Back To Basics

As I mentioned in a previous blog, I've been doing some "content writing" for health and fitness websites.  Well today my editor sent an article I had written back to me saying that I cannot write in the first person.  Oops! But I LIKE talking about myself and my point of view :). I realized I must be pretty overdue for a blog, where I am free to say "I think" as many times as I want.

Healthy? Not necessarily.

So what have I been thinking? I think I need to focus.  Lately I have been all over the place with my eating without a real plan.  Some days I do great all day, then come home and snack till dinner. Other days, I eat poorly at lunch and then the rest of the day seems like a free for all. Other days, I eat great and wake up feeling good the next morning, but one day of healthy eating does not a flat stomach make!
I knew I was in trouble the other night when I had dinner out with friends and although a french dip sandwich was calling my name, I decided to be "smart" and order the soup and salad.  But then I ordered a tomato bisque and Cesar salad.  I forgot to request the dressing on the side, and when the salad arrived, it was coated in dressing, topped with cheese, and covered in croutons.  The bisque was so rich it was almost oily.  I probably would have been better off with my original sandwich craving! It felt like amateur hour and I realized how out of practice I was at being a conscious eater. A few months ago I would have reacted differently in the same situation and done one or all of the following:
-Ask if the restaurant had nutritional facts for their food (it was a chain, they should)
-Ask for the dressing on the side. (or don't get a Cesar in the first place)
-Hold the cheese/croutons
-Ask if the soup is cream or broth based.

Don't worry I promise to eat more than this!

Maybe the extra questions would have made me annoying to the waiter or even possibly my dining companions.  But it would have been worth  it to not have to feel guilty after eating soup and salad for dinner!
Anyway- my goal for September is to get back to basics.  Conscious eating and portion control.  Know what's in my food and if it's worth eating. For portion control, it's making sure I'm eating a reasonable portion if it's healthy food, and a small portion if it's an indulgence. 
What are your keys to healthy eating? Is focusing on a few things a good idea?
XO
Chel

Weekends Are Killing My Healthy Eating!

It's no secret how much I LOVE weekends. I count down for them all week and usually have fun events or activities planned to look forward to. BUT lately I'm basically counterbalancing all my healthy eating and hard workouts from the week by completely abandoning my diet on the weekends. And I'll be honest- I don't mean I'm having dessert instead of opting out- we're talking more full time "blowing it" with wine, snacks, large dinners- all my old bad habits coming right back. I've even changed my weekly weigh in from Monday mornings to Tuesday- because I'm afraid to get on the scale on a Monday!
I've talked about before how I struggle with what I consider "special occasions" that tend to usually be food or drink based. And I guess I'm still struggling. But I just had to set up my 6 week check in appointment for Boot Camp and I am not meeting my goals. I haven't gained weight but I haven't lost any either. SO... I need to get out of this weekend rut. This weekend, I have a major "special occasion" coming up- Brooke's coming into town from NY and we're going out downtown one night, I've promised to cook a crock pot meal another and finally the Chargers game on Sunday. SO... how to get through this one without A. totally loosing it and giving up the diet and B. being totally annoying and food obsessive?
3 Strategies:
1. Be AMAZING this week. What does that mean? 4 bootcamps instead of 3, no drinking on weeknights, pre-planning my meals, packing lunches and lots of chicken and salad dinners!
2. Make a Plan for the weekend. On Friday- limit myself to drinking vodka soda and having no more than 4 through the course of the night. I'm making the crock pot dinner on Saturday- so it's up to me what goes in that pot- I'll pick a healthy recipe and serve veggie sides rather than bread & potatoes. And for the game, I can offer to be the Designated Driver and skip the massive beer consumption of empty calories.
3. Enjoy myself (without thinking about food!). Basically just enjoy my spending time with my best friends which is always a blast no matter WHAT i'm eating (or not eating).
Ok- so that's the plan! I'lll try and give updates on how it goes... if anyone has any reccomendations that might help, leave me a comment!
Chel

Reasons I'm Enjoying Monday

I am usually SUCH a Monday hater- it's not even funny. I strongly believe we should have 3 day work weeks and 4 days weekends. But I'm actually in a decent mood today so I thought I'd figure out/share why...
-I had a great weekend! Chris's parents were in town and we really had a nice time & got to do some fun things- I actually felt like I was on vacation too! Dinner at Tractor Room was a highlight (plank roasted salmon- YUM) as well as a beautiful hike at Torrey Pines. Finished off the weekend by an evening of reading a great book (Memory Keeper's Daughter) with a blanket by our outdoor fire place with a glass of wine and Ry on my lap. I don't think it gets better than that.
-I have a week off of Boot Camp! There is a one week gap in between the 12 week sessions and I am planning on enjoying it! Brianna my trainer reccomended doing "fun" workouts or things I wouldn't normally do, but nothing too strenous & give my body a chance to recover. Umm you don't have to tell me twice!
-I have as short work week & a vacation! Chris and I are heading to Bloomington, Indiana on Wednesday for a fun weekend in his college town. I'm a little nervous because as we've been making plans pretty much all of them involve some sort of eating or drinking :) But I'll do my best to eat really well this week before we leave & practice some sort of moderation while we're there. (Only one hot dog instead of two at the tailgate?? :))
-And I'm down another pound this week! Even with having company in town & fun dinners last week. To be honest I'm not quite sure how this happened, but I'll take it! Only 8 more to go until my goal weight which is so exciting!
Food wise- I'll share something that's been working for me lately when I'm eating out. Order food a la carte or an appetizer for your main course. It's not only less expensive, it's the correct portion size. I always tell myself if I finish it and still want more, I can order something else- but 95% of the time once I'm done, I'm satisfied. A la carte is good too, because side orders can sometimes contain nearly as many calories as an entree. Or if you decide to order the "meal" ask to see if you can swap the sides for a side salad or fresh fruit. It's not brain science obviously, but it is planning ahead and coming into a restaurant feeling like you have a strategy- rather than just picking what sounds good.
I hope everyone can find a reason to enjoy their Monday!
Chel

No More Excuses

Ok- now is FOCUS time. I am halfway through bootcamp, starting Week 7 and I know that I need to really step up and finish out camp strong if I want to meet my goals.
My birthday (week) is officially over now and I'm ready to work out really hard this week & clean up my eating and drinking. Because the thing I've realized- it is depressing to be off the wagon. Yes it's fun to enjoy a few days of not writing down everything I'm putting in my mouth & enjoying some great food, but it's really an even better feeling to step on the scale and see the number go down or to have your clothes feel loose.
So- my goal for the week is to stay under 1400 calories every single day (no excuses) and go to bootcamp 4x (instead of the usual 3). And now that it's in writing- I am accountable and I will let you all know next Monday if I meet my goal.
My trainer at Boot Camp talks a lot about "bad habits" and how important it is for you to break out of those patterns- for example if you always snack while you're making dinner becuase you're starving, or skipping breakfast, or eating in the car... I think my "bad habit" is making excuses for fun events in my life. It's almost like I think I can't enjoy an event (wedding, party, dinner out) without being able to eat & drink whatever I want. That's the mindset I need to break out of. Rather than aviod fun events I need to plan ahead and have a strategy to help me remind myself WHY events or occasions are fun (hint.. it's about the people & the activity, not the refreshments).
Tonight Chris is BBQing chicken- so we should be able to make some great salads & dinners this week. I'm also headed to Trader Joes after work so I should have some fun food & snack ideas to share tomorrow. Have a great one!
Chel

Can you be social & maintain healthy eating? (without being annoying??)

Monday again... I had such a great weekend, I just did not want it to end! Saturday an old college friend from LA came down to visit and we had a ton of fun. One of our favorite things back in the day was to have a weekend brunch at Brian's outside on the patio, complete with greasy food & lots of mimosas. If you could hear some of the things we talked about out there... :)
But- it's not exactly eating healthy and knowing I had a weigh in on Monday (it went well- lost all the NY weight plus some!) I wanted to stay semi-good, while still enjoying myself. So- instead of my usual "Bacado Omelet" (bacon, avocado, lots of cheese- YUM) I had:
-Toasted English muffin
-1 egg scrambled- no cheese
-side of salsa
-side salad with dressing on the side
-3 mimosas (They are the BEST in San Diego & well worth it)
And was totally satisfied. That night we went to the Charger game and I skipped drinking there and packed a healthy snack of some Mary's crackers to munch on instead of nachos.
The next day I stuck to a similar plan- Chris & I went to the Del Mar horse races with a big group of people & I brought some diet sodas & some healthy snacks: lite cheese, triscuits & grapes. I avoided the brownie cookies, chips & margaritas that looked amazing- BUT the main point was I still had a great time. So many social occasions are built around food- it has been a good wake up call for me to realize that you can still have a FUN life and do FUN things without eating & drinking like crazy.
We also ran the 5k yesterday! I am sad to say I did NOT meet my goal of being under 30 minutes- but I'm not going to beat myself up about it too bad- my time was 30:01! Seriously! So I shaved about 40 seconds off my time from last year. Chris did AMAZING and managed to cut 3 whole minutes off and finish in 26:20. He is such a speedster :)
Such a great weekend, although now I feel like I need another weekend to recover from it! I also did some good grocery shopping and have some great meal ideas planned for this week which I'll be sharing soon!
Chel
Oh and PS. Some of my clothes are starting to get a little baggy. Very exciting!!

Heading to NY!

So I leave tomorrow EARLY- 7am flight to New York to go visit Brooke! Jules and I are going so it promises to be a great and much needed girls vacation! Of course I've been thinking- how am I going to mantain semi-balanced eating in the land of world famous pizza?? Not to mention I know there's going to be more than a little drinking involved...
But I also realize that I don't want to become someone whose entire life revolves around food- there are times to be conscious about what you're eating and times to relax a little bit. So my plan for the long weekend is:
-To workout at least once on the trip. I'm bringing my running shoes and plan to fit in at least one decent run.
-To eat nothing fried. You see- that doesn't really exclude everything tasty and bad for me but it will also keep me a little in check- just becuase I'm CHOOSING to indulge a little doesn't mean I'm going off the deep end. I can live without french fries. (I think)
-Finally to eat well and exercise lots before I left, which I've been doing. 3 Bootcamp days in a row! Although I'm not going to lie, I'm totally dreading my evening workout tonight- but it's worth it to be able to enjoy my trip.
Weigh-in is on Monday, although I'll probably do it Tuesday a.m. instead since we get back late -I've decided I'm going to let myself be happy with maintaining this week. There are things in life MUCH more important than what you weigh. Like having so much fun with your best friends!! So Excited!!!
Oh and PS- there may be an additional post later this evening- I've got a few great meal ideas from this past week that I'm dying to share!
Chel