No Place like home for the Holidays

So I am heading back to New England tonight. Its a long and hopefully uneventful trip up. We are taking CJ's car since its 4 wheel drive and there is already snow on the ground here in NoVA. My poor little Prius just isn't up to the task.

Two noteworthy items that I came across today. CJ and I have booked a trip to Europe and one of out Destinations is Paris. My friend KT sent me this very neat article:

36 Hours in Paris - NYTimes.com -

http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/12/19/travel/19hours-paris.html

Its practically an hour by hour whirlwind tour of the city of lights.

Next up, I was reading the Google News Entertainment Section and saw that Lea Michele (GLEE) loves the website GOOP. What is this you ask? It is none other than Gwyneth Paltrow's very own website. It's basically just her thoughts on Food, Travel, Clothes, Self Growth, etc... Definitely worth a look.

Food Catch Up

Ham and Cheese for lunch a few days ago. It felt like a was eating gold! This sandwich doesnt look like much but it was so good! 

Breakfast yesterday - I was in a buttered toast mood. 

I have been poaching eggs for 3 days, and I still can't get the knack of it with these silicone cups. If anyone has any tips, I would really appreciate it.  

Weigh-In Day ...Ok Ok I know I am late

So I bought this silicone egg poacher cups from Sur La Table. Because I fry my eggs and I really should be doing less of that. I think I am not doing it right because it cooked for over 10 min and the very top was still not done. 10 sec in the Microwave sealed the deal.

Honestly, Almond milk has basically replaced real milk in my house. Sometimes I buy real milk for a recipe if I need it. Use this for pancakes, its a mazing. I used it in my Chai this morning, then because its sweet I dont need to add sugar.

So I am on an antibiotic that makes me feel pretty sick all the time. I ate this morning because I knew I would need fuel to get me thru the morning but I was so not feeling it. I would say on the scale I started at a 5 (Neutral, not really full or hungry) and I finished at a 7(Hunger is def gone but I good def eat more)

Now I did weigh-in on friday:  139 pounds, 3 pounds down from when I started. and I didnt do any exercise last week because I had been sick. Just goes to show that only eating when you are hungry works. You just have to listen to your body.

More...

More Breakfast....and some Turtle (which I did not have for breakfast)

Breakfast, everywhere.

I should be taking pictures of all my meals but it never seems to happen. I always just get breakfast in there. So here is a breakfast montage...and a few of the KGB.

when lazy wins

Yes, I ate popcorn for dinner.

Don't judge me.

Sick today

After a nap and a little lunch, I am feeling a bit better but still pretty tired. 

I just saw New Moon. I am not really on the Twilight bandwagon but when I watch them I think "damn why is this so good"

ps. I am on Team Jacob. 

Exercise at what Time?!?!

So I have started to head out with CJ when he does his long runs on the weekend (he is training for a marathon). Because I clearly cannot run 7 miles (or half a mile).....(or across the street)....I take my bike. I love doing this. Riding a bike is fun and it reminds me of my childhood and it doesnt hurt that much of the trail we use is flat or slightly downhill.
Today he calls me at says, yeah if I am going to get my run in tomorrow, we need to go really early.

What is really early exactly? We already leave at 9am on a Saturday Morning! How much earlier does he want to go!?! I didnt even ask him on the phone for fear that it would depress me that rest of my day. I will continue under the illusion that I am still one of those people who can sleep in on the weekends.

Its Friday, weigh in day!

You know, I had the best intensions to post lunch and dinner yesterday but it did not happen. I did however get breakfast in this moring: Looks good doesn't it. On the hunger scale I started at a 4 and finished about 7. I didnt eat it all, I am thinking maybe I should start with one half an english muffin, that may result in less waste and if i want the other half, well in the toaster it will go!

Also, on an exercise update, EA Sports Active: More Workouts kicked my behind last night! I did the 30 min step class on medium and then my 6 week challenge workout. One hour and 400 glorious calories later. I felt good. Its a different work out everyday. My only gripe, lots of lunges. I have lunged so much in the past week and a half. I should have thighs of steel soon!

Ok so its that time of the week. Weigh-in Day! My nutritionist said I should only weigh myself once a week. So friday is going to be my day.

and the number is (drum roll) : 140.6 pounds

Go Me!

Summer Sizzle

I am not going to lie, I love this summer heat. 82 degrees outside at 7:30am. (Temperature  was courtesy of my Prius)

Dear Mother Nature,

Please hold off the snow as long as possible.

Thank you.

Tracy

Nutritionist Visit

I just met with my new Nutritionist yesterday. After an hour long conversation, I have a few short term tasks to complete:


1. I am to get off the scale. I am only to weigh in once a week. Fat does not change day to day. Salt and dehydration do. Stop torturing myself.
2. I need to exercise. If I want to lose weight, then I am going to have to find ways to be active. Do stuff that I like, as "being active" is a life long pursuit. I have already been pretty active ( for me anyway) so I think I can handle this one.
3. STOP counting calories. It is clearly getting me nowhere.
4. I must keep a food log, she gave me a template where I have to graph my hunger. (it is much easier than it sounds)

I will write down what I eat and how hungry I was when I ate it and how satisfied I was when I finished.

The scale looks a little like this

0 – Starving and beyond -->10 – Thanksgiving Full

My goal is to eat at a 3 (I am hungry and the urge to eat is strong) and stop eating at a 7(Hunger is definitely, Stop here and you may not feel hungry again for 3 to 4 hours).

We also went over some ideas about what would be good breakfast and lunch ideas. She noticed that I am not eating enough in the first 8 hours of the day, so I need to beef that us and possibly eat a smaller dinner. I am to meet with her again on the 21st.

So here goes:
Breakfast: Scale: 4 (A little hungry. I can wait to eat but I know I will be getting hungrier soon

Fall River this weekend!

I am heading home this weekend, driving with CJ and a friend the 7 hours to New England. I am so excited. I have not been home in months and am looking forward to some beach time!

I have been really getting into the swing of things. I have been eating really well and been having some great treats. I made French Toast Cups last night for dinner. I saw the recipe on the Rachael Ray show, check out the link for the recipe.
http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/french-toast-cups-fresh-fruit-cream/

I have one french toast cup instead of two or even three, (a throw back to my entire box of Mac and Cheese days. Its was delish and I didnt break the calorie bank.

I can't believe it...

Yesterday for dinner, CJ and I had pork chops (CJ hates pork chops, but I love them and since I cook, we shall continue to eat them), roasted portobella mushroom and red bell peppers and the Pièce de résistance was Annie's Organic chedder Mac and Cheese! Boy Oh boy, I love Mac and Cheese.
But it got me thinking to a few years back. I used to eat an entire box.....I repeat.....and Entire Box of mac and cheese all by myself. What should feed a a family of 4, I would eat alone. Somes I think how did I get here and other times, like today I say "Oh you know exactly how you got here".

So yesterday I was able to enjoy a little of what I love and I didnt break the calorie bank to do it.
Bravo Me!

Thank God Vacation is Over...

Yeah, I never thought I would be saying that either. CJ and I have been planning our Europe vacation since January. Maybe we hyped it up too much. Maybe we are just not big city folk. Who knows?!?
Our major stops were Majorca, Spain/Barcelona, Spain/Dubin, Ireland
Each had there own charm, and all of them have GREAT FOOD!
We had some travel snafus from time to time but we always got where we needed to go in one piece.

When I finally get around to uploading pictures I will post a few here.

So I am back on the wagon. While on vacation all my good food habits went out the door. I had a small breakdown in Spain regarding my weight, no big surprise there.You see I noticed that most of the women (I said most not all) are thin. Thin, Beautiful Spanish Women. WTF. And by the way, they are not eating salads and boiled chicken. No, they are eating their weight in Paella! I really have a few moments in spain, especially while I was shopping for clothes where I felt truly disgusted with myself. But I turned it around. I vowed that when I got back, I would do things differently.

Here is my "different":
- No more diet plans
          Yes I have tried a lot of them. I was following Jillian Michaels  Master Your Metabolism plan for a while (which is very good if you can stick with it) She has great ideas and some great recipes. Do I need to have all my meals Jillian style. No. I also read Bethenny Frankel's book Naturally Thin. Really great Recipes! I love her ideas about food. But do I need her "7 day plan". NO! Lastly, a book that I recomend because it makes you look at food in a different way, Joel Fuhrman's Eat to Live. Now his diet "plan" is very intense and it not the way I want to live my life, living off beans and kale. But the concepts are good and there are so many good take-aways.
- Exercise
           I hate exercise. But I need, need, need to break out of that mindset. Running is not the devil's work.
 I am currently trying to find what works for me, that I can enjoy and really benefit from it. I recently found a Running plan in this months issue of SELF Magazine. It seems pretty basic and non-scary. I will keep you guys posted on how this works out
- Make myself accountable during the week, and on the weekends within reason.
          I logged back into http://caloriecount.about.com/. I used this religiously a few years ago. It really made me aware of what I was putting into my body and well as my output of energy. It may not be a down to the calorie exact number but in general terms it keeps me honest during the week. I add in all the food I eat during the day and it tallys the calories and nutrition. Based on the info I gave it about my body and lifestyle, it estimates how many calories I burn in a day plus I can add in any exercise I did that day as well. Its like a human food tracker. I really like it. I dont use the tool on the weekends though. This does not give me carte blanche to eat an entire pizza but if I wanted a few slices, I am having them and not feeling guilty about it.

Thats basically it. I did the math and I have approx 37 pounds to lose. For me it seems like 100 but I try to focus one pound at a time. I know I can do this. I need to eat good foods with a high nutritional value and be able to have my guilty pleasures every once in a while.

I am working to find Balance here and I know its not going to be easy but its not impossible.

Water, Water, Everywhere

This is a TMI, but it leads me into my new project. Yesterday I had a UTI. Ick, I know. Well, I took those little pain pills (the ones that make you pee bright orange) to get me thru before I met with the doctor to get my antibiotic. Big Mistake. As i was making the appt, the doctor's office told me that those pills skew the test and we would not get an accurate read which meant no antibiotics!

The office said, drink as much water as you can to flush it out of your system and we will have you come in later this afternoon.

I drank 120 oz of water yesterday. Did it work? Yes it did. So it got me thinking, how much water do i really drink a day. Not much, maybe a glass or two. So I am on a mission, I am going to try to put back 64oz of water everyday - I can't say that the 120 oz thing will repeat itself, I was in crisis.

Lets see if all the water hype is true shall we. Also, this moring, even the KGB was in on the act. He is drinking more water as well.

Quote of the Day

this was the quote of the day on google:
Quote of the Day - William Osler -
"We are here to add what we can to life, not to get what we can from life."

I pretty sure he is right.

Thinking about a Nap.

I love lazy Sundays, I am sitting on my anti-gravity chair outside on my balcony sipping coffee and writing this...


5 min Later.
As i was writing that first sentence, I managed to spill coffee all over myself and my laptop. More got on me, thank goodness, so it was out of my chair, wiped down the keys and I tossed my clothes in the wash. Now where was I. Ah yes, lazy sundays.
Yesterday, we received a much anticipated package in the mail.  A Roomba! Yes folks, any things that will allow me to clean less is ok in my book. We bought it off ebay and set it up yesterday to charge. Because it hadnt been charged for some time it needed a 16 hour charge to be fully up and running. So this morning, like 2 little kids on Christmas morning, CJ and I bounded up from bed and headed for the kitchen where the roomba now "lives". The work CLEAN on the machine was lit up in green which mean it was ready to go. We hit the button and it was off! Cleaning tile, hard wood, and carpet. The stuff it was picking up off the floor. Well, I dont really want to talk about it but it was gross. Let me say that our floors at first glance dont look very dirty, but boy oh boy am I glad this machine is now in my corner.


Our pet turtle, the KGB is not a fan however. We let him roam about the apartment and the roomba will detect him and clean around him but I am pretty sure the KGB things its trying to kill him.

Since we didnt have to sweep/vacuum/swiffer, CJ and I quickly cleaned the kitchen and make a little breakfast - One egg, One toast, 2 pieces of Bacon, and an orange. It was filling and I feel just comfortable enough that I may take a nap. Well, once the roomba is done cleaning my bedroom of course.

Better choices

Started my day with a bowl of oatmeal. I added a little brown sugar, raisins, strawberrys and granola. I am eating it as we speak and its amazing.

I am considering buying steel cut oats and cooking them inmy crock pot overnight. I will keep you posted on that. In the mean time plain oatmeal from the work caf will have to do.

I almost missed my stop today while riding the bus. I received a book called "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society". To say this book is good is an understatement. It is written is letter format, back and forth from one person to another following the time period right after WWII. Normally war stories dont interest me but this is not really a war story. I forget these people are fictional. I dont care though, I still want to be friends with them. Absolutly read it if you can.

St. Patty's Day Feast

Ok, so I have good news and bad news. First with the good.

I hit the gym today. 2.5 miles on the treadmill! Yay!

The bad news: Irish food.
Ok thats not being fair. Irish itself is not bad. It was so good and that was the problem.

Lets start with breakfast. Was it requires that I have a green bagel? Yes. Did I also need eggs and turkey sausage? Umm Yes.

So because I ate enough breakfast for 2 people, it was off to the gym for me.

Lunch was up next and no one can go thru a St. Pats day without corned beef. However, because it took everything I had to complete my 45 min on the treadmill, I split my lunch in half (seen here) and saved the rest for tomorrow.

Dinner was 2 chicken wings and a few bites of a corned beef and swiss sandwich. I wasnt very hungry so dinner was pretty light.

a good start...with a great end.

It was a good start today with some cheerios and coffee from my awesome Keurig. For lunch CJ drove over and we had lunch. I had a great salad with chicken and egg and some blue cheese dressig. So good!

I am feeling a little snacky right now but I am holding out because CJ is taking me out to Pre-Birthday Dinner tonight. I can not wait!

Was this really dinner...

For dinner I ate a bag of microwave popcorn and a decaf coffee. Seriously, this is what my life has become. I need to get back on track ASAP! Ummm....right after my birthday on sunday. The I will find where I left the track and get right back on that sucker!

Where has the time gone!?!

Yes, yes. I know. I moved and completely abandoned my blog. But I also got sick does that count for anything. No. Ok fine.

So I pre-ordered the brand new tivo premiere today. We got a deal on it because I have been a tivo customer for 5 years. We have Cox cable DVR now and I have to say that I am NOT a fan. AT ALL. The bad news is that it will not ship till later this month so I have to wait 3 more weeks for digital recording nirvana.

Favorite Shows to record:
House
19 Kids and Counting (I love this show so much!)
Fringe (He will always be Pacey to me)
Real Housewives of NYC

Blog Vacation...

Ok folks, I have not abandoned this blog, We have been without internet for a while due to moving apartments and then I got sick so blogging has been the last thing on my mind. But I promise that I will be back on the blogging wagon here as I am starting to feel a little better here. Oh and no I have not been eating awesome but I have been eating well enough.

Before I sign-off I would like to welcome the new arrival of my friend's daughter - Mia Bella, born during the superbowl (of all things) Sunday February 7, 2010. Welcome to the world Little One.

Tuna fish remix

So sometimes, I make kits for lunch. Because somethings cant be put together until you eat them to avoid, soggy, stale or just plain weirdness. Today I made tuna kits for CJ and I.
Tuna Fish Remix Kit:
Tupperware #1: Tuna, chopped onions, chopped cucumbers, black pepper, small dollop of mayo (small people, this isnt tuna soup)
Tupperware #2: Slices of tomato, cucumber and onion
Tupperware #3: Mixure of balsamic vinegar, olive oil and kosher salt
Small baggie: 2 slices whole grain bread

Directions--> When you are ready to eat place tuna on bread. Add balsamic mix to tomatoes and cukes and shake.

Perfect Lunch.

This moring we did egg sandwiches with ezekiel english muffins pepperjack cheese and fried tomatoes.

I had a snack of sliced bananas and peanut butter, which is super filling by the way.

I went to the gym this afternoon and kicked butt on the eliptical doing 2 1/5 miles (thats huge for me!) at an avg heart rate of 155. Go me.
PS. the scale has not moved but I am not detered.

Craigslist crazy

I would like to start off and say that I really do love craigslist, I have bought some great items from the site, we practically furnished CJ's old apartment with stuff from there. However, that was craigslist Boston, now I am contending with craigslist DC, a whole new breed of craigslisters. These lovely folks are an interesting bunch.
Example One: Looking for apatments - We emailed several people regarding apartments and most replied to us in a timely manor except for this one Lady. We emailed her on Jan 2, to which she replied right away. Perfect. She said "hey you can see the place on Jan 3rd just let me know what time" To which we promptly replied back figuring she would send another email with the property address.

Nope. Nothing. We assumed that someone had contacted her before us and took the apartment.

3 weeks later, I get an email from her, telling me that she found a possible renter last night but if they didnt pass the credit check that she would call us to view the apartment.

What?!? Was she serious?

Example Two: I had mentioned that I was selling my bike on craigslist ealier this week, well I got two calls the night I posted it (sunday). The first girl called and said that she really wants the bike but could I hold it till Wednesday as that is the ealiest she can come by ....oh and I need to bring it to her at the train station because she has no "wheels". The next call was another girl who said she could come get it right now. Being a good and just person I told girl #2 that girl #1 called first and I am holding it for her, should she not want it would you like me to contact you again. Girl #2 says great!

Well yesterday was wednesday (I have been holding this bike since sunday) and I am to meet girl #1 at the train station at 6pm.
4:50pm I get a text - Girl #1: Um, so how many gears does that bike have?
Me (annoyed cause I know where this is going): It is single gear (did I mention the bike is like 50 years old and there are pictures of it in the craigslist ad)
Girl #1: Oh I have a hill to pedal on near my house so I am going to need more than one gear, sorry I cant take it.
Me (pissed, cause I have dragged this bike into the back of my car at 6:30am that morning so I wouldnt be late to the train for the girl with no F*ing wheels): Thats not a problem, Good Luck with your search!

So I email girl#2 to tell her the bike is available, her reply -
Girl #2: I just bought a bike last night, sorry.

Damn damn damn.

Lunch Time

I am eating the best lunch ever. Well so far anyway. Its leftovers day. I make a roast last friday, and had a small extra piece that I packed away in tupperwar along with some some black beans and salsa. This morning CJ and I had scrabbled eggs with pepperjack cheese and tomatoes. We didnt eat all of it so I packed that up in a tupperware bowl and called it egg snack. I didnt manage to eat "egg snack" ealier today so after an intense workout, I put it all on the same plate and made it lunch.

I went to the gym today, and worked on the elliptical harder than I normally do, my avg heart rate was 157. I hope it was because my body is getting stronger but it could have been that I had a good mix on my ipod.

We move in 6 days, CJ has been packed since last week. Most of my stuff is still in boxes but some of it is out and nowhere near being sorted or packed. I have to get the motivation to do that this week so I dont have a mountain of work for the weekend.

No weight loss challenge and no bike.

So we didnt make it for the weight loss challenge, but we are waitlisted. Meanwhile the exercising still continues. CJ and I did not make good food choices tonight. We ordered pizza, only cheese but we ate it all. I hadnt had a guilty pleasure in a while so I guess this one was ok. Back to normal tomorrow morning. I think maybe egg white omelets and toast. I am returning my Vibram five's this week, I think they are too tight so I am going to go up one more size.

So I am selling my bike. I believe it to be a 1960's Columbia Roadster. I love it but I never ride my bike anymore so It makes sense to get rid of it. I am just bummed to see my baby go.

I have a few buyers for it. I hope it goes to a good home.

Top 100 Culinary Blogs - YUM!

I found this link on one of my favorite blogs Carrots"N"Cake and it had more great food blogs. Check it out, with blog links on just about anything food related  - Top 100 Culinary Blogs.

We woke up a half hour ago. Yes, that would make it 4:30am! I want to be at work at 6am to sign up for the weight loss challenge. Its a 4 month ordeal much like the biggest loser. But they only allow 20 two person teams to register so I want to get there early to make sure I get in. (the gym and registration open at 6am today)

Breakfast today is our new favorite thing: Cream of buckwheat cereal. With a little honey, its simply stellar.

Drunken Beans

Tonight I made drunken beans. I used refried black beans, garlic, jalapeno peppers,chopped turkey bacon and a dos equis beer. Mix it all up and you have drunken beans. It didnt look awesome but boy o boy did it taste good! CJ and I also ate basic chicken tacos with it.

For breakfast we has cream of buckwheat with blueberries, strawberries and honey. This stuff makes you very full. We also split an ezekiel sprouted grain english muffin.









Now its lunch that I cheated a little, see I bought these new shoes - Vibram Five Fingers and didnt eat lunch till about 2pm. By this time I am starving so i went to trader joes and bought a Barb B Q chicken wrap. I mean I could have done worse. Wait.....I actually did....I was alone most of the afternnon and while watching a movie ate an entire bag of whole foods buttered popcorn. I need to get better about eating out of boredom.

Anyway back to my cool shoes. So CJ has a pair of Vibram Five Finger Shoes - KSO's. I bought the Sprint one's today at City Sports in Bethesda, MD.

I am kinda on the fence about them. They are said to be the best thing for your feet as they are the closest thing to walking barefoot. They work to build up the muscles in your feet and help balance and what not. They make my toes feel funny and a little snug but I would reading a few other blogs and they mention similar issues. All these blogs say that the "snugness" passes in a few days with use. So thats what I am hoping for. I will keep you posted on how these Vibrams work for me.

I survived the week!

Thursday was not a gym day. My legs were really sore and I couldnt bring myself to go. However, I made good food choices. This is how it went:
Breakfast: I made this beautiful parfaits with greek yogurt, honey, berries and flax cereal. I thought they were good, CJ was a good sport and ate his but he told me that he prefers "warm breakfast"

Lunch: Grilled chicken with sauted spinach and mushrooms
Snack: Strawberrys, string cheese
Dinner: The most wonderful shrimp with veggies. CJ and I were fighting over leftovers for lunch. Lucky him, I let him win.

(these grey foggy pictures make me crazy but thats the best my blackberry can do right now. I am in the market for a new phone. Hopefully that will take better photos)

Friday faired well on both the gym and the food front. We ate like kings for breakfast with 3 eggwhite omelettes (CJ will not give up the yolk so I made his with) I added diced tomatoes and pepperjack cheese, a side of Ezekiel Bread (my super favorite) and some sliced turkey breast.

Lunch was salsa mixed with black beans and 8 grilled shrimp.
Snack: sunflower seeds and some string cheese.
I managed to put down 40 oz of water, I am trying to drink 64oz but I can't seem to get there yet.

I hit the gym today, lifting weights and doing cardio for about 28 min with an average heart rate of 140.

Dinner was the best of all, I bought a shoulder roast from Wholefoods and a shitake mushroom ginger marinade. I browned the roast in a shallow skillet and then poured the mushroom ginger sauce over it plus a little beef broth and let that cook on low for a little over an hour. When it was done I sliced it thin and placed it over butter lettuce and topped it off with black beans and salsa mix. CJ thinks its his favorite meal so far.

Day Three

Its day three.


Yes I know I missed day two, let me give you the run down of yesterday and then I will update you on today.

Lets see how did my day start:

Breakfast: Berry smoothie made with greek yogurt and honey
Lunch: the remaining south west chicken from last night
Dinner: Salmon and mixed veggies, a slice of Ezekiel break (flourless, and really yummy)

I went to the gym and weighed in – I am down a pound from 144 to 143. It’s a start.

I did the elliptical for 24 minutes with an average heart rate of 155.

Today, CJ and I got up early for breakfast burritos. It was full out cooking this morning sautéed garlic and spinach scrambled egg whites (ok I used two yellows, but only for color), diced tomatoes and pepperjack cheese on a corn tortilla.

Lunch was almond basil tomatoes sauce to which I added the left over diced mixed veggies, and 10 shrimp (5 each).

Dinner tonight is set to be two pork loins, 5 oz each and steamed green beans (the real ones where you cut the ends off)

I have an Emeril Steamer, which has to be one of the best kitchen appliances I own. You just fill this thing with water

And it steams like a dream. I do my carrots, broccoli, tunips, radishes, everything that you can steam. The green beans with go in this tonight and the pork chops with go into my hamiton beach (forman style) grill. That thing is very old. I am actually in the market for a new one and would be happy to take suggestions on what you think are the best grills out there.



I went to the gym again today, I did some interval training on the treadmill, alternating walking and jogging. The elliptical has been giving my knees some trouble so I wanted to change it up today. Its really not so much my knees but the area right above my knees – is that a muscle, I have no idea. Anyhow, I wanted to give it a little rest so treadmill it was.

My average heart rate was a little lower this time around, about 136. My friend K. says that I should be between 60 and 80 percent of my max heart rate.

How do you find your max heart rate? Easy, take 220 and subtract you age from it.

Ta-Da!

Oh I almost forgot, I had a guilty pleasure today. It’s free pastry day every Wednesday at work. I ate a corner of a scone. I know, I had healthier snacks but I really wanted it. It was just a bit larger than a golf ball. So I am not perfect.

What we do to be healthy...

Today I spent $300 on groceries. Yup $300.




I have been reading this book called Master Your Metabolism by Jillian Michaels. It has some very interesting concepts in it. Jillian’s approach to food was simple but based on some reviews from Amazon and my friend K.’s experience (she was the one who recommended this book) the concept really works.

The book goes into great scientific detail but here it is in a nutshell:
If it has a mother or grows from the ground, its ok to eat. Stay away from processed poison!

That’s it. Jillian puts up a good argument for organics and I buy what I can without going broke, but I buy most of my stuff from the local grocery stores.
I started her meal plan today, hence the $300 grocery bill.

Day one:
Breakfast – 3 egg whites, fried tomatoes, one med grapefruit.
Lunch – Southwest chicken (basically, chicken breast, black beans, tomatoes, lime, so on and so forth)
Dinner – Halibut, and roasted eggplant, red and green peppers and onions
Snack – handful of walnuts

I didn’t go to the gym today because of the holiday, my work gym is closed.

Oh and well, I had half a chocolate covered caramel, Yeah I know….but I needed a little sweet.

On to day two!