Food log 11/12

Breakfast:
nutella and bread (150)

Morning snack:
yogurt (150)
granola (170)

Lunch:
Squash soup (100)
turkey (40)
string cheese (80)

Afternoon snack:
green smoothie (300)

Dinner:
chick-fil-a sandwich (400)
salad (75)
orange (80)

Evening snack:
cereal and milk (250)

Water:
IIIII I

Fruits and veg:
IIIII IIIII
Exercise:

Total calories:
1795

I'm Back, Food Log 11/11

I've been gone for a few days, as things have been a little tense around here and I've given literally no thought to the food going into my body. I now feel like crap (due to the junk, of course) and am back on track.

Breakfast:
nutella and bread (150)

Morning snack:
none

Lunch:
stir fry (400)
cake (100)

Afternoon snack:
nutella and bread (150)
pear (80)

Dinner:
turkey breast (80)
butternut squash soup (100)
mandarin oranges (75)
nutella and bread (150)

Evening snack:
yogurt (150)
cereal and milk (250)

Water:
IIIII IIIII III

Fruits and veg:
IIIII III

Exercise:
Zumba (350)

Total calories:
1685

Food log 11/7

Breakfast:
cereal and milk (225)

Morning snack:
half cinnamon raisin bagel (200)
spinach quiche (250)
fruit (100)
banana bread (120)

Lunch:
nutella and bread (150)
dried apricots (50)

Afternoon snack:
none

Dinner:
banana (100)
roasted red pepper and feta pizza (450)
salad (30)

Evening snack:
ice cream (350)
cereal and milk

Water:
IIIII III

Fruits and veg:
IIIII IIIII

Exercise:
none, had MOPS today. :(

Total calories:
2250

Food log 11/6

Breakfast:
cereal and milk/almond milk (225)

Morning snack:
dried apricots (75)
soaked almonds (75)

Lunch:
string cheese (80)
nutella and bread (125)

Afternoon snack:
green smoothie (260)

Dinner:
sweet bean burrito salad (200)
popcorn (125)
chips (75)
hershey kisses (50)
grapes (50)

Evening snack:
dried apricots (100)
cereal and milk (250)

Water:
IIIII IIIII

Fruits and veg:
IIIII IIIII II

Exercise:
Pilates (150)

1690

Food log 11/5

Breakfast:
cereal and milk (225)

Morning snack:
none

Lunch:
pancakes and syrup (75)
turkey sausage (150)
pear (80)

Afternoon snack:
almonds (20)
green smoothie (240)

Dinner:
apple (80)
Wendy's hamburger (430)
a few fried (100)

Evening snack:
Frosty (320)

Water:
IIIII III

Fruits and veg:
IIIII IIII

Exercise:
none

Total calories:
1720

Food log 11/4

Breakfast:
cereal and milk (200)
pear (80)

Morning snack:
dried apricots (100)
granola (150)

Lunch:
chips and salsa (200)
pear (80)

Afternoon snack:
nutella and bread (125)
string cheese (80)

Dinner:
apple oatmeal pancakes (200)
maple syrup (70)
eggs (140)

Evening snack:
green smoothie (240)
dried apricots (100)
string cheese (80)
nutella and bread (150)

Water:
IIIII IIIII

Fruit and veg:
IIIII IIIII

Exercise:
Pilates (175)

Total calories:
2235

Food log 11/3

Breakfast:
banana (100)
cereal (200)

Morning snack:
dried apricots (100)

Lunch:
pasta and sauce (300)

Afternoon snack:
green smoothie (300)
banana (100)

Dinner:
taco salad (300)

Evening snack:
straw and blue ice cream (250)
cereal and milk (225)

Water:
IIIII IIII

Fruits and veg:
IIIII IIIII II

Exercise:
kickboxing (400)
reformer (150)

Total calories:
1875

Food log 11/2

Breakfast:
cereal/milk (250)
banana (100)

Morning snack:
granola bar (180)
ritz crackers (120)
banana (100)

Lunch:
salmon and asparagus (300)
bread and Nutella (200)

Afternoon snack:
dried apricots (150)
green smoothie (200)
banana (100)

Dinner:
ww pasta and sauce (400)
pepitas (125)
apple (60)

Evening snack:
cereal and milk (250)

Water:
IIIII IIIII II

Fruits and veg:
IIIII IIIII IIIII

Exercise:
none :(

Total calories:
2535 Wow. Not so good. H-u-n-g-r-y today!

Food Log 11/1

Breakfast:
Laffy Taffy (30)
cereal (190)
milk (75)

Morning snack:
dried apricots (100)
almonds (50)

Lunch:
pizza (650)

Afternoon snack:
nutella on bread (125)
banana (100)

Dinner:
Longhorn steakhouse, who doesn't post nutrtion information. Yikes. I had 5 oz salmon, asparagus, and veggie medley, as well as 1 piece of bread. We'll guess something like (700)

Evening snack:
cereal and milk (250)


water:
IIIII IIIII I

Fruits and veg:
IIIII II

Exercise:
step (550)
weights (300)

Total Calories:
2215

Food Log 10/31

Breakfast:
cereal and milk (240)
apple (50)

Morning snack:
none

Lunch:
Greek yogurt (240)
dried aprocits (50)
string cheese (80)

Afternoon snack:
Green smoothie (260)
cereal (360)

Dinner:
almonds (80)
orange (80)
hot dog/sprite/chips (550)

Evening snack:
orange smoothie (200)

Water:
IIIII IIIII I

Fruits and veg:
IIIII IIII

Exercise:
none, slacked today.

Total calories:
2190

Food Log 10/30

Ok, so really, I'm back on the wagon today. For real. Seriously, this time.

Breakfast:
shredded wheat and milk (265)
banana (100)

Morning snack:
dried apricots (120)
pb bread (100)

Lunch:
cake (350)
pasta (250)


Afternoon snack:
cake (300) Seriously, we MUST get rid of this stupid cake! MUST!

Dinner:
pasta and sauce (400)

Evening snack:
orange (80)

Water:
IIIII IIIII III

Fruits and veg:
IIIIII I

Exercise:
pilates mat (150)
ABL-strength (350)

Total calories:
1965

Food log 10/29

Breakfast:
banana (100)
kashi and milk (300)

morning snack:
cake. Uh huh, cake. (300)

Lunch:
apple (50)
red pepper and feta sandwich (150)

Afternoon snack:
dried apricots (50)
banana (100)
cake (200)

Dinner:
Panasia, guessing here (700)
banana (100)

Evening snack:
cake (250)

Water:
IIIII IIIII III

Fruits and veg:
IIIII IIII

Total Calories:
2300

Food semi-log 10/28

Yesterday was the FP fourth birthday. She's amazing and precious, and I'm so glad to have her. But yesterday was stressful. She woke up wanting a Sleeping Beauty birthday cake, and I hadn't planned to make her one until small group on Thursday. The Look Alike spilled water into my computer's power strip. I dropped a VHS on my toe and it's bruised and swollen to high heaven. Enter mayhem and foolishness, and the day got away from me. So sorry to slack yet AGAIN, but here's a list of stuff I ate:

cereal and milk (Kashi honey flax and almond) (300)
banana (100)
pasta and sauce (210)
greek yogurt (170)
dried apricots (150)
cake batter and icing (150)
bread (150)
pizza at Chuck E Cheese (700)
store-bought birthday cake (enter my shame) 200

Water:
IIIII IIII

Fruits and Veg:
IIIII (oh now that's just ridiculous)

Exercise: Pilates mat (I was the demonstrator while Pam taught, very cool) (200)

Total Calories: 2030, not nearly as bad as I thought.

I'm back...

And needing to get back on the wagon. Yesterday I was just too exhausted to log my food, but it looked something like this:

shredded wheat and milk
2 eggs
string cheese
tortilla chips/salsa
dried apricots (heaps of them, probably 200 calories worth)
pasta and sauce
broccoli
green smoothie

I'm checking in. On vacation, I gained weight. No surprise there, as the sheer volume of food went beyond ridiculous straight on toward stupid. Never again will I get the deluxe dining plan, never. I thought that since we needed to feed the CCM, that would take care of it, but it was still way too much. I found myself dreading meal times.

Anyhow, so it looks like I gained 3 lbs last week (since Thursday). Possible, but I'm guessing that is due, in part, to sluggish digestion and refined salt. Hopefully it'll even out over the next week and I can get back on the weight loss train!

I have a new goal, and that's to get certified to teach pilates. It's been my goal for some time, but now, because of my stupid job, it looks like it will need to be done sooner rather than later. Totally ok, teaching would be light years more fun. It would be like east to west more fun. That is all. Now I must work on my birthday princess' Sleeping Beauty cake, as it is her precious birthday.

Food log 10/21

Breakfast:
cereal (150)
milk/rice milk (50)

Morning snack:
none

Lunch:
bread with Nutella (125)
leftover Ted's (350)
dried apricots (50)

Afternoon snack:
string cheese (80)
green smoothie (250)

Dinner:
eggs (175)
pear (75)
butternut squash soup (150)
dried apricots (50)

Evening snack:
bread with Nutella (125)

Water:
IIIII II

Fruits and veg:
IIIII II

Exercise:
Zumba (300)

Total Calories:
1630

Weekly Check-In

Checking in
Week 1: 149.8 (9/23) 1890 calories on average
Week 2: 146.8 (9/30) 1974 calories on average
Week 3: 146.2 (10/7) 1792 calories on average
Week 4: 145.0 (10/14) 1946 calories on average
Week 5: 145.2 (10/21) 2057 calories on average

Last week I spent the entire week just STARVING! It was so strange. Also, I didn't get to the gym Friday because of the torrential rains, Saturaday because of Elijah House, or Sunday (don't ask about Sunday, I was NOT happy with the Music Man), and I usually burn half a pound during those classes alone (1700-1800 calories).

Tomorrow we leave for Disney World, and I have no idea what their nutrition information is like. I'll be back bext week!

Food log 10/20

Breakfast:
cereal (150)
milk/rice milk (50)

Morning snack:
oatmeal flax cookies (160)

Lunch:
half my bison pot roast w/ mashed potatoes and green beans (Ted's): 340

Afternoon snack:
oatmeal flax cookies (160)
green smoothie (225)

Dinner:
oatmeal flax cookies (now in the freezer b/c clearly I have NO SELF CONTROL!) (400)
taco salad (250)
dried apricots (50)


Water:
IIIII IIIII I

Fruits and veg:
IIIII IIIII I

Exercise:
kickboxing (500)
Reformer (200)

Total Calories:
1785

Food log 10/19

I think my appetite is getting out of control! Seriously, I'm hungry ALL DAY LONG! No, I don't think I'm pregnant (several people have asked).

Breakfast:
cereal and milk (200)

Morning snack:
none

Lunch:
tortilla chips (250)
enchilada, rice, and tostada (750)
birthday cake (220)

Afternoon snack:
string cheese (160)

Dinner:
oatmeal flax cookies (600)
cheez its (120)

Total calories:
2300

Arg. Didn't get to the gym, don't ask. Tomorrow will require much sweat to atone for last week's lack of workouts!

Food log 10/18

Breakfast:
cereal and milk (300)

Morning snack:
green smoothie (250)
dried apricots (100)

Lunch:
pear (60)
butternut squash soup (125)
brown rice w/ feta and roasted red peppers (250)

Afternoon snack:
banana chips (150)
string cheese (80)

Dinner:
bread w/ nutella (275)
tuna cakes (100)
soup (50)
cereal (225)

Evening snack:
dried apricots (50)

Water:
IIIII IIIII

Fruits and veg:
IIIII IIIII II

Total calories:
2015

Food log 10/17

OK, today was crazy insane, so here's the list, not broken down by time:

Cereal (150)
milk (60)
pear (80)
cupcakes (600)
ww pasta (150)
green beans (30)
dried apricots and banana chips (100)
green smoothie with kefir (325)
tacos (300)
cereal (200)

Water:
IIIII IIII

Fruit and veg:
IIIII IIII

Total:
1995

Food log 10/16

Breakfast:
banana (90)
cereal (150)
milk (60)

Morning snack:
string cheese (80)

Lunch:
cupcake (200)
string cheese (80)

Afternoon snack:
cupcakes (400)

Dinner:
ww pasta (250)
rosted green beans (50)
banana (100)

Evening snack:
cupcakes again (!) (400)
cereal and milk (150)

Water:
IIIII IIII

Fruits and veg:
IIIII II

Exercise:
pilates (150)

Total calories:
2010 And really, for having eaten FIVE CUPCAKES, that's not terrible.

Homemade Kefir

I've made homemade yogurt off and on for years, but I've just recently gotten into kefir. Whereas yogurt is a bit of a pain because you have to babysit it, kefir is ridiculously easy. It's almost stupidly easy to make. Here's the process:

1. Scald a quart of milk.
2. Let cool to 110 degrees or so
3. Mix starter (purchased at a health food store, or 1/2 c. purchased kefir) into milk
4. Shake, then pour everything into a clean jar or jars
5. Let stand for 24-36 hours until it thickens and smells slightly sour


That's it. Seriously. And since it has more good stuff for your gut than yogurt, I think this will be our new dairy of choice. Yay!!

Food log 10/15

Breakfast:
cereal (150)
milk (60)

Morning snack:
challah and nutella (150)

Lunch:
ww pasta and sauce (200)
yokids (80)
challah and nutella--note to self MUST NOT BUY MORE NUTELLA (120)

Afternoon snack:
green smoothie with homemade kefir (300)
dried apricots (100)
challah and Nutella AGAIN! I must be stopped! (100)

Dinner:
turkey sausage (150)
apple pancakes (220)
syrup (75)

Evening snack:
string cheese (80)
2 small bananas (180)
straw and blue ice cream (225)

Water:
IIIII IIIII I

Fruits and veg:
IIIII IIII

Exercise:
Cardio Super Sculpt (360)

Total calories:
2090

Food log 10/14

I cannot BELIEVE how hungry I was tonight. I was ravenous, which I am not typically. That's ok with me, it's just so strange to feel SO hungry!

Breakfast:
cereal blend (225)
milk (75)

Morning snack:
none

Lunch:
dried apricots (50)
tortilla chips (50)
Challah and nutella (125)
string cheese (80)
roast beef (20)

Afternoon snack:
green smoothie (180)
dried apricots (100)

Dinner:
whole wheat penne and sauce (550)

Evening snack:
cereal (300)
milk (150)
dried apricots (100)
challah and nutella (150)
green smoothie (50)

Water:
IIIII III

Fruits and veg:
IIIII IIIII I

Exercise:
Zumba (300)

Total Calories:
2205

Checking in

Week 1: 149.8 (9/23) 1890 calories on average
Week 2: 146.8 (9/30) 1974 calories on average
Week 3: 146.2 (10/7) 1792 calories on average
Week 4: 145.0 (10/14) 1946 calories on average

Not bad, actually lost a pound this week! So for the first month of this experiment, I lost 4.8 lbs. I'm shocked and pleasantly surprised by this!

Food log 10/13

Breakfast:
Green smoothie (150)

Morning snack:
none

Lunch:
Green smoothie (100)
string cheese (80)
roast beef (20)
challah and nutella (150)

Afternoon snack:
dried apricots (50)
challah 100)

Dinner:
cereal blend (150)
milk (75)
salad (75)

Evening snack:
green smoothie (450)
dried apricots (50)
banana chips (75)
challah and nutella (125)

Water:
IIIII IIIII II

Fruits and veg:
IIIII IIIII IIIII I

Exercise:
Reformer

Total Calories:
1650

Food log 10/12

It's my birthday and I'll eat what I want to....

Breakfast:
cereal blend (150)
milk/rice milk (50)
grapes (30)

Morning snack:
granola bars (180)

Lunch:
Roasted red pepper and feta panini (300)
yobaby (110)
dried apricots (50)

Afternoon snack:
challah and nutella (yes, again) (120)

Dinner:
chips and salsa (no idea really, we'll round it off) (300)
grilled chicken tacos w/ black beans and roasted veggies (570)
brownie ice cream thing--half (700)

Evening snack:
Um, nothing. I can barely BREATHE I'm so full!

Water:
IIIII IIIII IIIII

Fruits and veg:
IIIII I --TRULY pathetic!

Total calories:
2560

Food log 10/11

Breakfast:
cerreal blend (150)
milk/rice milk (50)
banana (100)

Morning snack:
chips ahoy, sigh (120)

Lunch:
squash casserole (125)
yobaby (110)
challah and nutella (150)

Afternoon snack:
string cheese (80)
roast beef (20)
challah and nutella (150)
grapes (75)

Dinner:
dried apricots (80)
squash casserole (120)

Evening snack:
green smoothie (230)
challah and nutella (120)

Water:
IIIII IIII

Fruits and veg:
IIIII IIIII III

Exercise:
step (600)
weights (300)

Total calories:
1780

Checking in

I forgot to check in for the last couple of weeks with all the craziness, so here's a quick catch-up

Week 1: 149.8 (9/23) 1890 calories on average
Week 2: 146.8 (9/30) 1974 calories on average
Week 3: 146.2 (10/7) 1792 calories on average

So not bad at all, really. I'm eating when I want to and only by the grace of God am I losing weight. Amazing, really!

Food log 10/10

Breakfast:
cereal (150)
milk/rice milk (50)
banana (100)

Moning snack:
dried apricots (50)
banana chips (150)

Lunch:
challah and nutella (200)
string cheese (80)

Afternoon snack:
challah (125)
banana (100)

Dinner:
squash casserole (300)
salad (60)
yobaby (110)

Evening snack:
cherry garcia froyo (200)
green smoothie (200)
more challah (100) This is SUCH a good challah!

water:
IIIII IIIII III

fruits and veg:
IIIII IIIII IIIII

exercise:
kids weren't up for boot camp, so we skipped today :(

Total calories:
1975

Food log 10/9

Breakfast:
cereal blend (150)
milk/rice milk (50)
banana (100)

Morning snack:
dried apricots (50)

Lunch:
2 eggs (160)

Afternoon snack:
green smoothie (240)
2 pieces challah (300)

Dinner:
tacos (470)

Evening snack:
cherry garcia froyo (375)
challah (175)

Water:
IIIII IIII

Fruits and veg:
IIIII IIII

Exercise:
pilates mat (200)

Total calories:
2070

Food log 10/8

Breakfast:
cereal blend (150)
milk/rice milk (50)
banana (100)

Morning snack:
dried apricots (100)

Lunch:
nachos (260)
scuppernong grapes (60)

Afternoon snack:
green smoothie with kefir (240)
string cheese (80)

Dinner:
muscadine grapes (100)
chicken sandwich (400)
2 banana (200)
dried apricots (200)

Evening snack:
string cheese (80)
cereal (150)
milk/rice milk (50)

Water:
IIIII IIIII I

Fruits and veg:
IIIII IIIII II

Exercise:
None, taking Wednesdays off instead of Tuesdays with the addition of Zumba

Total Calories:
2220

Food log 10/7

Breakfast:
cereal blend (150)
milk (60)
apple (40)

Morning snack:
cookie (220)

Lunch:
Green smoothie (210)
dried apricots (50)

Afternoon snack:
string cheese (80)

Dinner:
taco salad (350)

Evening snack:
cereal blend (150)
milk (60)

Water:
IIIII IIIII I

Fruits and veg:
IIIII IIIII

Exercise:
Zumba (300)

Total calories:
1370

Food log 10/6

Breakfast:
cereal blend (150)
milk (60)

Morning snack:
hot tea w/ lemon juice, honey, and cayenne pepper for sore throat (50)
dried apricots (30)

Lunch:
chicken w/ roasted red pepper sauce (250)
fried yucca (250)

Afternoon snack:
apple (50)
green smoothie (350)
dried apricots (50)

Dinner:
taco salad (350)

Evening snack:
ice cream (200)
dried apricots (50)

Water:
IIIII IIIII I

Fruits and veg:
IIIII IIIII IIII

Exercise:
90 minutes reformer (230)

Total calories:
1840

Cereal

I've noticed that things taste much sweeter to me than they used to since getting off of refined sugar, and cereal is particularly oversweet. Last night I made a mix of:

1 box honey nut cheerios
1/2 bag organic, unsweetened puffed rice
1/2 bag organic, unsweetened puffed wheat
3 cups corn flakes

This morning we tried it, and it's still quite sweet, so I may add the rest of the rice and wheat. I can't complain though, I imagine that those 4 boxes of cereal will last us the whole month, and it was only $5 for all of them (thank you Kroger and Whole Foods)! So tasty!

Food log 10/5

I'm sick, sigh. The stupid antibiotics from my dental surgery have left me totally defenseless, and I'm sick. Did I mention that I never get sick? Anyhow, so we ran to the natural foods store after church to grab some kefir and nori, hopefully these will help support my body a bit better than regular yogurt. Plain kefir, btw, is totally pleasant in a smoothie!

Breakfast:
Kashi GoLean (140)
milk (60)

Morning snack:
granola bar (150)

Lunch:
Green smoothie with kefir (350)

Afternoon snack:
dried apricots (50)

Dinner:
grilled chicken with roasted red pepper sauce (Bahama Breeze--estimating) (250)
Roasted Cuban bread (estimating) (500)
Fried yucca (estimating) (250)

Evening snack:
green smoothie with kefir (350)

2100

Green Smoothie with Kefir

In light of the destruction of my immune system due to the dreaded antibiotics last week, I'm looking for ways to support my intestinal flora (nice, eh?). Today it was sooo tasty both, so I thought I'd share:

1 cup organic kefir (I used whole milk plain the first time, and pomegranate and acai the second time, which is much more tart)
1 c. water
1 banana
1 c. blueberries
8 strawberries
1 orange, with zest grated into smoothie
greens!

It was so tasty that I made a second one tonight. Much higher in calories than my usual, but I really feel like I need the ten bacteria in there (my yogurt only has two to three). Seriously, tasty. I plan on starting to make my own kefir if I can find some grains!

Food log 10/4

OK, so today I'm concentrating mostly on green smoothie and probiotics since they made me take amoxicillin (ugh) and opened up my gums yesterday for the dental implant.

Breakfast:
banana (100)
Kashi GoLean (140)
milk (60)

Morning snack:
dried apricots (100)
yogurt (120)
pear (80)
banana chips (150)

Lunch:
burrito (360)
yogurt (110)
green smoothie (165)

Afternoon snack:
oatmeal and yogurt (260)
tortilla chips (90)

Dinner:
green smoothie (300)
dried apricots (100)
cereal (300)

Evening snack:
popsicle (80)
string cheese (80)
toast (110)
eggs (210)

Holy stinking cow was I hungry today! I feel like I just ate all day long, and was somewhat embarassed to write it all down. Sigh. I turned my ankle at step this morning (it's fine now), so I didn't stay and do weights. The Monster is sick and puked all over me when we came home from the Princess' soccer game. He clung to me mercilessly all night, and I'm still trying to stave off a migraine as a result of the anesthesia from yesterday. Not a great day. That is all.

Exercise:
1 hour step (530)

Water:
Didn't count, but not enough. Probably only about 10 cups

Fruits and veg:
IIIII IIIII IIIII II

Total Calories:
2815

Food log 10/3

Is sort of a joke. I had oral surgery this morning, and there is now a big titanium screw in my lower rear jaw.

No idea when I ate what, but I had:
bread (120)
banana split cake (400)
banana (120)
burritos (720)
Baskin Robbins (240)
banana (120)
green smoothie (220)

total:
1940 or so, I dunno, I'm groggy from the drugs!

Food log 10/2

Breakfast:
steel-cut oatmeal with maple syrup and NSA strawberry jam (210)

Morning snack:
banana chips (40)

Lunch:
pear (80)
ww pasta and sauce (250)
tortilla chips (25)
string cheese (60)
roast beef (20)

Afternoon snack:
dried apricots (50)
green smoothie (165)

Dinner:
ww pasta and sauce (250)
yobaby (110)


Evening snack:
2 slices banana split cake (600)

Water:
IIIII IIII

Fruits and veg:
IIIII II

Exercise:
I've been totally derailed this week, and had to skip pilates today because the instructor got sick, then the Music Man had conferences for the other class I could take. Bah. Nothing tomorrow b/c of the oral surgery. Hopefully I'll be feeling good enough on Saturday to do my normal two hours.

Total Calories:
1860

Food log 10/1

Breakfast:
Kashi GoLean (140)
milk (60)

Morning snack:
dried apricots (50)

Lunch:
pb&j (300)
half a pear (40)

Afternoon snack:
green smoothie (175)
pear (80)
string cheese (60)
Roast beef (20)

Dinner:
WW pasta and sauce (500)
salad (50)
cookies (200)

Evening snack:
papaya, banana, and strawberry smoothie (220)

Water:
IIIII IIIII IIII

Fruits and veg:
IIIII IIIII II

Exercise: I planned to go to cardio super sculpt, but when I realized my family had not been home together on a week night for more than two months, I decided to hang out with my peeps tonight.

Total calories:
1890

Week 1 Menu

I haven't gone to the grocery store yet, so this week's meals will just be stuff that we have on hand! What I make each day depends on how much time I have, so they won't be in this particular order

*Broccoli quiche with mashed potato crust with sliced pears and apples
*Butternut squash soup with fresh bread
*Pancakes with turkey sausage and fruit
*Baked polenta and a green salad
*Savory millet pancakes and roasted squash fries with chili powder
*Whole wheat pasta and sauce and green beans and salad
*Dinner with in-laws (they buy, how nice)

The $250 challenge

I've been looking over my grocery spending over the last few months. For three years, I got by on $300 a month for food and household supplies (cleaning supplies, diapers/wipes, health and beauty, etc). A few mos. ago I asked the Music Man to increase my budget to $400, and the last two months, I've gone over that significantly. I know that part of it is that we eat a ridiculous amount of produce, and our little garden literally gave us one tomato this year. One.

On the other hand, I mist get back to our simpler way of eating. We love beans, peas, lentils. I adore those walnut oatmeal burgers from last week. And since it's getting to be winter fruit and veg season, I'm just as happy to use frozen as fresh. So for the month of October, my challenge to myself is to spend $250 on food. Given that we buy oragnic milk, yogurt and grains, Kashi cereal, and free-range and antibiotic-free eggs, this could be a problem. I picked $250 because it's about half what I've been spending.

Just this morning I made rice milk. My kids used to love it, but I stopped buying it about six months ago. I figured that I own a $400 blender, and it should be used for more than salad dressing, smoothies, ice cream, gazpacho, the occasional hummus...OK, so I guessi t gets a lot of use anyhow, but that's not my point. Why the heck not give it a try when the only expense is 1 cup cooked organic brown rice, 1 t. homemade vanilla extract, and 1 T. honey. What remains to be seen is what the kids think of it on their cereal tomorrow morning, but I imagine they'll like it.

In the interest of full disclosure, we'll be at Disney World Oct 22-26, and nothing we spend there will be included. This experiment is only Oct 1-21 and 27-31. :)

I'll keep you posted as to how it's going; I'm nervous but excited!

Food log 9/30

Breakfast:
Kashi GoLean (140)
milk(60)

morning snack:
grapes (50)

Lunch:
pear (80)
roast beef (30)
string cheese (60)
oatmeal(110)
2 almonds (15)

Afternoon snack:
Green smoothie (160)
dried apricots (50)
ww toast with NSA strawberry preserves (120)

Dinner:
veggie stir fry (100)
brown rice (150)
cookies (200)

Evening snack:
kashi blueberry flakes (200)
milk (60)
dried apricots (50)

Water:
IIIII III

Fruits and veg:
IIIII IIIIII

Total calories:
1735

Food log 9/29

Breakfast:
Banana (100)
Kashi GoLean (140)
milk (60)

Morning snack:
grapes (50)

Lunch:
2 eggs (140)
unsweetened applesauce (50)

Afternoon snack:
green smoothie (190)
string cheese (60)
roast beef (40)
Kashi cookie (130)

Dinner:
dried apricots (60)
tuna cakes with red pepper coulis (160)
salad (40)

Evening snack:
Back to Nature cookies (200)

Water:
IIIII IIIII IIIII

Fruits and veg:
IIIII IIIII III

Exercise:
Kickboxing (500)
Reformer (255)

It was a cookie day! They did a thing at church yesterday with Oreos and frankly, I couldn't bring myself to eat one. The kids asked for "chocolate cookies" (they've never had Oreos), so I bought these. Not exactly healthy, but MUCH better than the alternative!

Total Calories:
1420

Food log 9/28

Breakfast:
banana (100)
steel-cut oatmeal (280)

Morning snack:
none

Lunch:
taco/burrito (630)
pear (70)

Afternoon snack:
none

Dinner:
banana (100)
sweet bean burrito(225)
yobaby (110)
half an orange (40)


Evening snack:
ice cream (290)

Water:
IIIII IIIII IIII

Fruits and veg:
IIIII II

Exercise:
1 hour step (450)

Total Calories:
1850

And People EAT This?

That's a picture of a McDonald's hamburger. From 1996. Go check out this post to read more.

Food log 9/27

Breakfast:
Kashi GoLean (140)
milk (60)

Lunch:
String cheese (80)
roast beef (60)
green smoothie (200)

Afternoon snack:
Banana chips (150)
Dried apricots (60)

Dinner:
Red stroganoff (450)
salad (50)
Banana (100)
orange (60)

Evening snack:
ice cream (260)

Water:
IIIII IIIII III

Fruits and veg:
IIIII IIIII II

Exercise:
1 hour weights (240)
1 hour step (525)

Total calories:
1670

Walnut Oatmeal Burgers

Last night I made these for dinner from Everybody Likes Sandwiches, and they are out of this world. They're substantial and tasty, so I'd love for you to try them! Be sure to check out her other recipes, they're actually categorized. On a blog! Organization! It's wonderful.

walnut oatmeal burgers
burger mixture:
2 c walnut pieces
2 c rolled oats
½ c breadcrumbs
3 eggs, slightly beaten
½ c skim milk
1 onion, chopped fine
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 t sage
1 t salt
1 pinch red pepper flake
a few shakes of Worcestershire sauce
freshly ground black pepper to taste

for cooking burgers:
oil to brown patties
3 c vegetable stock*

1. Grind walnuts in blender and combine with the rest of the burger mixture ingredients. Let the mixture rest in refrigerator for about an hour to let the flavors meld together.

2. Form the mixture into patties. The entire mixture will make 8-12 burgers depending on the size patty formed (ours made 10).

3. Brown patties on both sides in a lightly oiled skillet, then pour the stock into the skillet and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 25 minutes. Serve on buns with all your burger fixings.

* If you are only cooking up half the mixture now and half later, be sure to also half the amount of stock. So use 1 ½ c of stock per half batch.

Food log 9/26

Breakfast:
Kashi GoLean (140)
milk (60)

Lunch:
Walnut oatmeal burger (240)

Afternoon snack:
Green smoothie (225)
grapes (50)

Dinner:
yobaby (110)
walnut oatmeal burger (240)
plum (30)

Evening snack:
Kashi blueberry flakes (200)
milk (60)
chips: 180
green smoothie (210)

Water:
IIIII IIII

Fruits and veg:
IIIII IIIII IIIII I

Total Calories:
1755

From Jordan Rubin today:

Take Stock of How You're Feeling

"Are you too caught up in the details of your health plan to know whether it's actually working? Take a step back. Instead of worrying over every bite you take, ask yourself how you feel today, inside and out. Sometimes, taking a look at the whole picture can help you appreciate how far you've come and what's truly important. Consider this story from the book of Luke:

As Jesus and his disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a village where a woman named Martha welcomed them into her home. Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord's feet, listening to what he taught. But Martha was worrying over the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, "Lord, doesn't it seem unfair to you that my sister sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me."

But the Lord said to her, "My dear Martha, you are so upset over all these details! There is really only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it — and I won't take it away from her." (Luke 10:38-42 NLT) "

Amen, JR. Amen.

Food log 9/25

Breakfast:
Kashi GoLean (140)
milk (55)

Morning snack:
banana (110)

Lunch:
Sweet bean burrito filling (150)
Sour cream (60)
Homemade tortilla (210)

Afternoon snack:
Green smoothie (180)

Dinner:
2 Walnut oatmeal burger (240)
homemade ww bread (180)
Ginger's apple pie (400)

Evening Snack:
yobaby (110)
bread with apricot jam (125)

Water:
IIIII IIIII IIII

Fruits and veg:
IIIII IIIII

Exercise: 1 hour pilates (120)

Total calories:
2200 (yikes!)

Food log 9/24

Breakfast:
Kashi GoLean (140)
milk (60)
banana (110)

Morning Snack:
none

Lunch:
tortilla chips (150)
roast beef (80)
banana chips (50)

Afternoon snack:
green smoothie (225)
pear (80)

Dinner:
chick-fil-a sandwich (410)
yogurt (110)
banana (100)

Evening Snack:
ice cream (200)
cereal (200)

Water:
IIIII IIIII

Fruits and veg:
IIIII IIIII I

Exercise:
none (today was just laziness!)

Total calories:
1915

Food log 9/23

Breakfast:
Kashi blueberry flakes (200)
milk (50)

Morning Snack:
2 plums (60)

Lunch:
whole wheat penne (170)
yokids (80)
house dressing (50)

Afternoon snack:
green smoothie (300)

Dinner:
nachos (325)
string cheese (80)
turkey (20)

Evening Snack:
2 bananas (230)

Water:
IIIII IIIIII

Fruits and veg:
IIIII IIIII I

Total calories:
1565

Exercise:
None, it's Tuesday!

Week 1 Results

It looks like I ate BIG this week, no? The scale proved to be in agreement with my intake, and I'm ok with that.

Last week: 150.4
This week 149.6

I averaged 1890 calories per day, and burned 2785 calories from exercise.

I'll admit, week 1 was hard. The first couple of days, I didn't do anything out of the ordinary. I logged food as I ate (here, not on Sparkpeople.com) and tried to stay within a calorie range. The next couple of days I ignored my satiety signals as I ate pretty much whatever I wanted. Days 6 ad 7 I think I got it just about right.



Here's to week 2!

Food log 9/22

Breakfast:
Kashi GoLean (140)
milk (55)
plum (30)

Morning Snack:
string cheese: (80)

Lunch:
green smoothie (285)
dried apricots (70)
bread stick (70)

Afternoon Snack:
salad (120)
bread stick (70)
plum (30)

Dinner:
whole wheat penne (185)
house dressing (60)
broccoli (30)
bread stick (70)

Evening Snack:
homemade strawberry and blueberry ice cream (350)
kashi GoLean (140)
milk (55)

Water:
IIIII IIIII I

Fruits and veg:
IIIII IIIII IIIII I
Exercise:
1 hour kickboxing (500)
90 mins Reformer (240)

Total Calories: 1840

Food Log 9/21

Breakfast:
Green Smoothie (215)
turkey (20)
string cheese (80)

Morning Snack:
none

Lunch:
eggs (210)
pancakes (80)
syrup (25)

Afternoon Snack:
green smoothie (180)
banana chips (50)

Dinner:
Apricot chicken w/ broccoli and asparagus (olive garden) (450)
Salad (120 ish)
Breadstick (140)

Evening Snack:
layer cake (200)

Water:
IIIII IIIII I

Fruits and veg:
IIIII IIIII IIII

Exercise:
1 hour step (460)

Total calories:
1570

Food Log 9/20

Breakfast:
Blueberry flakes (200)
milk (55)

Morning Snack:
Pluot (80)

Lunch:
Green smoothie (280)
string cheese (80)
turkey (20)

Afternoon snack:
chips and salsa (250)
dried apricots (50)
plum (25)

Dinner:
Turkey sausage: 240
Banana pancakes 290
Maple Syrup 100

Evening Snack:
Ice Cream (100)
Kashi GoLean (140)
Milk (70)
Dried Apricots (35)

Water:
IIIII IIIII IIIII I
Fruits and Veg:
IIIII IIIII II

Exercise:
1 hour weights (240)
1 hour step (500)

Total Calories:
2015

Food log 9/19

Somewhere along the way today, I stopped honoring hunger. Things are pretty intense in my emotional life with this class at church, and this whole thing is a huge change too, and I think I just wanted to eat today. Not in a binge sort of way, more a sampling way. I know that I had pizza, chips, and ice cream after 6, but it was 2 slices of frozen pizza, 8 chips, and about 1/2 cup homemade coconut milk ice cream.

That's not really the point, though. Even though I didn't get to feeling sick, I still ate more than my body was telling me I needed, and I ignored it. I'm sorry body, I will try again tomorrow.

Breakfast:
Kashi GoLean (140)
Milk (55)
banana (100)

Morning Snack:
banana (100)

Lunch:
Dried apricots (50)
Pasta with brie and tomatoes (300)
turkey and string cheese (100)

Afternoon Snack:
Green smoothie (130)
cake (uh huh, I know--350)
pluot (80)

Dinner:
pizza (350)
tortilla chips and fresh salsa (175)

Evening Snack:
chocolate coconut ice cream (80)
pluot (80)

Water:
IIIII IIIII III

Fruits and Veg:
IIIII IIIII III

Exercise:
60 mins boot camp (500)

Total Calories:
2090

Last Night's Dinner--Tomato Brie Pasta

Adapted from allrecipes.com

* 1 (12 ounce) package bow tie pasta (we used whole wheat penne)
* 2 (14.5 ounce) cans Italian-style diced tomatoes (we used fresh)
* 1/2 pound Brie cheese, cubed
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

DIRECTIONS

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, heat tomatoes over medium-high heat. Bring to a slow boil and stir in cheese. Reduce heat to medium-low, and stir to melt cheese.
3. Toss pasta with tomato sauce and top with chopped basil before serving.


Review:
This was quick, easy, and tasty, if a bit bland. Music Man made it since I was at Pilates, and added (wisely) half a chopped onion and 4-5 cloves of garlic. Did I mention that we love garlic? In any case, I also added some Italian seasoning to my portion, and that helped things along a bit. Could've uses some crushed red pepper flake, for sure.

Food log 9/18

Breakfast:
Banana (110)
Kashi GoLean (140)
3 oz whole milk (55)
pluot (80)

Morning snack:
Lemon cream cheese frosting (?? we'll go with 50)
string cheese (80)

Lunch:
taco salad (260)
peach (60)

Afternoon snack:
green smoothie (200)

Dinner:
pasta with brie and tomatoes (200)

Evening snack:
cake (700--yikes)
kashi oat flakes and blueberry clusters (250)

Water:
IIIII IIIII IIII

Fruits and veggies
IIIII IIIII III

Calories: 2165
Exercise: 1 hour Pilates (120)

Food Log 9/17

Today's Experiment: Whether a higher calorie cereal keeps me full longer than my normal (Kashi Oat Flakes & Wild Blueberry Clusters instead of Kashi GoLean)

Breakfast:
cereal (200)
4 oz whole milk (75)

Morning Snack:
sting cheese (80)
dried apricots (55)

Lunch:
burrito (325)
peach (60)

Afternoon Snack:
cake batter (who the heck knows, and it even had raw eggs--50ish?)
bread with nutella (150)

Dinner:
Chick-fil-a sandwich 410
peach 70
yobaby 110


Evening Snack:
strawberry and blueberry ice cream 175

Water:
IIIII IIIII III
Fruits and Veg:
IIIII

Exercise:
Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred Level 2 (6:30 am)

Total calories: 1760

I felt quite good today, really, and realized that I'm doing ok at this right now. I'm in the middle of a really intense class at church that's making me want to eat emotionally, but thankfully I was able to recognize it and resist the things I thought I wanted (though the ice cream Husband made was eaten without a real acknowledgment of "hunger").

Food log 9/16

Breakfast:
Kashi GoLean (140)
4 oz whole milk (75)
banana (110)
*Feel good

Morning Snack:
banana muffin (140)
yobaby yogurt (110)
*Felt snacky, this was a good idea

Lunch:
green smoothie (300)
*Left me full, but not uncomfortably so, right on the line. Have been hungry for so many months that I'm not sure exactly what comfortably full means...

afternoon snack:
turkey (40)
chips (80)
pear (60)
*Feeling almost ill, for SURE did not listen to my body telling me to stop eating at the right time

Dinner:
polenta veggie pizza (350)
salad (50)
*Feel perfectly full, nice.

Evening Snack:
banana muffin (140)
bread with blueberry topping (100)
bread with Nutella (150)
*Carbs much? Mother of MERCY, what's up with that?!

cups water:
IIIII IIIII

fruits and veg:
IIIII IIIII II

exercise:
None, I actually took a day off!

All told, not a bad start. I'm around 1845 calories, which is a weight loss on 0.5 lb for me (not counting exercise, which is right about a pound a week). What an interesting experiment!

Beginning Stats

I started seriously working to lose weight on June 2, so I thought I'd start with my stats from the last three months, as well as today:

June 2, 2008:
181 lbs
39.3% body fat

July 2, 2008:
170.8 lbs.
35.3% body fat

August 2, 2008
160.0 lbs
32.0% body fat

September 2, 2008
151.4 lbs
30.0% body fat

And today, September 16
150.2 lbs
29.3% body fat.

Let's roll!

Hello!

I never thought I'd have one blog, much less two but I'm trying something out. I've been working since the Look Alike was born to lose weight, and I've done relatively well. To date, I've lost 72 lbs, and I'd like to lose another 15-25 more.

But lately I've discovered that I've hit a plateau, and am probably at my set point since I'm at my high school weight. However, I find that I'm hungry much of the time, and other days I force myself to eat when I'm not all that hungry just to hit my intake goal for the day. People talk all the time about trusting your body to give you hunger and satiety signals, but I've always assumed that they couldn't be trusted in this area because they don't have a weight problem like I do. Then I had a light bulb moment. Those people don't have weight problems. Wow.

So I'm giving it a shot. For 365 days, I will eat when I'm hungry, stop when I'm full, and see where my weight goes. Here are the ground rules and lifestyle points that affect this experiment:

Ground rules:
1. I will commit to eating when and what I want, trying to figure out what I'm truly hungry for BEFORE heading into the kitchen

2. I will weigh in every day on physicsdiet.com, and post weekly what changes I have encountered, with monthly stat checks (weight changes, body fat percentage, and perhaps inches).

3. I will drink at least ten glasses of water a day, up to a full gallon (but rarely more)

4. I will exercise a minimum of 7 hours per week, and more when possible.

5. I will log my calories at the end of the day on sparkpeople.com, just to have a record of how my body asks me to feed it.

Lifestyle points:

1. We eat 99% of our meals at home, and we don't eat junk. That means we don't eat hydrogenated oils, artificial colors, sugars, flavors, high fructose corn syrup, white flour, or refined sugar at home, and very rarely anywhere else.

2. I make most everything from scratch, and by scratch I mean grinding my own wheat into flour for baked goods. We prefer organic where financially possible.

3. We don't eat tons of meat or dairy, and we don't eat pork or shellfish at all. The kids and I drink only water unless we're out when I allow them lemonade (and I still drink water).

4. We choose full-fat options for dairy and don't substitute all quantities of fat, though we do try to use the best possible ingredients. For example, 1/2 to 3/4 of the oil in a baked good is replaced with unsweetened applesauce, cream in a recipe with evaporated milk, etc. We also replace eggs often with ground flax seed and water, just because we don't like too much in the way of animal products.

I'm tired of telling my body "no" when it's hungry. I'm tired of pushing it to eat when I know darn well I'm satiated. I need to learn to trust and honor my God-given natural hunger. My hope is to post recipes that we love, info on trusting hunger and satiety signals, and challenges and triumphs in this area. Come along!