The Basics

Who hasn't tried a crazy diet? I mean, no carbs? Really, anyone crazy enough to try that? Why would anyone ever give up carbs? .... Well, I tried it once or twice, but I think I only succeeded until I brushed my teeth that morning.

Here's the deal. To become healthy is to create and live by daily healthy habits. Start with ten. Make sure they are concrete, realistic, and relatively simple. They can be internal and external body goals, nutrition goals, beauty, home, creativity, or mental health goals. Anything you can do on a daily basis to create a healthy body and environment for yourself.

Here is my list.. and a few explanations why:
1. Multivitamin. (Easy peasy)

2. No eating after 9pm. (I get home at 8pm from work, so this one is tough, but I gotta do it.)

3. No fried foods. (Not too hard, unless I go out to eat. Love me a good fried calamari. And fries.)

4. No second helpings. (Even if the food is reaaally good.)

5. No candy. (This is a tough one because there is aaalways good candy at work.)

6. Yoga or cardio - must break a sweat! (I can do it, I can do it, I can do it..)

7. 15 pushups or 50 situps. (Muscles! Flat belly! Woot!)

8. 64 oz. water. (Recommended amount. Drinking enough - among other things - tends to curb appetite.)

9. Moisturize. (I have keritosis polaris. Moisturizing helps and I never do it.)

10. 7 hours of sleep. (At least!)

Give yourself a point for each one every day. Have a weekly goal and reward yourself if you meet it. ie: manicure, nice dinner out, fun movie/date night...

My goal is to maintain an "A" average for two weeks (an then some!). Then take myself on a mini shopping spree for a pair of ankle boots.

Not really sure I can afford Jimmy Choo's though.. 

My fridge speaks to me.

I told myself I wasn't going to eat when I came home from work tonight (@ midnight.. after working a 12 hour shift). But the leftover chili in the fridge was calling my name, so was the corn bread that went with it. Thank goodness I made both of them (well, the cornbread was from a box, but I made it with 1/2 water 1/2 skim milk to cut some calories).

I was doing so well too.

There is always the rest of today. Time for sleep.

Chili Recipe:

1 lb ground turkey
Onion
4 cloves garlic
1 red bell pepper (or whatever bell peppers you like, really)
1 Zucchini diced
1 cup diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste, 1 can-full water
1 cup corn (off cobb)
Black beans (canned or dried, I used dried but it takes foreeeever to cook)
Chili powder
Oregano
Salt n' Peppa to taste
Frank's Red Hot (Yes, I do put that @#!% on everything)

1. Brown up the meat with some sauteed onions and garlic, throw a little olive oil on for some healthy fats.

Choose your own adventure:
2a. Throw everything into a crockpot and stir it up. Let cook for an hour or 3.

2b. Add in veggies, tomato paste, seasonings to meat skillet and simmer for 15 minutes or so, depending on how tender you want your veggies.

3. Eat.

Not defeated...

I always fall off the wagon with being healthy. But I always get back on... even if only for a day... or an hour. Everytime I mean it. I am serious, but then my lack of self discipline is my down fall.

Today I went to the gym with my sister at her big fancy gym. There was so much to do! And there were people around! My little puny gym is the size of a large bedroom and there is usually only one or two people in there on a busy day. There is no motivation to stick around there and I get bored kinda easily. I have been better at finding circuit routines to do there to keep me motivated and going - will post at a later date.

Food wise: Kashi has some yummy cereals. You need to keep an eye on the label for calorie and protein numbers, but some taste great and are low cal, high protein, and uber high fiber (Like I always say: a clean colon is a happy colon).

Lunch was at Hella's in Severna Park - their crab cake is the bomb! I had a side salad with white zin dressing and a crab cake (probably should have split it, but it was too good to share).

Memorial Day Weekend

I blew it. 'nough said.

How could I resist the cheesey goodness, the baked goodness, the bready calorie-filled goodness???

My weakness is weakends.

Cheesecake Factory success!

I met with my friend's sister today to discuss bridesmaid-y things. She set the meeting place of the Cheesecake Factory. I was a good girl and I looked in my "Eat This, Not That" book for some healthier options. However, I was not satisfied with my choices. I didn't want a burger, or a salad with tuna, or chicken potstickers... So, I did further research via Google. I found that they have a healthy option Spicy Chicken Salad. It was yum and super fresh. Only 511 calories.

I splurged for dessert. I decided to be a sweet wife and bring my sweetness some sweets. I looked up some options before I left, but they too did not seem appealing at the time (original, low carb, and banana were the lower cal options). I went for the mango-keylime cheesecake! I decided that since I was splitting it, the caloric damage wasn't too terrible.

Frank's Red Hot Buffalo Wing Sauce

I really do put that sh*t on everything.

Tonight, I keep it simple. Started with skinless chicken tenders, dumped some Frank's red hot on top, grated some garlic over that. Popped them in the oven for 8 minutes. Flipped them, baked for another 8. Done. Probably going to serve them over a bed of spinach with some blue cheese dressing. Voila. Dinner in a snap.

And other than the high cal blue cheese, which I will probably use sparingly, and the high sodium in the Frank's tonight's dinner is a healthy treat.

154 lbs at the doctor's office today.

Cellulite Woes?

I found this interesting article on how coffee can help you get rid of cellulite. Who'd have thought such a strange bean can be roasted, ground up, and percolated to create such a delicious beverage or covered in chocolate (yum!) to create a delicious treat? Now, it can help you get rid of those nastly little dimples in your thighs!

P.S. I don't even want to talk about the downfall that was my Saturday and Sunday. Ug. Talk about chicken wing and pizza heaven. Chicken wings are about 100 calories each by the way, and then add on some scrumptious blue cheese? Forget about it. Not to mention the fun and snazzy drinks at had at Relic (local bar). Green Buttered Skunk (some sort of vodka drink with midori)? Yes, I caved.

Oh well, I'll keep on trying. Self-discipline was never my forte.

Bike Riding is Not For Sissies

Yesterday, some of my nurse friends, my hubbs, and I went for a nice bike ride along the C&O canal. It was an awesome day! The weather was perfect and the scenery was beautiful! We did 20 miles in about 2.5 hours.

We might have made better time if my butt did not get so sore from the stupid bike seat. I mean seriously, I was in tears. Finally, my hubbs switched bikes with me. He has a super fancy bike with rear suspension, so each bump feels like gliding over the ocean in comparison.

Other than that downfall, it was a great workout! According to my LiveStrong Daily Plate tracker, I burned over 1000 calories. Woo wooot! And it was fun!

For dinner last night, I made tuna steaks with cilantro, lime, jalapeno, and olive oil. Yummy yummy! For a side I cut up some green and yellow peppers and threw them in a skillet with some spinach and a little olive oil. A dash of romano cheese for a garnish after it was all plated. Pretty low cal, high protein, and low sodium. I washed mine down with a glass of white wine (I could barely finish it because I was a bit dehydrated still).

Omlette - high protien, low carb

I love making omlettes. They are so low cal (if you make them right) and so high protein and so tasty. I have to resist putting a ton of cheese in them though.

Essentially what I do is take one egg and then 1-2 egg whites and scramble them up - using egg whites cut down a little on calories and cholesterol but add protein.

Then I add whatever veggies have have handy, today I used spinach and salsa.

I had some frozen shrimp I thawed out and added to the mix and then just sprinkled about 1/8 cup of reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese. I only used a teeny bit of Smart Balance Spread for a slight buttery taste (about a teaspoon) and a shake of salt and a bunch of pepper. All in all it came to about 315 calories, not bad for a protein (>40g!) packed meal.

Daily Plate vs. NutriMirror

(Best one I could get)

vs.



So, I need a calorie counting tool to help me keep my diet on target. Previously, I used NutriMirror, which was kinda nice. But the website crashed occasionally and I had to add my foods in a lot because there data base is pretty limited. I like the different charts they give you to keep on target with different fats, fibers, vitamins etc. I also like the different stats you can put in for yourself (waist size, arm size, thigh size... yea, its scary but helpful). Lets you track your exercise and integrates it into your calorie allowance (30 minutes on the elliptical today!).

Due to its limitations I am switching to the The Daily Plate, which is run by LiveStrong. Has pretty much all of the same features as NutriMirror with out the downsides. Also, they have an iPhone app which will be helpful when I actually get one.

Current weight: 156 lbs.
Weight goal: 148 lbs. Maybe by my birthday, June 28.

This week is a rough week to start on. I work nights where it is so easy to continuously snack to keep one's energy up. Plus, I think I eat during all 24 hours of the day when I work nights.

I'm trying to be good now. I had a turkey and brie sandwich for lunch. Then I had some fruit and some oatmeal for my pre-work fix. I am bringing a bunch of fruit, tomato soup, Fiber One bar (awesome!) and some oatmeal. I know, it kinda sounds like a lot of food. I am not planning on eating it all in one night (can't guarantee it won't happen though), but if I bring extra I am less tempted to go to the vending machines.

Ate waaay to much, but don't regret it

This weekend was filled with a birthday night in DC (that ended with me cooking pancakes and eggs at 4am), a baby BBQ (no babies were harmed, but I can't say the same for the 7 layer dip that only had 6 layers), and a dad-in-law birthday BBQ (going to the grocery store with 2 hungry men ended in meat-fest - at least I talked them into turkey burgers, turkey sausage and salmon skewers).

No, I do not consider myself "fat". I can see my feet and I don't get winded walking to the kitchen for cookies. But I do feel that I have chubs where I probably should not have chubs. I have been in a 10 lbs weight range for almost my whole life - I was a little skinnier in college before I started to love my pineapple and vodkas. I have never been really skinny or really fat, just a little skinnier and a little chubbier.

I am pretty good at staying active, I occasionally run and go to the gym. I am almost fit, almost. If it wasn't for my love of food and good beer/wine, I'd be a freakin' 5 foot 9 inch blue-eyed brunette runway model. But, I do love food. I am almost obsessed...... Who am I kidding, I'm obsessed. My husband and I had nothing in common when we met except for our mutual love of food. I definitely won him over with my baked goods.

So here's the deal. I am going to strive to get to my lowest weight of my life. Psych! But I am going to detox after this meat-fest of a weekend. I am going to go below my 10 lb range. I am going to cut portions. And I am going to get healthy.

More concrete goals to come.