Twelfth Weigh-In & Renaming "Temptation"

Although he is still a tempter, he has his moments and I've decided that he's not intentionally trying to tempt me, he just can't help himself.  So I have decided to rename him to something a bit more fitting; something that still describes him but is a more accurate description of his interaction with my diet: "Snack Monkey".  This should also be less confusing for new readers.

Yesterday Snack Monkey had elaborate pre-arranged plans to engage in a paintball war with several of his friends (I bought him 6 sessions of paintball for Christmas).  He doesn't own a single piece of outdoorsy type clothing so I loaned him all of mine; my camo pants are from my skinnier days and I always preferred to buy them a few inches long so they fit him perfectly.  I also have a camo chem jacket that was my oldest brother's during desert storm, two camo do-rags, a green (without the camo pattern) sweat shirt, and even two military style berets in red and blue.  I have too many hats to list: I think I've mentioned that here before.

Snack Monkey (right) w/friend

Anyhow, when we first arrived he had the pants, jacket, do-rag, and a blue beret on and he got some really fweaky looks at the donut shop.  He insisted on taking donuts for everyone because he knew they'd all get hungry quickly.  He could have picked something better than donuts, I know, but I'm trying not to be a total food natzi.  So he went into the donut shop and I stayed in the car, thinking he would be smart enough to find me something semi-decent for breakfast like a croissant or a bagel or something.  When we get to the paintball place though, oh no, just donuts all frosted and glazed.  THANKS SNACK MONKEY!  Oh well, turns out they're only 250 calories and I've definitely made bigger mistakes than a single donut so no biggy.

Snack Monkey and a big group of friends

So Snack Monkey decided that my jacket was too cumbersome so he loaned it to our friend who was playing paintball for the first time, along with my spare camo do-rag.  The friend in the photo above brought his girlfriend, one of my very best friends, and she and I hung out, kept an eye on their gear and watched them all shoot each other.  Snack Monkey had a war hero moment during a round where the two teams started on opposite sides of the field an equal distance from a big pit in the center.  In the pit was a metal case with an air horn in it (the "bomb) and the two sides had to try to get to the bomb before the other side in order to win.  Snack Monkey dodged his way forward from one barrier to the next until he was in position but seven or eight feet of open space stood between him and the bomb.  I thought for sure he wasn't going to make it.  His team mate called "I'll cover you!" and off he took, ducking and jumping before making a hop-dive into the pit.  My heart thrummed as I felt certain he'd been hit by enemy fire crossing the distance but then I saw the top of his head peek ever so slightly from the pit and knew that he was still alive.  Suddenly the loud obnoxious sound of an air horn pierced through the barrage of popping sounds and my sweetie pie emerged victorious.  YAY SNACK MONKEY!

After a bit the other girlfriend and I got bored and went to find some healthy lunch options; when the boys were done with their war games we headed home and I hit the gym to pump some iron.  The bones in my feet hurt too bad, after the five mile walk on Saturday, to do the treadmill but I wanted to do something so I focused on my abs and arms instead.

Dinner was leftover soft taco mixture, rolled up in corn tortillas and placed in a lightly oiled (EVOO) pan; drizzled with salsa verde and sprinkled with colby.  The colby/sauce adds an extra 100 calories per serving plus I couldn't help but toss on the last of the pico and a few dabs of Franks.  They were good but, I have to be honest, they weren't as good as the taco's were the night before.

Snack Monkey and I also spent about an hour in the kitchen together making the key lime pie recipe that we got from Cook This, Not That! Easy & Awesome 350-Calorie Meals and I have to admit, it was kind of fun to work together.  It had to set for two hours and by the time we finished juicing and zesting 10 freakin' limes it was past 9 so we just put it in the fridge and went to bed.  If I'm good today I'll have a little slice for dessert tonight to see how we did with it but I'm not really a fan of key lime pie usually.

OH and P-Freakin-S: I LOST FOUR-AND-A-HALF POUNDS THIS WEEK!   And the crowd goes wild!!!



Food:
7 glasses of water
1 cup of coffee w/creamer
1 Fiber One bar
2 leftover enchiladas (no pico, it's gone :( )
1/2 veggie enchilada
1 slice key lime pie (from the book)
-----------------------------------
Daily Caloric Intake: 1415



Activity:
Hit the jogging trail at the park tonight for an hour (2 laps = 2 miles).  It took longer than walking 2 miles on the treadmill because it had this exercise stops at intervals along the trail so Snack Monkey and I stopped to do each one of those the first time around, then did the second lap just straight around at a brisk pace.  It felt good!  (Pictures of us doing the work-outs will post tomorrow)



New Playlist Additions
---------------------------
I added some new songs to my playlist but they'll be mixed in with my others so I figured, instead of posting a nightly playlist, I'd just post 10-15 of the new additions each night.

Alanis Morisette: Ironic
Alanis Morisette: Pocket
Alanis Morisette: You Learn
Alanis Morisette: Head Over Feet
Apocalyptica: Enter Sandman
The Bangles: Walk Like an Egyptian
The Beach Boys: Good Vibrations
The Beach Boys: Kokomo
The Beach Boys: 409
The Beach Boys: Barbara Ann
The Beach Boys: Be True to Your School
The Beach Boys: California Girls
The Beach Boys: Catch a Wave
The Beach Boys: Fun, Fun, Fun
The Beach Boys: Help Me Rhonda

What A Day

As previously mentioned my plan for yesterday was to walk one mile to the gym, at least 3.12 miles on the treadmill, and then one mile home.  The walk to the gym was easy, it's slightly uphill the whole way there but it was nice and cool outside and I actually really enjoyed the walk.  I immediately jumped on the treadmill as soon as I got there and ended up walking a little over 3.25 miles (a full 60 minute workout at my current speed fluctuations).  About half-way home the exhaustion started getting to me; I wasn't breathing hard but my legs were feeling so tired that I kept scuffing/tripping just little bits here and there because it was so hard to pick my feet up.

I realized if I was going to make it home I was going to need a good distraction because in my mind all I wanted to do was just sit down on the sidewalk and give up.  So I broke out my phone and texted my mom for some moral support.  She was exactly what I needed as she sent texts simulating cheering me on and asked questions that mentally distracted me so I could push through physically.  I mean, what choice did I have?  I had to get home.  And then I realized I needed to go to the bathroom and that became one more motivating factor that kept me moving.  I did finally make it home, climbed the 15 stairs to my apartment and collapsed in a hot bath with an aromatherapy ball.  That was the longest distance I've walked in a single day since starting this blog (and a long, long time before that) and it was taxing but, if I'm wanting to do a half-marathon later this year 5.25 miles in one day is only the tip of the ice burg.

I broke out Cook This, Not That! Easy & Awesome 350-Calorie Meals
and whipped up the recipe for home-made pico de gallo that's in the condiments section at the back of the book.  Then I turned to the recipe for chicken soft taco's in the dinners section and fixed those for supper.  Here's how the finished product looked.  Now these taco's look a lot more "loaded" than the picture of the tacos in the book but I made the recipe precisely and then, since it serves four, I divided it in half and put half away for another day.  Then divided the remainder in half (half for me, half for "Temptation"), and then divided my "serving" by two taco's (as intended) and it just comes out to a whole lot of filling.  Plus we added pico which isn't part of the recipe but only adds about 20 calories to the count for both taco's.  I thought they were delicious and so did "Temptation" so our first go with the new recipes was a huge success.  I was also very proud of the fact that I cooked 3 of my three meals yesterday!  These recipes are pretty easy (granted, dicing everything up for the pico sucked ... my knife skills leave something to be desired) but all in all I was really impressed/surprised by myself.  I want to get a slap-chop so that dicing veggies won't be so bad and eventually I think I'd even like to have a food processor.

Out of the entire book of recipes there are probably only one or two that I'm not really anxious to try.  It has breakfast, lunch dinner, dessert, condiments, side dishes, and snacks.  And a lot of the recipes use a lot of the same ingredient so since they all serve 4 I can pretty much get two different meals out of one recipe which is awesome.  Like the chicken from last night that I saved; the book suggests rolling that up in tortillas, putting a little salsa verde and jack cheese over them and baking them to make enchiladas.  How easy is that?  Plus, and this was my favorite thing about last night's dinner ... I didn't have to cook the chicken!  The recipe intends that you buy a rotissery style chicken from the grocery store and just shred it up (without the skin).  It was EASY!

Today I am going with "Temptation" on his paint-ball excursion.  He's meeting our friends there and the other girlfriend and I are going to cheer them on and then maybe go to the gym or find some other way to entertain ourselves all afternoon while the boys shoot at each other.  I'm very sore from yesterday's walk but not to a debilitating degree so I'm looking forward to getting out and being active again today.



Food:
7 glasses of water
1 cup of coffee w/creamer
1 donut (breakfast @ paintball)
1 foot long chicken sub
>>onion
>>tomato
>>olive
>>cucumber
>>light mayo
>>no cheese
>vinegar
2 home made chicken enchiladas (small, cookbook recipe)
------------------------------------------------
Daily Caloric Intake: 1424



Activity:
Ab Crunches: 30 @ 50 lbs
Ab Crunches: 30 @ 60 lbs
Ab Crunches: 30 @ 70 lbs
Ab Twists: 60 @ 30 lbs (each side)
Butterfly Press: (arms/chest) 3 reps of 30 @ 30 lbs
Front Press: (arms/chest) 2 reps of 30 @ 20 lbs

Breakfast Recipe

So I have a big day ahead of me today - a five mile walk if I'm going to accomplish my 14 mile goal for the week.  That's going to include one mile to the gym, 3.25 on the treadmill, and a mile home.  For that I knew I was going to need a good, healthy breakfast but I didn't have the ingredients to make anything in my new cook-book so I decided to wing it.  The following recipe is inspired by Cook This Not That but isn't actually in the book.

SUGAR BOWL EGG
1 tsp olive oil
1 oz onion
2 oz spinach (I used canned but you can use frozen or fresh)
1/2 can of tuna
2 oz diced tomato
1 large egg
juice of 1 lime
fresh cilantro
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Warm olive oil in skillet; add onion, cilantro, spinach, salt, pepper, and lime juice and cook until onions are soft and spinach is slightly wilted; toss in tuna and tomatoes, drain excess liquid/oil, and move to an oven safe tureen or ceramic dish (I used my ceramic sugar bowl).  Crack egg on top of the spinach and place the dish in the oven.  Cook ten minutes or until whites are cooked but yolk is runny.  Sprinkle on some Frank's Red Hot for added flavor.  Makes 1 serving.

Calories: 215

I can't even begin to describe how delicious this was (and filling/satisfying)!  Aside from sushi the other night and nacho's two weeks ago I have to say that this breakfast was the single most tasty thing I've eaten since this whole blogging process started ... and really healthy.  I don't even like tuna and this was so good that I forgot the sugar bowl had been in the oven, tried to lick it, and burned my tongue.  If any of you try this, and believe me you really should, be sure to pop in and let me know what you thought of it k?

Although both filling and delicious there was one down-side to this breakfast.  I know that my usual 3.25 miles on the treadmill burns over 450 calories plus I plan on walking to and from the gym and, from past experience, I've learned that when I go to the gym having eaten fewer calories than I burn I end up feeling really horrible after so the 215 from this dish just isn't going to be enough.  So I waited about 30 minutes after eating, snarfed a Fiber One bar and took another one with me just in case I still need the pick-me-up during/after the workout.  If you actually needed to increase the calories in this you could try adding some crumbled bacon to it or some prosciutto; or you could serve with a side of toasted English muffin or a bagel-thin.  I didn't have either of those, actually I don't even have bread but I'll keep those in mind for the future.  Something tells me this is going to be a new frequent breakfast.  Post gym: The egg was so good I made another one after the gym so "Temptation" could try it but he didn't like it so I ate it for lunch.

P.S. More on the home-made taco's tomorrow but according to "Temptation" they were "the best thing [I've] ever made".  Now ... coming from temptation the idea that a 348 calorie meal was "the best thing ever" is a very very big compliment.  I know I'm not the world's greatest cook but I've made some pretty damn good food for him in the past so if these trump things like carrots boiled in butter and brown sugar, bacon potato salad, and my mom's secret adobo recipe (all things of the past for me now) then WOW!



Food:
8 glasses of water
1 cup of coffee w/creamer
2 servings "Sugar Bowl Egg"
1 Fiber One bar
1 can hearts of palm
2 chicken soft taco's (from the new cook book)
2 oz home-made pico de gallo
----------------------------------------
Daily Caloric Intake: 966





Activity:
Walking: (outdoors) 1 mile to the gym, slightly uphill
Treadmill: 2 miles at 3.3 mph
Treadmill: 1.25 miles at 3.5 mph
Walking: (outdoors) 1 mile home from the gym, slightly downhill

I've Discovered Frank's

This is probably going to seem like a weird post to many of you but here goes anyhow.  I don't really care much for spicy food...well, most spicy foods.  I like my salsa mild and my stuffed jalapeno's sweet and tangy, and I love wassabi on sushi, dijon mustard on just about anything, and horseradish is a favorite as well.  But I'm not much of a tobasco, poblano, chili pepper kind of girl.  I'm a pansy when it comes to spicy most of the time.

But then there are exceptions.  I love tom yum soup which is a spicy Asian soup with lemongrass.  In fact, cayenne pepper and lemongrass/lemon juice are one of my favorite flavor combinations for soups and broths when I'm sick.  Sunday, when we went to the sports bar, I decided to be a little bit brave and had "Temptation" put a little bit of this hot sauce that was on the table on a slice of pizza.  He got carried away and ended up practically drowning my slice in Frank's red hot and after mopping a lot of it off I thought it was going to be horrible because there was still so much that I couldn't get rid of.

SURPRISE!  That has to be one of the tastiest flavor profiles I've ever had!  So we were grocery shopping the other night and there, in Wal-Mart, was a huge display of Frank's Red Hot.  I swear there was this ethereal light over the display and angelic music was coming from somewhere nearby.  It was like kismet.  First of all, Frank's has 0 calories, and second, it's relatively cheap; so I grabbed a bottle.

Last night while adding up the calories for Temptation's burgers I started to get nervous, the bun and patty alone was a bit high (about 600 calories) and that didn't include mayo and mustard (my usual burger condiments).  Then I had an idea ... how about no mayo or mustard but instead using LOTS of tomato slices to add moisture and some Frank's for flavor.  It was mui tasty!  This could be the pick-me-up I've been looking for.  I could put that stuff on chicken, hummus, mixed veggies, maybe even a can of tuna ... the possibilities are endless.  I can use Frank's to spice up the flavor of any thing that I find a little on the bland side to make it more palatable.  Also, I found a recipe last night in the book for these little spinach and egg tureen thingies that you bake in the oven.  Basically I can pre-saute the spinach and onions on a weekend and then put them in tupperware in the fridge, then for lunch I would heat up the oven, plop a serving of the greens into a tureen, break an egg over them and bake them for awhile while I watch TV, sprinkle a little Frank's and voila.  I need to go to Ikea and get some earthenware tureens.

I had another idea which I mentioned in a comment on a previous post but I thought I'd mention it here for feedback purposes.  I was thinking I could dice up veggies like lettuce, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, avocado, mushrooms etc on a weekend, put them in single-serving sandwich bags and freeze them.  Then I could take one out of the freezer in the morning when I pour my coffee and put it on the counter to thaw.  By lunch time it should be thawed so I could fold the veggies up in a small tortilla, drizzle some balsamic and have easy peasy veggie wraps for lunch with little to no clean up.  My question is this: do you think the veggies will freeze/thaw well?  Has anyone tried to freeze those types of veggies and thaw them out?  I am especially worried about the lettuce and tomatoes ... it seems like they'd be ok but I'm not sure.



Food:
7 glasses of water
1 cup of coffee w/creamer
1 Fiber One bar
1 can hearts of palm
1 cup fat free yogurt
1 veggie stromboli
>>spinach
>>mushrooms
>>olives
>>onions
>>tomatoes
>>broccoli
>>cheese
4 squares of chocolate
----------------------------------
Daily Caloric Intake 1,051



Activity:
"Temptation" blew my gym plans for this evening by coming home from work two hours late.  He also blew our dinner plans because we needed a grocery store rotisery style chicken that he was supposed to pick up for the recipe from the new cook book.  Grrr.  So now I get to walk 5.12 miles tomorrow (minimum) to meet my 14 mile quota.  This will be the most walking I've done in one day so far - thank goodness Sunday he has paintball and I can stay home and soak in a hot bath/recover.  I think I did alright with dinner though, only 600 calories for the stromboli; less than the home made cheese burger from last night and twice as tasty.  Tomorrow will be interesting.

A Full Evening

Hello friends!  This morning I am very excited to share with all of you the events of last night.  I got paid yesterday and we needed to go shopping badly so I skipped the gym and we headed straight for the book store where we gathered up every low calorie cookbook we could find and then took the pile to a couple of chairs so that we could thumb through them.  We picked one off my Amazon wish list: Cook This, Not That! Easy & Awesome 350-Calorie Meals.

 

Next we stopped off at Sears and traded the rice cooker we got for Christmas in for a George Foreman grill.  We really wanted a rice cooker but the one we got burned rice every single time.  We tried trading it for another rice cooker, thinking the first one was just faulty, but the second one burned the rice too so we decided that it's just a bad brand.  My brother gets really good cookers from Costco so we'll pick up a better one next time we're there with friends but, for now, we're both really excited about the grill.  Oh!  I should mention that while we were at the book store "Temptation" noticed these little chocolate bars on the counter by the register labeled "Emergency Chocolate".  I asked him how many calories were in it and he said 160 so then I laughed and said "How many servings per bar hunny?"  When he said one I snatched the bar out of his hand to look for myself because that seemed just too good to be true.  See for yourself:

Back View

Front View

So I decided to buy it and try it.  Somehow I managed to only grab one bar and then paid for it and the book and split before I could go back for three or four more.  Anyhow, on with the evening.  So after Sears we hit my favorite sushi restaurant and it was just the pick-me-up I needed.  I realized something really cool at this point in the evening: Sushi restaurants aren't nearly as expensive when you're counting calories and trying to lose weight.  We used to drop $40-$50 at the sushi restaurant easy, every time we went there; so we didn't go there very often.  Last night, however, "Temptation" ordered his usual $10 meal and I got two hand rolls and a rainbow roll.  The hand rolls are pretty small which is why I got two but after eating everything I realized I could probably even get by with one hand roll and the rainbow roll.  Our bill was only $25 + tip and the fish was so fresh that even the raw salmon tasted good to me.

While waiting for our order we broke out the new book and started going through recipes while putting together our grocery list.  We've got four recipe's from the book that we're going to try this week including Key Lime Pie (which is for "Temptation's" sweet tooth, not mine, since I usually don't even like Key Lime Pie).  I'll keep you posted on the recipes we try and what we think of them though I won't be posting the ingredients etc. here because I am concerned about copyright infringement.  From the looks of it so far, though, I would HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone trying to cook and eat healthier; it has a Scallopini recipe and a recipe for stroganoff too!  Even if you're not trying to count calories it's just a great way to get fresh ideas for some of your favorite restaurant foods but with healthier alternative ingredients.

So at the store I decided to pick up some new work-out clothes because I have been in desperate need.  I grabbed a new pair of work-out pants in a size 16-18 and ... drum roll please: THEY FIT!  I'll admit they're a little more snug than I like but I don't have to tug and huff and puff to pull them up or anything.  "Temptation" says they make my butt look good (he said it just like Mike Rowe in those Wrangler commercials he does which made me laugh to no end).  I also grabbed a three-pack of sports bras size 38 (down from 42) and they ALSO fit!  WEEEEEEEE!  I got an aromatherapy bath ball for stress relief and a tube of clay face mask as well but they were out of pumice stones so that's still on my list along with socks.  (I have a gift card coming from Payless Shoes for socks because I bought some but the clerk didn't put them in my bag and then when I realized it and went back to get them she told me no and wouldn't tell me how to contact her manager.  So I called customer service for their website and they said they would send me a gift card to replace the socks that the clerk apparently stole from me.)

After I added up my calories for the evening and saw that I was all good I opened the candy bar and *cue choir of angels* it is divided into 10 squares.  I broke off two little squares, wrapped up the rest and put it on top of the fireplace mantel where I am most likely to forget about it for a day or two (I hope) and divided 160 by 5.  It is really tasty chocolate and two squares were just enough to tickle my sweet tooth without making me insane and drooling for more.  All-in-all, last night was a great night.


Food:
6 glasses of water
1 large cup of coffee w/creamer ("Temptation poured it for me today")
1 Fiber One bar
1 can hearts of palm (a veggie btw)
44 berry poppy seed crackers
1 home-made cheese burger
>>1 Hawaiian roll
>>4 oz patty cooked on the new foreman grill
>>1 roma tomato sliced
>>1 slice of onion
>>1 Tbsp Frank's red hot (0 cal and DELICIOUS!)
>>(no mayo, no ketchup, no mustard)
--------------------------------------------------
Daily Caloric Count: 1125



Activity:
Treadmill: 2 miles @ 3.3 mph w/30% incline
Treadmill: 1.38 miles @ 3.5 mph w/10% incline



Tonight's Playlist:
My Mp3 player started over from the top with #1 Crush (by Garbage) today and I haven't added any new tunes so unless there are objections I figured there's no point in posting it all again right?

Mid-Day Post Alert!

Hey don't run screaming or roll your eyes at me, this one isn't a rant or a plea for understanding or any of that other monthly moody crap I post in my mid-day posts.  This time I want to tell you all about my epiphany.

So we've discussed the fact that my food choices are lousy, my calories are too low, and I am getting REALLY sick of eating the same shit day in and day out.  I think I have found the reason so please allow me to paint you all a quick picture.  "Temptation" says "We need to go shopping" so I get a piece of paper and a pen and we sit down to make a list.  Cat food, litter, batteries, and bras are the first items on the list.  Well we can't eat any of that.  Next is milk, cookies, and soda (all "Temptation's" suggestions) ... okey dokey I have proven we can have cookies in the house without me having a melt-down so let him have his cookies.  But what next?

Well I try to think of shopping in terms of "meals".  What should I eat for breakfast?  I have a whole box of mini-wheats that I haven't opened yet because I got sick of them in late November so I guess I'll get some skim milk for myself and start eating those.  Fiber One bars were suggested so I'll check those out as a breakfast option too.  Lunch: tap, tap, tap goes my pen on the desk.  My lunch break is one hour long: now that I'm going to the gym every night I no longer need to spend my lunch breaks working out but I also don't necessarily want to spend them cooking.  I prefer to nuke something and watch shows I Tivo'd while at the gym the night before, then do a little crocheting when I'm done eating.  Tap, tap, tap.  Frozen dinners are easy and nuke-a-ble but they usually taste like crap.  Tap, tap, tap.  Bagels are easy to snag and munch but I'm getting sick of them.  Tap, tap, tap.  Finally "Temptation" cuts through my silent revelries with "Let's return the rice cooker, get a foreman grill and I'll make burgers."  So I add ground meat, tomatoes, onion, and buns to the list.  Tap, tap, tap.

I'll come back to lunch, let's think dinner.  Tap, tap, tap.  We've had chicken every which way from Sunday for months now so "Temptation" wants red meat.  Tap, tap, tap.  We could get steaks but every time I try to cook them they come out tough and dry.  Tap, tap, tap.  Spaghetti goes on the list but I'm getting sick of it too.  Tap, tap, tap.  Finally we hit the grocery store with a sorry-ass excuse for a list and start our usual routine, up the meat section on the right all the way to the back of the store where dairy is located, then work our way to the front of the store one isle at a time.  Except my list sucks and as I pass up the Beef-A-Roni, Mac n' cheese, chef boyardee, and frozen pizza's my eyes scan the isles lined with food and I can't see anything that sparks an idea.

Before we know it we have everything on the list and we're hitting the check-out with two bottles of soda, cookies, pudding, milk, bread, frozen pizza's, a bag of chips, (all for "Temptation") a few cans of veggies, some ground beef, a bag of tomatoes, and pasta sauce.  WOOPS!  The point I'm trying to make, you ask?  I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO SHOP!  What I eat sucks because what I buy sucks and what I buy sucks because I spent so long buying the same-old crap that I have no idea how to buy anything else so I end up buying next-to-nothing instead!  *ding goes the light over my head as I finally realize this after three months!*

Good eating starts with good shopping, good shopping starts with a list or a plan of some kind but since I don't know what to get or make or buy I get to the store and turn into a deer in headlights.  Ok so I bought a cook-book, which you will all hear ALL about later tonight, and I think it's going to help A LOT for dinner ideas and maybe the occasional breakfast or lunch but I need someone to teach me how to shop.  Here are my limitations:

1. I'm short on tupper-ware and, although I could buy more, I also lack the cupboard space for more than what I already have so pre-cooking and freezing lunches seems like a perfectly sound idea that I really do want to try but it's going to have to be done in moderation.  I have plastic zip-locks though so if it's something I can baggy and freeze single servings I'm all for it.
2. I shop at Wal-Mart because every time I try to shop anywhere else I get the same stuff and pay twice as much.  Wal-Mart has shitty produce and I'm not opposed to hitting fresh and easy for produce and wal-mart for all else but I can't afford to buy things like bread and milk at fresh n' easy, or albertson's, or whole foods because it's literally twice as much.
3. I have shitty cook-ware.  It's on my list of things to buy.  I have a stock pot with no lid, a few sauce pots with one lid, a really bad frying pan, and a skillet (the kind you plug in to the wall), oh and now I have a george foreman.
4. "Temptation" is a food natzi except he only eats bad food so ideas must be 2-4 servings max so I can eat them by myself without having so much of them that I get sick of them (like I did the prison soup).
5. I'm not a good cook.  I'm really not.  If it's simple and doesn't require extensive knowledge I can "wing" it or get by but cooking just isn't my forte.
6. If it doesn't taste good my motivation to eat it will be low.  I'm the kind of person who would rather just not eat than eat something that doesn't taste good.  I can force myself to eat something that doesn't taste good but the chances of me forcing myself to cook something that doesn't taste good is highly unlikely.  Weird for a fat girl - I know.
7. My weekly food budget is approx $100 and that has to include all of "Temptation's" crap.
8. I am looking for lunch ideas, something new that I haven't considered before.  Dinner is too complex because of "Temptation" so I'll have to work that one out on my own with the help of my new cookbook but lunches are where I really get stuck.  
9. I get up at 5 am most days to do school work before I have to report for work-work at 7 am so the chances of "getting up early to prep lunch" are highly unlikely.
10. My primary focus here is how to shop smart.  Recipes are good too but I need lunch ideas that are around 400 cals or less for a single serving and don't require a lot of prep, ingredients, or time.  Frozen dinners are obvious; let's see if we can get really creative.

Well there you all have it.  I acknowledge and accept that a big part of my slump is due to eating boring food and that that is a result of being clueless in the grocery store.  I am a clean slate, open to ideas, and willing to listen.  I really look forward to reading your feedback on this one.

Empty Nest Syndrome

Ok so it's not really empty nest syndrome because we do have Piper and Casper but I am starting to miss the pitter-patter of little feet in the house.  No, I am not referring to human babies ... canine ones.  I'm puppy hungry.  Piper is now five years old and after her surgery to remove breast lumps last summer she's become extremely dosile.  She hates water, gets tired from a 20 minute walk, and more or less likes to find a spot to curl up and sleep as close to me as possible.  I'm cool with that, don't get me wrong.  I love my little lap doggy and snuggling with her is one of my favorite things in the world but I want to be more active too so I need a more active doggy.  Casper is "Temption's" cat and always has been.  I'm not a cat person and I have to admit he's a cute little kitty cat but he's not really my idea of fun either.

I want a big doggy, one that's good in apartments, will walk/jog with me by day and curl up at my feet by night, loves to go swimming, and will play catch or fetch or...any game will do really.  Piper is smart, she can roll over like no body's business and gives high-fives and "Temptation" is teaching her how to catch food but she's never really grasped the concept of balls or frizbees or toys of any kind.  She likes to sniff things ... that's about it; biiiig time sniffer.

So I'm thinking of getting a Doberman Pinscher.  I've read up on the breed and they make great apartment dogs as long as they get plenty of exercise because they don't do well if left outside in bad weather.  They generally enjoy water, are extremely playful, loyal, protective, smart, and easy to train.  They're very social dogs that need lots of love and attention and contrary to popular belief they are not a "mean" breed (there's no such thing).  They're big, beautiful doggy's and if I get one as a puppy I can teach him to get along with the cat and with Piper.  "Temptation" is a carpet cleaner so I'm not afraid of potty training another puppy like I was with Pips (she was a stubborn, prissy little nightmare who hated to get her feet wet by walking on the grass to go potty so, for the longest time, she just preferred to do it in the house and accept her punishment).

I want a boy, Piper has always gotten along best with boy dogs.  I would prefer the good old fashioned black and tan color pattern too, though Dobes come in a lot of different colors ... I've always loved the black and tan look.  Wouldn't that be sweet?  I could take him to softball and to the lake and jogging and the dog park ... all places that Piper either hates to go or just wants to do nothing but sniff ... sniff EVERYTHING.  I know this sounds like a bash on Piper or like I'm trying to replace her, I'm really not.  I'm just thinking I'd like to get a dog that compliments her, that is strong in areas where she's not so much.  She'll always be my little cuddle buddy ... do parents feel this way when they start jonesing for baby number two or am I being neurotic?


Food:
7 glasses of water
1 cup of coffee w/creamer
2 cups prison soup (lunch)
2 Tuna Hand Rolls
>>Seaweed paper, rice, raw tuna, cucumber
1 Rainbow Roll
>>Seaweed paper, rice, crab, avocado
>>Raw tuna, yellow tail, salmon, shrimp
2 squared of chocolate (32 calories)
--------------------------------------------------
Daily Caloric Intake: 1,019



Activity:
3.5 freaking HOURS of shopping! (not fun)

Tomorrow's post will be all about tonight's shopping spree and it's got some really FUN news that I am totally stoked to share with all of you, even though the shopping itself sucked.  I think it was exactly what I needed to cure this slump; though I do still want a new puppy.

Another Slump

It will probably be no surprise to some of you that I am experiencing my second slump regarding motivation; especially the day following my pizza mishap.  However, I would like to suggest here and now that the pizza issue was a result of the already existing slump rather than the cause of it.  I am sure that many of you have already experienced something of this nature in your own efforts of great personal challenge, whatever they may be.  In the beginning motivation is high, success is exciting, and every step you take along the way is inspiring.  Then that gets a little bit old after awhile; you start to tire of the monotony and wish you could change things up a little or your motivation starts to waiver.

In my case this is precisely the way I've been feeling over the last two days; and actually, I even felt this way on Saturday but I dug through it.  As I mentioned earlier this is the second time that this has happened to me; I start to really get tired of counting every little thing, eating the same foods over and over again because I am comfortable with the number of calories in them so I know I can count them accurately, going to the gym immediately after I get off work without even taking the time to relax with "Temptation" because I know if I do I probably won't get up and go, etc.

The first time I hit this slump I dug through it, I pushed myself and forced myself to keep going to the gym even though I didn't want to and I turned off my brain while eating so that I wouldn't think about how much I wanted to be eating something else.  My motivation was eventually rejuvenated by the post of a fellow blogger who said all the right things to get me psyched up about everything again.  Once that happened I was once more looking forward to going to the gym after work and making food choices with a sense of personal satisfaction and accomplishment.

Well slump two is here and this time it did more damage (meaning Sunday); Saturday was really hard.  I dragged myself to the gym and even though I felt absolutely great about my day after I finished the work-out, I have to admit that I had to fight myself to get up and get dressed that morning to the point that I almost made "Temptation" late for work.  Sunday was even worse and I talked myself out of going to the gym between breakfast and football because I wouldn't have time to come home and shower/change in between and I didn't want to sit around in sweaty stinky clothes all day so I told myself I would go after football.  Then after football I convinced myself that it wouldn't hurt to take a day off because the pizza upset my stomach.

Yesterday the food choices were easy, prison soup and more prison soup.  When I got off work I actually delayed shutting off my computer and stretched my work out so that I could stay "at work" 15 minutes late just because I didn't want to go to the gym.  I literally dragged my feet along the carpet as I dressed and briefly tried to talk myself out of going because I couldn't find a clean pair of matching socks to wear.  Eventually I went anyway, wearing one black sock and one gray sock but the entire time I was on the treaddy I was literally counting down the minutes until it was over and I almost skipped the tanning bed because I wanted to just go home and be lazy.  I realized at the gym that I didn't eat enough early in the day because I started feeling really weak and crappy in the tanning bed but the real problem was motivation ... it's gone and I need it back.

Of course I love that I've lost 27 lbs and that I'm only 10 lbs away from my first goal of being "light" enough to get on a horse again (250 lbs is the max weight allowed by my father on his horses for their own sake).  I'm excited that "Temptation" and our friends that we saw on Sunday were all encouraging and complimentary as they noticed how much I've lost in my hips; and that I can now wear some clothes that I haven't worn in a long time while other clothes are getting to be so big that I soon won't be able to wear them anymore.  But loving the results isn't producing the motivation that it once was; now the dieting and exercising feels more like work than it used to and I'm forcing myself to do it instead of doing it with enthusiasm as I once did.  I hope this passes quickly because it royally sucks; softball season will not arrive a moment too soon!

I know softball season will help because it always makes me happy to go to the park, spend time in the sun, cheer for my team, and this year I'll even be shagging fouls and homers for the blue.  It will be great to see all of our old friends again and we always have a lot of laughs and good times; all of that is uplifting and motivating for me ... but right now I just feel down.  Really down and for no particular reason.  My psych professor would probably call this "learned helplessness" leading to a potential for "mood disorder".  Pfft!  Tia ... am I wrong here? ;)



Food:
9 glasses of water
1 cup of coffee w/creamer
1/2 Whole wheat bagel
2 light laughing cow wedges
1 cup prison soup (lunch)
1 veggie wrap
>>lettuce
>>tomato
>>onion
>>mushrooms
>>avocado
>>artichoke hearts
>>balsamic
>>spinach tortilla
1 cup mixed fruit
-----------------------------------------
Daily Caloric Intake: 949



Activity:
-----------------------------------------
Treadmill: 2 miles @ 3.3 mph w/20% incline
Treadmill: 1.25 mile @ 3.5 mph w/10% incline
1 hour rearranging living room furniture and cleaning
>>Couch
>>Love seat
>>2 chairs
>>2 coffee tables



Today's Playlist:
-----------------------------------------
Pussycat Dolls: Wait A Minute
Evanescence: Bring Me to Life
Bon Jovi: Wanted Dead or Alive
Blue October: What If We Could
The Killers: When We Were Young
Apocalyptica: When Worlds Collide
Flogging Molly: Yellow Tinker
Bon Jovi: You Give Love a Bad Name
Sick Puppies: Going Down (3 times!)
Cranberries: Zombie
Ozziy: Zombie Stomp
Started Over From Beginning

Eleventh Weigh-In

Another 2.5 lbs down.  Probably not as good as I could have done had it not been for yesterday's FUBAR but certainly better than another week posting 0.0!  I'm going for another 14 mile week on the treadmill and would like to incorporate some weight exercises like I did last week because I felt the tummy one in my abs all day yesterday.  Finals for school are next week so I want to make sure I have a really great week this week just in case finals take up too much of my time next week and hamper my activity logs.

The friends we met up with at the sports bar last night want to do the Rock N' Roll marathon in December also so they're going to start training for it so that we can all do it together; I mentioned the Butch Cassidy marathon in Utah and they may be interested in that also.  That would be fun to have someone to do the marathons with.  They also like to golf, as do "Temptation" and I so hopefully we'll be doing a lot of that over the summer too.

I decided yesterday that I really want to hike Angel's Landing in Zion again.  It's been years since I've climbed that mountain; I used to climb it once a week with my best friend growing up along with a lot of other hikes in the park but that one was always my second favorite.  My first favorite is the Subway but that's a back country hike that requires a lot of planning and as much as I want to think I'll be ready for it this summer, I'm not entirely sure if I really will.



Food:
7 glasses of water
1 cup of coffee w/creamer
1 cup prison soup (lunch)
2 cups prison soup (dinner)
2 slices bread (dry)
1 large whole pickle
---------------------------------
Daily Caloric Intake: 813



Activity:
Treadmill: 1 mile @ 3.3 mph w/30% incline
Treadmill: 1 mile @ 3.5 mph w/10% incline
Treadmill: .25 mile @ 3.3 mph w/20% incline



Tonight's Playlist:
---------------------
Puscifer: The Mission (again)
Evans Blue: The promise and the threat
Chevelle: The red
Nightwish: The siren
Evans Blue: The tease
Puscifer: the undertaker
Antonio Banderez: these boots were made for walking
Third Eye Blind: Semi Charmed Life
The Killers: Tranquilize
Rihanna: Umbrella
E Nomine: Vater Unser
Godsmack: Voodoo
Godsmack: Voodoo too

Quick Confession

So this morning got up, headed straight to breakfast: asparagus, mushroom, and egg-white on everything bagel w/yogurt parfait and coffee

Then headed to our friends' house to watch the first game where we nibbled on fruit and veggie trays: baby carrots, cauliflower, honeydew, watermelon, cantaloupe, tomatoes, celery, water.

Then, after the game was over, headed to the sports bar to watch the second game with our other friends: pizza, wine (1 glass), water.

As much as I hate to admit it, I have NO IDEA what my calorie count was today and I'm sorry to all of you.  Today is the very first day where I've truly just gone through the day without obsessing over counting.  It will not become a habit.  Tomorrow will be right back on the wagon as I have been so far.

I'm nervous about the weigh-in tomorrow due to the uncertainty of today.  I don't think I did horrible but I know I didn't do great (stupid fracking delicious half-priced pizza) and there is a big giant space in between that is gray ... I'm somewhere in there.  It could be 1,300 or it could be 2,000 ... I honestly don't know.

Upside: THE STEELERS ARE GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL!  YEAH BABY!

I'll be happy when football season is over though ... I'm fairly certain that my weekends will be more normal after Super Bowl Sunday because we don't really go to sports bars a lot except for during football season - especially playoffs.  Plus softball season is starting soon which is actually really good; I don't play softball because I have an irrational fear of the ball but I plan on spending the games walking laps around the outside of the field while "Temptation" plays.  I am also hoping to get us both into a habit of arriving an hour or so before the games each week so he can stretch and walk with me to warm up his muscles.

I'm not off the wagon - that's the important thing to remember.  I hit a bump but I didn't fall out.  Tomorrow will be business as usual.

Feelin' Groovey

I started the day out really good today, I hope I can keep up the momentum!  I woke up, drank a 12 oz glass of water, then had a 6 oz cup of coffee, then had "Temptation" drop me off at the gym on his way to work.  Now I only had to do two miles today to meet my goal but I wanted to make sure I still did some good burning so I decided to ask one of the gym guys that's there all the time for a little help/advice.

I want to continue working my abs but I am so burned out on floor exercises and it takes me something like 300 crunches to even make my tummy tired anymore so he pointed me to two different ab machines.  Did reps on those and while I was doing that I watched a lady doing a standing arm exercise so I decided to try that too.  Then I did my time on the treadmill and then I walked home and drank another 12 oz glass of water before jumping in the shower.  Not too shabby huh?!

Even better: This morning before we left for the gym/work I went out for my morning smoke, sat down on my smoking chair and for the first time in I don't know how long I realized that I could no longer see my stomach sticking out beyond my boobs.  Now, standing up my boobs have stuck out farther than my stomach for a long time but sitting down has been a totally different story for too long to even guess at.  I wasn't sucking it in at all but I was sitting up straight, which is something I haven't really done in a long time and it seemed to just come naturally.  I used to have really great posture but ever since I started the weight yo-yo I've had to consciously force myself to sit up straight or even stand up straight but now that I'm working and feeling better about myself it seems like my shoulders are always back ... I think they call that confidence. :)


Food:
124 oz water
1 cup of coffee w/creamer
1 pack Newton's fruit crisps
1 cup "prison soup" (lunch)
1 turkey sandwich on rye (no mayo)
2 oz saurkraut
1 cup steamed broccoli
1 Reese's 100 calorie snack pack
------------------------------------------
Daily Caloric Intake: 992



Activity:
Ab Curls: 90 reps @ 50 lbs
Ab Twists: 60 reps each side @ 30 lbs
Arm thingies: 20 reps each arm @ 4 lbs
Treadmill: 1.13 miles @ 3.5 mph
Walking (Street): 1 mile + @ unknown speed



Today's Playlist:
---------------------
E Nomine: Schwarze Sonne
The White Stripes: Seven Nation Army
Erasure: Ship Of Fools
T.A.T.U: Show Me Love
The Killers: Somebody Told Me
Living Syndication: Something More
Rammstein: Sonne
Puscifer: Sour Grapes " Legend of the Mix"
T.A.T.U: Stars
Evans Blue: Stop and Say You Love Me
Pussycat Dolls: Sway
Eurythmics: Sweet Dreams
Erasure: Take A Chance On Me
Puscifer: The Mission (feat. Milla)