odd... I forgot to take it with me, so I had carrot sticks and hummus that I had in the fridge at work.
Lunch -- Thai food. The King & I was so accommodating: rice noodles with steamed veggies in veggie broth. It had tons of garlic, and was absolutely delicious. I think the rice noodles were processed rather than brown-rice, but I'm gonna let that one slide for the day.
Hoping to be under 30 lbs to go by tomorrow morning. :)
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Salt
Day 16. 32 lbs to go (down 7.8 overall / up 2 since yesterday)
Salt may be the death of me yet. Limited it today; hope to see a scale recovery tomorrow.
Salt may be the death of me yet. Limited it today; hope to see a scale recovery tomorrow.
Monday, August 15, 2011
A Fortnight
Day 15. 30 lbs to go (9.8 down)
I had hoped to be down an even 10 lbs at the end of 2 weeks, but am happy that the scale's still heading in the direction I want it to.
Breakfast was a banana and a V8. I also ate part of the lunch I brought -- leftover quinua pasta with tomatoes and mushrooms. I learned today that I should cook Quinua pasta a bit longer so that when eaten cold it's not so crunchy. It was perfect when still warm, though.
Also learned that I cannot even consider eating Ramen, no matter how fancy the container and label that comes with it. I threw it away at lunch... just WAY too salty. Lunch was instead four brown rice cakes, with peanut butter and a V8. Not my finest culinary experience.
Dinner was the rest of the leftover pasta, with an avacado. Avacado makes EVERYTHING taste better.
Now I'm off to the gym... hopefully Michael will go (relatively) easy on me. :-)
I had hoped to be down an even 10 lbs at the end of 2 weeks, but am happy that the scale's still heading in the direction I want it to.
Breakfast was a banana and a V8. I also ate part of the lunch I brought -- leftover quinua pasta with tomatoes and mushrooms. I learned today that I should cook Quinua pasta a bit longer so that when eaten cold it's not so crunchy. It was perfect when still warm, though.
Also learned that I cannot even consider eating Ramen, no matter how fancy the container and label that comes with it. I threw it away at lunch... just WAY too salty. Lunch was instead four brown rice cakes, with peanut butter and a V8. Not my finest culinary experience.
Dinner was the rest of the leftover pasta, with an avacado. Avacado makes EVERYTHING taste better.
Now I'm off to the gym... hopefully Michael will go (relatively) easy on me. :-)
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Fridge Makeover
Day 14 - 30.2 to go; Down 9.6 lbs
I discovered that the QFC in UVillage has an entire aisle dedicated to gluten-free food today. While a good bit of it is chock full o' sugar (and therefore off limits for me)... I did manage to find 3 different kinds of brown rice pasta and a marinara sauce without any sugar. I'm getting better at spending enough time in the store to actually read labels and find things that work for this type of diet.
I was struck with something when I got home: my refrigerator and pantry look entirely different -- just in the space of 2 weeks. The fridge is full of fresh foods -- fruits, veggies, and containers of food that I actually cooked at home. When the O'Shea-Milinovich's return from Orcas Island, I'm going to take them all of things that remain that are off limits to me now. While I'm not tempted by any of them, I also don't want to be wasteful and see things spoil that could have been used.
The pantry is also different -- but needs a bit more work in terms of getting rid of the things that I will no longer eat. Those too can find a home with the neighbors.
One more thing I've figured out: low-sodium popcorn still has too much salt in it to eat it late at night and not have it have an impact on my weight the next day. While I'm excited that I can no longer plow through an entire bag of it (in fact, I've been working on this one bag since a week ago Friday), it's something that doesn't necessarily make my body happy.
So today...
Breakfast -- Rice flour bagel with peanut butter.
Lunch -- brown rice, hummus & avacado
Dinner -- portabello mushroom on the grill, with fresh veggies & rice flour pasta.
Yummy!
I discovered that the QFC in UVillage has an entire aisle dedicated to gluten-free food today. While a good bit of it is chock full o' sugar (and therefore off limits for me)... I did manage to find 3 different kinds of brown rice pasta and a marinara sauce without any sugar. I'm getting better at spending enough time in the store to actually read labels and find things that work for this type of diet.
I was struck with something when I got home: my refrigerator and pantry look entirely different -- just in the space of 2 weeks. The fridge is full of fresh foods -- fruits, veggies, and containers of food that I actually cooked at home. When the O'Shea-Milinovich's return from Orcas Island, I'm going to take them all of things that remain that are off limits to me now. While I'm not tempted by any of them, I also don't want to be wasteful and see things spoil that could have been used.
The pantry is also different -- but needs a bit more work in terms of getting rid of the things that I will no longer eat. Those too can find a home with the neighbors.
One more thing I've figured out: low-sodium popcorn still has too much salt in it to eat it late at night and not have it have an impact on my weight the next day. While I'm excited that I can no longer plow through an entire bag of it (in fact, I've been working on this one bag since a week ago Friday), it's something that doesn't necessarily make my body happy.
So today...
Breakfast -- Rice flour bagel with peanut butter.
Lunch -- brown rice, hummus & avacado
Dinner -- portabello mushroom on the grill, with fresh veggies & rice flour pasta.
Yummy!
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Friday, August 12, 2011
Back on Track
Day 12: 31 to go (down 8.8)
Everything readjusted this morning, and I'm back on track. Is it wrong that my goal is to see that I'm down a full 10 lbs on Monday morning (2 weeks into this)? I'm losing around .4 per day this week -- so it probably *is* unrealistic... but a girl can hope.
Breakfast - homemade granola (oh so good!)
Lunch - brown rice & veggies in peanut sauce. I literally sort of cleaned the sauce off each vegetable before eating them. Thai food was probably a poor choice.
Dinner - 1 cup of brown rice, 1/2 cup of roasted corn, 1/4 of a sweet potato, and 1/8 cup of hummus.
I'm still amazed at how FULL I am all the time eating this way. I know it's the fiber, but I'm literally stunned when I find I can't finish 1/4 of a sweet potato because I'm too full. I've also now moved over to eating off of the anique Lennox china. The British plate size is literally a bit smaller than the salad plates from the dishes I bought out of college.
Everything readjusted this morning, and I'm back on track. Is it wrong that my goal is to see that I'm down a full 10 lbs on Monday morning (2 weeks into this)? I'm losing around .4 per day this week -- so it probably *is* unrealistic... but a girl can hope.
Breakfast - homemade granola (oh so good!)
Lunch - brown rice & veggies in peanut sauce. I literally sort of cleaned the sauce off each vegetable before eating them. Thai food was probably a poor choice.
Dinner - 1 cup of brown rice, 1/2 cup of roasted corn, 1/4 of a sweet potato, and 1/8 cup of hummus.
I'm still amazed at how FULL I am all the time eating this way. I know it's the fiber, but I'm literally stunned when I find I can't finish 1/4 of a sweet potato because I'm too full. I've also now moved over to eating off of the anique Lennox china. The British plate size is literally a bit smaller than the salad plates from the dishes I bought out of college.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
2 Steps Up; 1 Step Back
Day 9: 31.8 to go (down 8 lbs)
Day 10: 34 to go (down 5.8 lbs)
Last night I ventured out with friends for Italian food. I was VERY pleasantly surprised that they had several things on the menu that work with my no meat, no dairy, no gluten, no refined sugar self. So I had their fresh roasted corn & cherry tomato salad (no dressing on it, and it was DELICIOUS) and their rice flour pasta with cherry tomatoes adn calamata olives. Honestly, it was fabulous.
So the good news is that I stayed on plan; the bad news was the scale this morning -- by which I completely mortified. I think there were 3 things working against me: we ate dinner sometime close to 9:30 or 10:00pm (I never eat that late); the main course while on plan was chock full o' salt; and I ended up getting only about 4.5 hours of sleep. I fully suspect that tomorrow the scale will show that I'm back down again.
But just in case, I've spent today trying to correct course.
I had oatmeal with sliced almonds for breakfast, and a banana.
After meeting with my boss for my 1:1 meeting, I dropped my car off for service and walked home (1.5 miles).
For lunch I had a cup of leftover brown rice and 2 cups of leftover vegetable stew from the weekend.
I waled back to the service place this afternoon (1.5 miles) to pick up my car, and drove it straight to the gym for 35 minutes of cardio. It must have worked, because I came home completely drenched.
For dinner, I'm going to fire up the grill again and roast a bunch of veggies that I picked up this week: white corn, yams, red & yellow peppers, and whatever else is in there. I'm finding that if I cook up a lot -- and make a giant pot of brown rice, I eat it pretty consistently throughout the week and don't have to worry about it later.
Fingers crossed that tomorrow the scale heads down again.
Day 10: 34 to go (down 5.8 lbs)
Last night I ventured out with friends for Italian food. I was VERY pleasantly surprised that they had several things on the menu that work with my no meat, no dairy, no gluten, no refined sugar self. So I had their fresh roasted corn & cherry tomato salad (no dressing on it, and it was DELICIOUS) and their rice flour pasta with cherry tomatoes adn calamata olives. Honestly, it was fabulous.
So the good news is that I stayed on plan; the bad news was the scale this morning -- by which I completely mortified. I think there were 3 things working against me: we ate dinner sometime close to 9:30 or 10:00pm (I never eat that late); the main course while on plan was chock full o' salt; and I ended up getting only about 4.5 hours of sleep. I fully suspect that tomorrow the scale will show that I'm back down again.
But just in case, I've spent today trying to correct course.
I had oatmeal with sliced almonds for breakfast, and a banana.
After meeting with my boss for my 1:1 meeting, I dropped my car off for service and walked home (1.5 miles).
For lunch I had a cup of leftover brown rice and 2 cups of leftover vegetable stew from the weekend.
I waled back to the service place this afternoon (1.5 miles) to pick up my car, and drove it straight to the gym for 35 minutes of cardio. It must have worked, because I came home completely drenched.
For dinner, I'm going to fire up the grill again and roast a bunch of veggies that I picked up this week: white corn, yams, red & yellow peppers, and whatever else is in there. I'm finding that if I cook up a lot -- and make a giant pot of brown rice, I eat it pretty consistently throughout the week and don't have to worry about it later.
Fingers crossed that tomorrow the scale heads down again.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Slowing Progress & Baggy Pants
Day 8 - 32.4 lbs to go (down 7.4)
Is feels inevitable and yet disappointing that the progress appears to have slowed this morning. Only .2 down from yesterday, and yet... I do understand that I'm still headed in the right direction, and that during this experiment I'm likely to have days -- even perhaps strung together -- when I will not lose anything at all (and God forbid, perhaps could even gain an ounce or two here and there).
I ate lunch at Purple Cafe, which I love, love, love... and when they didn't have anything I could eat I cobbled together a salad for lunch with bits and pieces of different offerings. It was quite yummy.
An apple with peanut butter for a mid-afternoon snack.
Veggie, brown-rice sushi for dinner and a banana... and I'm good for the night. Fully sated.
On the clothing front, I get less puffy with every day that passes. I wore my (relatively) new black capri trousers to work today. I was able to put them on without unbuttoning or unzipping them, and by the time I'd driven to work they were quite baggy. I'm going to try putting them in the dryer after the next wash to see if they'll shrink up a bit... definitely not sad about it, though, if they have to shuflfe off to GoodWill.
Is feels inevitable and yet disappointing that the progress appears to have slowed this morning. Only .2 down from yesterday, and yet... I do understand that I'm still headed in the right direction, and that during this experiment I'm likely to have days -- even perhaps strung together -- when I will not lose anything at all (and God forbid, perhaps could even gain an ounce or two here and there).
I ate lunch at Purple Cafe, which I love, love, love... and when they didn't have anything I could eat I cobbled together a salad for lunch with bits and pieces of different offerings. It was quite yummy.
An apple with peanut butter for a mid-afternoon snack.
Veggie, brown-rice sushi for dinner and a banana... and I'm good for the night. Fully sated.
On the clothing front, I get less puffy with every day that passes. I wore my (relatively) new black capri trousers to work today. I was able to put them on without unbuttoning or unzipping them, and by the time I'd driven to work they were quite baggy. I'm going to try putting them in the dryer after the next wash to see if they'll shrink up a bit... definitely not sad about it, though, if they have to shuflfe off to GoodWill.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Week 2
Day 8 - 32.6 to go (7.2 down)
Seems like it's working.
Tonight after my workout I had a rice-flour bagel with peanut butter. Honestly? It was like very dry toast with peanut butter. I enjoyed every bite.
Seems like it's working.
Tonight after my workout I had a rice-flour bagel with peanut butter. Honestly? It was like very dry toast with peanut butter. I enjoyed every bite.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Day 6
Day 6. 33.2 lbs to go (down 6.6)
Breakfast out with my friend Jessica this morning. And while I really, really, really wanted the french toast with fresh apricots, I had steel cut oats with 1/2 and apple and 1/2 a banana. The french toast looked and smelled AMAZING, though.
I snacked throughout the day (some rice with hummus, an apple, a peach) and also ate the last 7/8 of the cookie I didn't like yesterday. Turns out I still eat things out of boredom that I'm not actually all that into. I won't be buying more of them, though, so it should be okay.
For dinner I had more of the sweet potato I cooked the other night - still delicious, but day 3 of it may have put me off it for a bit. I feel overly full, and am glad that I'm not craving anything else.
Breakfast out with my friend Jessica this morning. And while I really, really, really wanted the french toast with fresh apricots, I had steel cut oats with 1/2 and apple and 1/2 a banana. The french toast looked and smelled AMAZING, though.
I snacked throughout the day (some rice with hummus, an apple, a peach) and also ate the last 7/8 of the cookie I didn't like yesterday. Turns out I still eat things out of boredom that I'm not actually all that into. I won't be buying more of them, though, so it should be okay.
For dinner I had more of the sweet potato I cooked the other night - still delicious, but day 3 of it may have put me off it for a bit. I feel overly full, and am glad that I'm not craving anything else.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Groceries & Other Saturday Fun
Day 6 - 34.2 pounds to go (down 5.6)
I'm still reading the book, but have a bit more insight into the types of things I can eat, so after a 75 minute workout with Michael this morning, I spent almost an hour looking for things in the Metropolitan Market I've never payed any attention to whatsoever.
$112 later, here's what I carried out:
In the meantime, today's meals:
Breakfast: 1 cup of brown rice, 1/8 cup hummus, two vegetable sausage patties, and some grapes
Lunch: Brown rice and reheated sweet potatoes... and probably one of these yummy chocolate treats
Dinner... I'm thinking of putting together a crock pot full of veggies and making a stew.
Yummy stuff! :-)
So a bit of an update... I have now tried the Flying Apron gluten-free, vegan, organic chocolate chip cookie... and I did NOT care for it. I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's entirely too sweet. I ate MAYBE 1/8 of the cookie, and will not be finishing it. Is it wrong that it makes me happy when I find something I really don't care for? I now know that tofu and chococate chip cookies will not make it back onto the grocery list.
I'm still reading the book, but have a bit more insight into the types of things I can eat, so after a 75 minute workout with Michael this morning, I spent almost an hour looking for things in the Metropolitan Market I've never payed any attention to whatsoever.
$112 later, here's what I carried out:
- Organic veggies (green cabbage, white onion, carrots, yellow and orange peppers, avacado, yams)
- Organic fruit (apples, peaches)
- Bagels (gluten-free, vegan)
- Giant tub of brown rice
- Brown Rice Flower
- Organic Olive Oil
- Sweet Potato Chips (gluten free, vegan)
- Rice Noodle Soup Bowls (hot n' sour and vegetable)
- Canned mushrooms
- Canned hearts of palm
- Fresh salsa
- Erin's All Natural Low-Saturated Fat, Low-Salt popcorn
- Organic Mochi Sweet Rice Cakes
- Organ, vegan, gluten-free chocolate chip cookie (Flying Apron makes them)
- Hummus in two different varieties
- Rice Dream Mint Pie (non-dairy, rice-based, oatmeal cookies dipped in chocolate)
In the meantime, today's meals:
Breakfast: 1 cup of brown rice, 1/8 cup hummus, two vegetable sausage patties, and some grapes
Lunch: Brown rice and reheated sweet potatoes... and probably one of these yummy chocolate treats
Dinner... I'm thinking of putting together a crock pot full of veggies and making a stew.
Yummy stuff! :-)
So a bit of an update... I have now tried the Flying Apron gluten-free, vegan, organic chocolate chip cookie... and I did NOT care for it. I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's entirely too sweet. I ate MAYBE 1/8 of the cookie, and will not be finishing it. Is it wrong that it makes me happy when I find something I really don't care for? I now know that tofu and chococate chip cookies will not make it back onto the grocery list.
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