Garbage That GOO!

30 Day Challenge - Day 13

Thursday, October 30

Not much to say about today... tired with massive headache that I presume is from the low calorie level, since otherwise I am not prone to headaches. Didn't exercise. Did some early Christmas shopping online... that took a while. Otherwise, given I wasn't being as active, not quite as hungry. Ate four meals not five. Maybe that will help make up some for yesterday.

Nutrition

Day 13 Meal Plan
I was a little low on protein... but not by much, just 5g. Will do better on the macros tomorrow.

Training

None

Water

Not enough, more like 11 cups. Rare bad water day for me!

Weight

222.6 pounds

30 Day Challenge - Day 12

Wednesday, October 29

A very good day for workouts! Not so hot on the eating...

All went well until after I got home from the gym. I ate my third meal, but had a very strong knot of hunger in my stomach, actual pain, rather than just mild hunger. It persisted after the meal and I grabbed a small handful of cashews. The hunger subsided slightly. By the time my fourth meal rolled around, it was really strong again and I was feeling so bad it was like I was coming down sick... only I wasn't. This time another handful of cashews got grabbed, plus a cup of Hood Calorie Countdown milk and 29g of Metabolic Drive Low-Carb. That helped... but then, later, about time for my last meal, hubby got home from golfing.

I had told him, NO CHOCOLATE on our anniversary! (He has a past history of bringing in dark chocolate bars by the pound on birthdays!) He hedged his bets and brought in one tiny 60% bar and a 170 calorie 70% Lindt Dark bar. It was a weak moment. I haven't had chocolate in two months... and I was feeling crappy and extremely hungry and tired. I ate both. I meant to only eat the smaller serving, but I ate both. Then I skipped my last planned meal, but had another cup of Hood's and another serving of protein powder, plus a serving of fish oil.

I went to bed early. I couldn't sleep, because I was still hungry and my stomach just hurt from it. So one more small handful of cashews and that calmed things and I finally slept.

I don't know what to say about this! I was hungrier than I ever have been in my entire life yesterday!

I had a Basic Emergency Meal ready to get me through when I am too tired to fix a planned meal, but that went by the wayside. I didn't even THINK of it! New plan... print it out and have it handy on the fridge!

Nutrition

Day 12 Meal Plan

Training: Cardio

10:37 AM Nordic Track - 2 minutes on, 2 minutes off. 4 intervals.
20 minutes. 1.6 miles. Average speed 4.8 mph! 286 calories.
Average HR 79% Max HR 91%.

Then I showered, ate another meal and went to the gym. I was a half hour late for class, so I just did my own thing, which was probably better exercise anyway. I enjoyed it a LOT!

12:19 PM Walking
15:15 minutes. .75 miles. Average speed 2.95 mph. 151 calories.
Average HR 65% Max HR 69%.

I threw in some upper body weight work after the walk and before the bike, but I'll post that further down.

01:21 PM Stationary Bike - plain steady state w/one sprint
15 minutes. 3.92 miles. Average speed 15.68 mph. 190 calories.
Average HR 74% Max HR 86%. Sprint was brief, at 18.4 mph.

Actually, I didn't INTEND to do a sprint, I just had my eyes closed and was rocking out to my MP3 player and it just happened.

Training: Resistance

Cable Row - 6 sets, alternating overhand vs. underhand grip. 70 pounds.
1st pair of sets - 9 reps
2nd pair of sets - 7 reps
3rd pair of sets - 5 reps

I put in a short quarter mile walk here, it was interesting to see how much higher my heart rate went after just a bit of weight work.

Incline Bench Press w/Dumbbells - pair of 12 pound dumbbells
1st set - 15 reps
2nd set - 12 reps
3rd set - 12 reps

Water

22 cups

Weight

223.0 pounds

30 Day Challenge - Day 11

Tuesday, October 28

Got off to a rocky start... I ate my first meal before I planned. And realized only after it was inside me that the sausage I had chosen had a lot more sugar in it than I'd thought. So it was not QUITE as low carb a day as I'd planned, even though I was able to mostly make up for it when I planned the rest of my meals after breakfast. Otherwise, so far, so good.

Got our flu shots today.

Nutrition

Day 11 Meal Plan

Training: Cardio

01:21 PM Nordic Track - Intervals - 2 minutes on, 2 minutes off. 5 intervals.
25 minutes. 1.9 miles. Average speed 4.56 mph. 358 calories.
Average HR 79% Max HR 91%.

Cardio notes: The carbs yesterday must've helped! Not only are my shoulders a bit less sore, but instead of feeling like I was slogging through mud on the skis I felt like flying. I am already starting to adapt to this type of intervals, it was tough, but not as tough as the first couple of times. I threw in a full extra interval! After which I did a nice slow cool down and then stretched. No dizziness... just a slight headache, which is pretty normal for me on intervals.

I think I am a fairly fast adapter to cardio work.

Anyway, "Cheat To Lose" recommends the intervals particularly on the first couple days after a cheat when supposedly your leptin levels are high and your body is primed to burn fat. He also recommends a third interval session later in the week when you are adding carbs. That might work OK on the full bore program, but at this level of calorie restriction, I'm just a bit dubious about a third session. I didn't feel so hot doing one at the end of last week.

Training: Resistance

None. Not pushing it on my shoulders at the moment, even though they feel a bit better. I may do some Pilates abs... if so, I'll update this post.

Water

I have set a goal to drink 18 cups today. I think I'm going to pass it, because it's not 6PM yet and I have already gotten a full gallon in. I downloaded one of Leigh Peele's podcasts (Specifically #7. The Basics, I Don't Need No Stinking Basics.) and saw she really recommends a gallon and a half per day for women! I guess for the challenge, she didn't want to shock people! Me, I've been drinking a gallon for a while now, and a gallon and a half on my heavy pool workout days. So it might behoove me to try going up on my normal days.

Weight

Not unexpected... a rise to 223.4.

I was shocked that it wasn't higher after my cheat day!

30 Day Challenge - Day 10

Monday, October 27

So Monday was my cheat day. I didn't have serious junk cravings. In fact, I stayed home and pretty much ate fairly healthy food, just more of it and more carbs. No planning, just went with what I wanted when I was hungry.

I wanted the last two real farm fresh eggs for breakfast, so I had those, along with one omega-3 egg from the store. I scrambled them in a little butter, sprinkled them with fresh dill, salt and pepper and ate with a sliced tomato on the side. Having eggs in butter reminded me of eating at Grandma's. I don't know where she got her eggs, but probably from Great Aunt Mary's chickens. I loved my eggs!

Then I had pancakes. From a mix. With NO protein powder added, so they stayed tender. Kodiak Cakes brand, I like this mix! Ingredients are simple, 100% whole grain wheat flour, 100% whole grain oat flour, non-fat dry milk, dry honey (honey, wheat starch), leavening (sodium bicarbonate, sodium aluminum phosphate, monocalcium phosphate), egg whites, salt. Add water. I usually also add cinnamon and two tablespoons of flax meal. A half cup or 60g of mix makes three 4" pancakes, which I ate with butter and maple syrup. Also had a lean chicken/apple sausage link sliced on a bed of lettuce.

There is no meal plan! The thing about the "Cheat To Lose" cheat day is that you DON'T plan your cheats ahead of time. You eat what you crave at the moment on your day and only until hunger is satisfied. Then you eat again when you are hungry again. I don't get overly carried away with tracking it either... if I want to, I do, if I don't, no biggie. This time I did sort of track it, so you can entertain yourselves with my "eats".

I know, oatmeal for dinner is weird. It happened to be my craving at the time!

I don't know if I can keep up the current blogging pace... my shoulders and arms are either reacting to the weight work or too much time on the computer typing! I will still try to update once a day if I can.

Nutrition

Day 10 - Cheat Day - What I ate

Training: Cardio

11:49 AM Nordic Track - steady state.
21:36 minutes. 283 calories. Average HR 75% Max HR 83%.

Training: Resistance

None. I had thought to do push-ups, but my shoulders are bothering me so badly I didn't.

Water

Got my gallon in.

Weight

222.4

30 Day Challenge - Day 9

Sunday, October 26

I discovered Paula's Pumpkin Protein Pancakes! GREAT recipe!

I found the recipe under Leigh's 30 Day Challenge-Official Challenge Thread on the JP Fitness Forums. But when I can find the source, I like that, gives credit where it's due. I will have to go check on some of her other recipes!

What I really like about this recipe, aside from the great taste, is that there are only a few ingredients needed, it's fast, and it has great macros and plenty of protein. I actually messed with it a little for my first attempt, adding a bit of flax meal and substituting a whole egg for one of the whites. But I fixed a second batch exactly per the recipe and it was just as good!

Otherwise, Sunday was a rest day. I'm seeing my weight creep up a bit, but I think that is because one increases carbs at the end of a Cheat To Lose week. I.E. it's normal so I'm not worrying. I'll probably spike on Tuesday and then hopefully will be going down from there again. I did make some brown rice up to freeze for next week and to eat over the weekend and possibly on my cheat day as well.

I also made a meal plan... which I followed except for I wasn't that hungry and wanted to go to bed, so I did not eat my last meal. The Mediterranean Salad would have had a little olive oil in it, so I opted to use that on my 4th meal along with a little balsamic vinegar. So I was below my recommended calories by 186 calories.

Nutrition:

Day 9 Meal Plan

Training:

NONE WHATSOEVER

WATER: Easily got my gallon in!

WEIGHT: 222.0

A simple egg white omelet

And a not so simple post about it!

Readers liked my fish salad post... so here's another meal I frequently cook. It's a low fat meal, but if you want to dial in a little more fat, that's easy to do... use a few whole eggs instead of all whites. Grate a little parmesan on the omelet or add some nuts with the veggies. Or slice the apple and top with peanut butter!

Don't do ALL the above at once, unless you are Michael Phelps! ;^)

If you need lower carb, nix the apple and add fats. This is pretty much the kind of meal you can tailor to WHATEVER your desired macro requirements! If you are a guy and need more protein, add chopped turkey. Or have a lean sausage link. Want more starchy carbs? Add a side of oatmeal or pancakes.

I switch veggies/fruit and seasonings out as desired. Italian seasonings work quite well, so do French blends. If you like heat... feel free to add it. Salsa is good on omelets! A sliced tomato is nice in place of the apple.

This was my Meal 1 for Saturday 10-25-2008.

Ingredients:

• 7 large egg whites (or as per your protein/cal needs)
  This came to about a cup of egg whites.
• 1 cup of sliced zucchini or approximately one small whole zucchini.
  I don't get too crazed with measuring green veggies as a rule. I DO measure my fats/protein/starchy carbs more carefully.
• 2 large brown or white button mushrooms This will look like a lot sliced, but they shrink way down when cooked. Adjust according to mushroom desire.
• Seasonings: I used a pinch of turmeric to color the egg whites, then also used turmeric, chili powder, garlic powder and iodized sea salt to season the veggies. I shake the spices in lightly and never measure. (Cashews are a lovely nut to add with this seasoning mix!)
• 4 large leaves fresh basil
  (I roll them up and slice in a chiffonade style.)
  
• Medium apple (Slice or munch whole as desired.)

How to make it:

Heat an 8" non-stick pan on medium. Start slicing your zucchini and mushrooms. Once the pan is sizzling hot, I'm ready to toss the veggies in. You can use a spritz of oil or not as desired. Once the veggies are in the pan, I sprinkle my seasonings over them and give the pan a good shake.

Then I separate my egg whites into a glass Pyrex measuring cup and whisk them up. I continue to shake the pan at intervals until the veggies are done. It's kind of a flip action, but not to the point stuff is flying out of the pan! Once the veggies are done, put them aside in a bowl. Quickly rinse the pan and scrub with a handled brush to remove any carmelization from the veggies that might make your eggs stick, then put it back on the stove. It will heat up quickly!

Once sizzling again, spray some olive oil in the pan and add your eggs/egg whites. As the edges get hard, you can push them in and let the runny whites fill in on the edges. Or you can try to lift them up and let the runny whites go under. I do this a couple times, then I turn the heat down a notch and cover the pan for 1 minute and 20 seconds.

When you uncover, you should see a few bubbles and the eggs will be mostly set, perhaps a little runny on top. You don't want too much of that, or it may be difficult to flip. If needed, recover the pan for a few seconds.

I like to flip my eggs so they are cooked on both sides. You may prefer to add veggies and fold the omelet over to serve at this point.

I am NOT good at pan flips, so I slide the partially cooked egg "pancake" out onto a plate and use the plate to neatly turn the omelet back into the pan with the uncooked side down. Then I spoon my cooked veggies on half of the omelet and set the timer for another 2 minutes. If you want to top your veggies with some nuts or grated cheese, this is a great time to do so! You can also put strips of cheese slices down before you add the veggies.

After my timer goes, I loosen the finished omelet with a spatula and then slide the whole thing out on a plate, using the pan edge to flip the unloaded half of the omelet over. I top with the basil, then usually also add a little sea salt and ground pepper. Add desired fruit or side and munch away!

This nice, plate filling meal came in under 250 calories! And for inquiring minds... this is a modern plate circa 2005 and measures 10.25" in diameter. As for cooking time... somewhere between 20-30 minutes is what it takes me to make my omelet. This post took far longer...

30 Day Challenge - Day 8

Saturday was a hectic day. I had to get up, take measurements, get my meal plan in place (OK, I did most the night before, but then tweaked it in the morning), get my exercise and get showered and take photos. Then I had to convert the RAW photo files, crop and resize, create a composite and make my Saturday check-in post in order to stay in the challenge. And naturally, I wanted to see how everyone else was doing...

And in all of that, I also had to grocery shop. Which was poor planning on my part, because I ended up really tired yesterday and was very tempted by candy in the store! I actually picked up a piece at the checkout counter, but then changed my mind and put it back.

So my meal plan was not ideal... when I made it the night before, it included some turkey salads. By morning, I realized I was going to be a crazed person and substituted some shakes in instead. It was a smart move... after shopping, I was too tired to be on my feet to cook.

I will say this, printing the meal plan to paper was a lifesaver! I just crossed stuff off as I ate it. I'm liking the meal plan idea better and better. Dialing my food in SPECIFICALLY ahead of time will help me stay on target. And I am learning to weigh things by grams for more accuracy.

Nutrition:

Day 8 Meal Plan

Training: Cardio:

12:47 PM Nordic Track - 2 minutes on, 2 minutes off. 4 intervals.
22.5 minutes in all. 1.8 miles. Average speed 4.79 mph.
Average HR 79% Max HR 90%! 323 calories burned!

Actually, I had NOT planned to do intervals for the day... that was a change! My plan was to do my TRX trainer, using the TRX Express Workout DVD. That gives bodyweight resistance exercise, plus you get a decent cardio boost.

Plans changed abruptly however when just starting into the TRX warm-up (some squat rows) I had a bad pain in the side of my left thigh! I tried a few more gentle rows and a few regular assisted squats to see if the pain was momentary and might work out, but it got worse. So something is irritated there and for now... squats have left the building.

So, I was upset and irritated but I just decided I wanted to get some exercise. So I left the TRX hanging and jumped on the Nordic Track. I might have slightly over-cooked that... 90% of my heart rate is perhaps a bit too high right now, though it only got up there at the very last interval. Still, at the point I was cooled down enough to get off the NT, I nearly slipped the skis ahead of myself and had to grab the hip rest fast to stay upright. OTOH... I sure did burn some calories in a short space of time!

Training: Resistance:

Didn't really happen. I tried a few pushups using the TRX after, but I was not up to it. So then I just laid on my stomach on the floor and practiced some of the Pilates abs our water aerobics instructor has been teaching us in our "dry land" class. I was feeling that later in the day, so I guess I am starting to get the hang of it. Then I stretched for a good while.