Friday, April 30, 2010

A Peek In My Food Journal

I've reached day 5 of eating well, and so far the week has been a success! I've stayed in my calories every day, except yesterday when I went over by 30.  Not going to beat myself up about that, especially because I managed to fit in a much needed glass of wine :).  Chris and I saw Conan live last night, which was hilarious- but a comedy show could be a little rough 100% sober!
I thought I'd share a sample of what a typical day looks like for me, eating around or under 1300 calories. I basically try to live by two major mantras:
-Never feel starving! Once I hit that point, I'll eat anything and everything in my path.  As you'll see in my daily eating, I eat little meals/snacks frequently so I never get to that point.
-Try to eat the good stuff.  I'm not going to be healthy if I eat 4 snickers bars a day and still stay under my calories.  I try to eat fresh, organic, lean, whole foods.  You'd be surprised at how much MORE you can eat if you are eating healthy items, also a good hunger preventer.
Wednesday
7:30am: Steel Cut Trader Joes Oatmeal 150cal
Greens Juice 20 cal (This is SO good for you.  I also buy this at Trader Joes.  It doesn't taste the best but I buy the kind with only veggie juice to keep the calories low)
9am: Coffemade coffee creamer. 30 cal.  (Yes, eventually someday I will give this stuff up... but not today!)
10:30am: Vans brand frozen blueberry waffle. 110 cal.
12:45pm: Quinoa & Chicken mango salad. 240 cal. (Pre-made, from TJ's and that includes dressing!)
3pm: Nonfat Greek Yogurt. 110 cal. And 1/3 cup low fat berry granola. 70 cal. (This keeps me full and satisfies my afternoon sweet tooth)
5pm: Light String Cheese. 60 cal. (Pre-workout to give me a boost so I'm not going to bootcamp starving).
8pm: Flavorful low calorie applesauce pork chop. Check out the recipe HERE. 230 calories. Julia made this for dinner and I'm definitely going to repeat it! Pork is a great lean meat and the apples in it gave such a good sweet/salty flavor combination. Delish!
5 spears asparagus. 25 cal.
Broccoli & Cauliflower. 50 cal.
9pm: A cookie. 35 cal. Yumm :)
Total calories for the day 1,135! I felt great the whole day and had plenty of energy for my workout. Challenge ahead will be being "good" this weekend.  Chris and I have a very fun black tie wedding to go to on Saturday (yay Jen & Kevin!!) and I'm going to allow myself some flexibility on my eating and drinking.  All things in moderation, but will need to stay strong on Sunday because my first weigh in is Monday morning! I'll keep you posted! Have a great weekend!
XO
Chel

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Hi, I'm Hungry. How's Your Day Going?

My body is STRUGGLING today to adjust to going from relaxed eating (and probably 2,000 calories a day) back to my bootcamp calories.  I can have (according to a very complex formula) between 1100 and 1300 calories per day to lose weight at a rate of 1.5 lbs per week.  Day One went smoothly and I came in right at 1100.  Today- reality sets in and I am HUNGRY and cranky and want to eat.  But I am resisting.  After a few days of decreasing the calories, my stomach should "shrink" a little and I won't need as much to feel full. Looking forward to that...
Last night I made a great stir fry that was really low cal.  Trader Joe's has a product that is a pre-made stir fry mix with fresh veggies (chopped onions, mushrooms, broccoli, snap peas, etc) I tossed that into the wok with some grilled chicken and had a little brown rice as a side and it was delicious! Simple, healthy and as Chris commented "very colorful", which is fun!
Breakfast this morning was another Trader Joe's item (they should seriously be paying me for how much I write about them!) Steel Cut Oatmeal frozen oatmeal.  It comes two individual servings to a package (so it's a little more expensive than the packets) but you just put it in a bowl and throw it in the microwave for 2 min and it comes out perfect consistency, and it's only 150 calories! Its so filling when you eat it- but I was hungry again fairly quickly afterword. Don't know if that's because it's a lot of carbs... or just my adjusting back to eating less!
Oh! And I had the dreaded WEIGH IN this morning.  I haven't weighed myself in at least two months (bad, I know) and it wasn't great news, but not the end of the world.  I've gained 4 pounds since the end of my last bootcamp.  Disappointing- but definitely something I can deal with. I was secretly afraid- and have been feeling recently like I'd gone completely off the deep end and was going to have gained 10, so 4 was actually a relief! Being back in Bootcamp,  I've realized now is the time to focus, commit and really change my body in the next 12 weeks.  It's only 12 weeks!
I'm going to go drink some water now. Yummm :)
XO
Chel

Monday, April 26, 2010

Back on the Bootcamp Bandwagon...

As of this morning I'm once again committed to the 12 week torture program "Fit To Wed" http://www.getfit2wed.com/ to be whipped into shape.  3x a week, two 75 minute workouts, one 90 minute workout.  Combine that with calorie counting and food journaling (they check to make sure you're doing it!) and I think I can hit my goal weight, which happens to be a New Years Resolution of mine.  No time like the present! (I'm strangely chipper for a Monday)
Waking up today and knowing that I'm on the program actually felt like more of a relief than anything.  I'm looking forward to getting back on track and feeling good.
Bootcamp was what motivated me to create this blog in the first place, and I'm sure that it's going to provide PLENTY of inspiration which I will obviously continue to share! Stay tuned...
XO
Chel

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Explore. Indulge. Enjoy.

Words of advice Chris and I received during our Vegas weekend, and I can tell you- we absolutely did! From start to finish the weekend was over the top excess and a whole lot of fun. I’ll stick to the food related details…
Friday night we had dinner at Tod English’s Olives at the Bellagio.  They have a TINY patio that you can’t make reservations for which overlooks the lake and amazing fountain show. Definitely worth the wait, we had an incredible view and the food was outstanding. I had seared scallops and Chris had a double cut pork chop. The blue cheese stuffed Olives (as the restaurant is named for) in my Dirty Martini really hit the spot...and with the fountains and music in the background, I felt like I was in a grown up fairy tale! 
The food was so good we went back the following day for wine and an appetizer- the beef carpaccio, which competes for one of the best things I had all weekend.  
Dinner Saturday night was Beso, which is Eva Longoria’s restaurant at the new Aria/City Center.  We obviously had to try “Eva’s Guac” although I’m not sure I really believe she eats or makes it… I had shortribs and Chris went for seared ahi, both of which were delicious and HUGE portions.  Neither of us finished ours.  Highlight of that meal was actually a BLT salad (brilliant idea!) with whole strips of the best bacon I’ve ever eaten in my life on top. I am a bacon addict- so my opinion might be a little biased- but I’d classify that as a can’t miss.
 Ok- indulging time is over.  I’ve had a few relaxed weeks of eating and a weekend of ridiculousness and it's time to get back on track. (I almost bit Chris's head off last week when he dried a pair of my jeans because I was afraid they wouldn't fit if they shrank... not a good sign) Back to the dreaded calorie counting and food journaling. Plan for this week is before I put food in my mouth- THINK about it. Is it worth eating? I don’t want to waste calories on crap food. I’d rather save my indulgences for quality and appreciate it rather than falling into a routine of eating junk, which is so easy to do!
I read an article about Cindy Crawford (who at 44 looks 100x better than I did at 24) and she was saying that the key to her success was eating 80% good 80% of the time.  I like that attitude. I'm going to channel Cindy this week and make good choices.  
XO
Chel

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Carb Watch- Day 2

Chris and I survived Day 1, Carb Free! 24 hours down, 24 to go till Vegas! We both faced temptations yesterday- his in the form of fresh baked cookies sitting all afternoon directly across from his office.

Yes this is literally a picture he sent me of the cookies :)

Temptation for me came in the form of Easter chocolate & candy still hanging around the office kitchen. And a moment of weakness last night when I asked him “Are you SURE wine has carbs in it?” Apparently it does.
BUT- we stayed strong and had a healthy dinner of stir fry veggies and grilled chicken with a teriyaki sauce. I did go to bed a little hungry- but woke up with my stomach feeling a tiny (visible only to me) bit flatter.
I did a quick trip to Trader Joe’s last night to pick up dinner/food till we leave.
Here’s my TJs Carb Free Shopping List:
Veggies:
* Bell Peppers (had these chopped up this a.m. in a egg white scramble… yum! Also a good salad topper)
* Vegetable Mélange (this is a frozen veggie mix is a butter-ish sauce- it’s DELICIOUS and filling when you want something warm plus- carb free!)
* Cucumbers
* Pre Cut Stir Fry Fresh Veggies (put these and chicken in the Wok last night for dinner)
* Bagged Romaine and Baby spinach
Mains:
* BBQ pulled chicken (this stuff is SO good- LOVE it on sandwiches but for this week, I’m using it as a salad topper. 130 calories for a good sizes serving. It’s in the pre-made section)
* Chicken Breast Tenders
Snacks:
* Beef Jerky (great snack)
* Light String Cheese (60 cals a piece)
* Pre Shelled Edamame
* Spicy Egg White Salad- Ranchero flavor. (eat by the spoonful or make a lettuce wrap!)
Misc:
* Pear Champagne Salad dressing (45 cals for 2tbs and it has yummy Gorgonzola in it!)
* Sparkling Water (to distract me from not drinking wine with dinner. It didn’t really work)
But really- it's all to prepare for an amazing weekend of eating and drinking. I may try to eat well &count my calories when I need to, but at heart I'm truly a food lover & wannabe gourmet! We have reservations at Olive's at the Bellagio for Friday night (before we go see "O" Circque De Soleil which I'm really excited about!) and Beso for Saturday night. FOOD overload. I can just taste that bread basket now :)
XO
Chel

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Miss Me?

Where to start? First by apologizing for how LONG it’s been since I blogged, obviously you were all dying of anticipation. Second- to tell you that unlike Brooke’s prediction for why I wasn’t blogging “Oh I thought you probably just got fat and didn’t want to talk about it” (thanks for the support B) I’ve actually just had a really busy past month and as I was struggling to find time to exercise and eat decently- well, writing about it kind of became last priority.

Or maybe I just didn’t want to confess my addiction to Easter Candy :)

But today I’ve got a topic I wanted to share- Chris and I are headed to Vegas this weekend and in preparation have decided to cut carbs and sugar for the next two days till we go. Obviously I’m not going to get a 6 pack in the next 48 hours, but sometimes even just feeling a little bit thinner or having a slightly flatter stomach can make you feel a lot better in a bathing suit (weather forecast says it’s going to be 80 degrees!). Funny though because I realized how HARD it is, without proper preparation to cut carbs from your diet! This morning I woke up and had a hard boiled egg for breakfast (thank you Easter Bunny) and tried to pack some things for lunch but the only thing I was able to grab was a string cheese. Think I’ll be heading out to find a salad today! Anyway it inspired me to find a list of foods that had I been a little more prepared would have been helped me stock my fridge for a carb free week.
I decided to go the South Beach Diet way, as compared to Adkins because my brain just refuses to accept I’d do my body any bit of good by eating bacon, eggs, and cheese for the next two days (although it kind of sounds fun to try!) South Beach Diet is more of a moderate low carb diet that isn't as high fat and more "good carb" friendly. However, their phase one which I decided to loosely replicate, is pretty strict and what they have you stick to in the beginning of the diet to jumpstart weight loss.
It recommends VEGGIES, lean proteins, light cheese & dairy products and a limited amount of nuts. No carbs, fruit, sugar. See here for a phase one shopping list:
http://www.southbeach-diet-plan.com/shoppinglist_p1.htm.
If you are looking to jump start your weight loss, or get back on track, put down the bread basket and take a week or two to clean up and simplify your eating habits.
I’ll let you know how it works for me- although I’m pretty sure the Vegas weekend will quickly undo any forward progress- but I’ll plan to go back on this eating plan for a few days when I get back.
Missed blogging! Fun to be back and promise to try to be better!
XO
Chel