Thursday, January 5, 2012

Digging In

"I love food." "Food is my worst enemy." Have you ever said these two statements? On one hand, you love food, yet you love it so much that it works against you?

In order to be sure that I stay within my calories on any given day, as I mentioned before, I plan my meals the night before and log them into my food diary on www.calorieking.com. If you haven’t gone there yet, go! Or go to www.sparkpeople.com another great site for tracking. Again, without you being accountable for what you are putting in your mouth, you will not succeed for the long term and isn’t that what this is all about? Long term results!

A few months back, my employer started a weight loss challenge. We received a free membership to a local gym as well as a wonderful Wellness Coach to go to with questions. If you wanted to participate you had to have your measurements taken and weigh in once at the beginning and once at the end of the 45 day challenge.

Now, for those of you who know me, I LOVE a good competition. Whether that competition is for a prize or a competition within my own mind to prove that I can accomplish a task, I thrive on competition which is probably why I work in sales. “Competitive” is my middle name. (Even Dance Party for the Kinect brings out my competitive side; just ask my husband hahaha.)

At the end of the 45 day challenge, I had lost approximately 9 pounds, but 15 inches! I came in 3rd, not the 1st place I was hoping for, but I still won a gift certificate. I was happy! Not only was I happy because I now had a gift certificate, but I got back what I NEEDED to get back into the swing of things. I NEEDED a push. I NEEDED someone (this Wellness Coach) to tell me that it was okay to do something for myself for 30 minutes a day. Being a full time working mommy and wife is hard right? I am not the only woman out there juggling work and family life. It’s difficult at times for women (and men) to take that time for ourselves to enrich who we are. I am hoping that these posts will be that extra push you need to get you started.

So, on to today’s happenings. Today I woke up (too late (again) to do my workout) and went to make my already planned egg sandwich with a slice of cheese and slice of avocado for breakfast. I open the fridge and reach for the carton of eggs annnnddd….only ONE egg left!!

WHAM! My plan was all thrown off. Oh well…so I skipped breakfast because I was frustrated that my planning went down the toilet! WRONG! You can not skip the most important meal of the day! Don’t do it…ever! Instead, as you’ll see from my meal plan below, I stopped at Starbucks and (with a gift card) bought a turkey bacon and egg white sandwich (320 calories). Done. Point of the story; don’t let small snags in your day throw you off. Get right back in it and make wise choices.

“Why can’t I just skip breakfast Melissa?” Your body needs food to fuel itself for the day. If you skip breakfast you will be ravenous by lunch and you’re more likely to make poor choices at lunch. Then what happens?? You make poor choices at lunch AND THEN you throw your arms up in surrender and say “oh well, I messed up, so I’ll start again tomorrow…” or “oh well, I’ll start again on MONDAY.” Wrong approach! Again, keep a food journal and if time is an issue, take 10 short minutes the night before and plan your 3 meals and 2 snacks for the next day. A motto I heard a long time ago and always repeat is the 5 P’s: “Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance.” Remember it. It’s true.

Click here for the “Top 10 Reasons NOT to Skip Breakfast” http://www.womenfitness.net/top10_no_skip_breakfast.htm

Here are some “Did You Know” calorie facts:

Starbucks: Grande Mocha w/ no whip cream (Grande = Medium and is 16 oz.)-260 calories Instead you can try a grande skinny mocha with half the calories.

Dunkin Donuts: ~Multigrain bagel with NOTHING on it=390 calories!!!! ~“Reduced fat” blueberry muffin: 450 whopping calories! ~And you may think you’re being healthy if you opt for the Honey BRAN Raisin muffin-WRONG! You are sacrificing 500 calories!

Mcdonald’s: Don’t even get me started on this place. Ever since I wrote a term paper on what is in the meat at fast food restaurants, you won’t catch me there. But, I digress. If you find that you just can’t resist the temptation and you go to reach for your Grilled “chicken” sandwich, just know that you are consuming 420 calories and the side of small fries you have is an additional 230 calories. That’s a whopping 650 calories.

Pasta pasta pasta-my downfall when I was pregnant! I seriously put down a box at a time! 1 cup of spaghetti (1 cup is not a lot) has 225 calories and 1 cup of elbows has 380 calories! And you’re probably not eating just one cup nor are you eating it plain, so you have to add in the calories from the sauce and whatever else you put on it. How about trying spaghetti squash…my new found love! Seriously…just try it! Hold on to your seats because 1 cup of spaghetti squash has ONLY 30 calories!!!!!! Seriously! And it’s so much better for you than boxed noodles. Now that deserves a WOOT WOOT!

And how bad could 1 slice of pizza really be? 1 slice of thin crust cheese pizza (1 slice=1/8 of the pizza) has 200 calories. You may be thinking, well that’s not bad Melissa! Why not make yourself a whole personal pizza on a wheat pita with some sauce, veggies and sprinkle cheese on it…you can make this for less than 200 calories and you’ll feel more satisfied because you have a whole mini pizza just for yourself! And let’s not kid ourselves, how many of us can actually only eat 1 piece of pizza anyway?!?!

So here it is, my meal plan for today:

  • Early Morning: 12 ounces brewed coffee, 1/4 c fat free milk, 2 sugar packets-48 calories
  • Breakfast: Starbucks Turkey Bacon Sandwich (I went to make an egg sandwich myself this morning and alas; we were all out of eggs. So I improvised and used a gift card to get the next best thing.) Total for breakfast: 320 calories
  • Morning Snack: Straight from Mr. Rogers when I was 8 years old--1 medium banana (105 calories) with 1 slice of Boar's Head American cheese-1/2 ounce (50 calories) DELICIOUS! Don't knock it 'til you try it :)-Total: 155 calories
  • Lunch: 2 slices of Ezekiel bread -80 each with 2 tbs salt free peanut butter-179 calories with 1 tbs strawberry/rhubarb jam-50 calories and 1 medium orange-86 calories Total for lunch: 475 calories
  • Afternoon Snack: Wallaby organic strawberry yogurt (150 calories) mixed with 1 teaspoon chia seeds (35 calories) Total: 185
  • Dinner: 4 oz roaster chicken-243 calories with 4 oz steamed broccoli-40 calories and 4 oz steamed asparagus- 25 calories (Total for dinner: 308 calories)

Total for the day: 1491-Still within my allotment for the day!:)

My workout:

Well today is my cardio recovery day with Insanity and I am doing it at 7:30 once munchkin man goes to bed. I'm looking forward to it because my legs are KILLING me! So, while I'm not burning too many calories, I'm still making sure that I'm giving my body what it needs to continue tomorrow. What did you do today? Please share!!

YOU CAN DO THIS! DON'T SELL YOURSELF SHORT!

Quote of the day:

"It's a lifestyle. Train like there's no finish line!"


5 comments:

  1. I gotta ask....what the heck is Chia seeds?? Neil wants to know if it is what they use on CHia pets? LOL

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  2. Good question and I was wondering when someone would ask:) Here is a link with some benefits of eating chia seeds: http://www.nutsonline.com/cookingbaking/chia-seeds/premium.html?gclid=CLb688mXuq0CFUio4AodUFX0-g and here's another link: http://www.thechiaseed.com/about-chia-seeds.html I'm not sure if they're the same thing used for Chia pets...I wondered the same thing at first though!

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  3. you'll ave to cut and paste those links

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  4. Great Blog Melissa! Wonderful way to educate and hold yourself accountable.

    I do have a question - I noticed that you're on the Insanity bandwagon. How do you like it so far? Pros/Cons? Would it be good for someone who doesn't want to bulk up on muscles but just look toned (you know.. the exact opposite of P90X). Are the workouts manageable with your busy schedule?

    If so - I might join the bandwagon myself :)

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  5. Hey Nicole! Thanks!

    Insanity is certainly "big" right now, but it has been for a while now:) I'm doing Insanity to mix it up a little and add some more intense workouts to my regimen. I've actually had it for a few years now, but never did it. I love it!!! It's different and it's intense. INTENSE.

    I wouldn't say P90X bulks people up, it does tone people up though and add definition. Anytime you lose pounds and fat, you will look lean and "cut", but you won't come out looking like a body builder; all bulky:) Insanity does not include any weights (that I have encountered thus far). The workouts aren't any longer than 35 to 40 minutes on average (and I'm happy they're not) lol, so they are very manageable. I highly recommend Insanity! :)

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