Goodbye, Week 7

No loss this week, and I'm fairly certain part of the problem is the sliced turkey. There is a lot of sodium in that crap, so no more. From now on, I will stick to fresh meat, and my husband is even going to make a run to Virginia to buy 100 pounds of chicken from the butcher. No more paying beach prices.

I'm really not happy with the lack of progress lately, but it really is my fault for over-indulging on things I shouldn't have. And things I can have, in some cases. I know I keep saying I'm going to refocus and do things differently, but as usual my planning sucks. Fortunately, I'm out of lunch meat, English muffins and bagels (even though these bread were whole wheat/multigrain). I do have eggs, egg substitute, apples, fresh and frozen vegetables, cheese, beans, and brown rice. Oh, and cottage cheese and chicken/turkey and lean beef. I should stick to that. My grocery store had winter squash on sale, so I have six squashes - spaghetti (YUM!!!), acorn, and butternut.

Regarding exercise, I'm a bit frustrated. I love my strength training, but I really wonder if I'm doing it properly. I'm confident that my form is good, but I sometimes feel I'm not pushing myself hard enough, even though I feel like my limbs are going to separate from my body by the time I finish. I always wonder if I could do just one more rep. Since I have been adding weight to my strength training exercises every few weeks, I an disturbed that I may not actually be getting stronger, but just not working up to my potential to begin with. But like everything else in this challenge, it's practice for the next one.

Public Service Announcement: If you don't have a digital food scale, get one!! I got one a few weeks ago and it's so much better than the crappy analog scale I was using. Much more accurate and it helps me track better.

Challenge 1 Day 48

I'm glad this week is over. I'm slowly getting the hang of the treadmill. I still hate it with every fat cell in my body, but hey, do what you have to, right?

High calorie today. Dinner was so good, I ate it twice! I seriously doubt I'll show any loss on the scale in the morning. In fact, I think I'll be up even more. Damn sodium.

apple
cottage cheese
coffee w/ cream

tilapia topped w/ cream cheese & parmesan
steamed vegetables

grilled cheese & turkey sandwich

ground chicken
pinto beans
green pepper, onion, garlic
(I had this twice, and I definitely intend to make it again in the very near future)

coffee w/ cream

Calories - 1913
Carbs - 139 (32 fiber)
Protein - 184
Fat - 76
Ratio - 38.2/37.4/34.4

Challenge 1 Day 47

I was bad and hopped on the scale this morning. Half a pound lost since Sunday. *sigh* I'm not stressing too much. I feel smaller and I can almost see where I'm losing in my belly area. UBWO was good. I really hate biceps curls. Ugh. I save them for last because they are the hardest. I wish I could just bench press all day.

I'm starting to think about the holidays and baked goods. Something I loved as a kid was making Christmas cookies. I want to do that this year with my son, but I'm afraid I'd eat all the damn cookies. I am looking at a mix of lower carb and lower fat options. I found a fantastic lower fat mini cheesecake recipe that I can probably adapt for the holidays. I could just do "the real thing" but I know I'd gain back every ounce I've lost this year, and I just can't have that.

Food was okay today. I wasn't really that hungry.

apple
cottage cheese
coffee w/ cream

scrambled egg whites w/ onion, green pepper, garlic, turkey slices
light multigrain English muffin

raw carrots, broccoli, cauliflower
turkey slices

tilapia
mashed cauliflower

Calories - 1220
Carbs - 105 (22 fiber)
Protein - 118
Fat - 37
Ratio - 34.2c/38.6p/27.3f

Challenge 1 Day 46

Cardio was much better today. I started off at a slower pace and was able to do the BFL intervals! I held back a little big because I have a big, clunky mp3 player and can't move very fast with it. I won't be getting my small one back from my step-daughter until the end of November.

Food was good. I need more veggies.

cottage cheese
apple
coffee w/ cream

scrambled eggs w/ green pepper, onion, garlic

yogurt w/ protein powder
coffee w/ cream

spaghetti squash w/ onion
ground chicken

English muffin w/ butter
turkey slices

Calories - 1301
Carbs - 115 (16 fiber)
Protein - 117
Fat - 44
Ratio - 34.8c/35.3p/29.9f

Challenge 1 Day 45

Today has been rough. I was in no mood to work out when I woke up, mainly because yesterday was my 8th wedding anniversary and I had no desire to celebrate. So guilt was getting to me this morning, and I went back to bed. When I finally got up, I made the mistake of turning the computer on. In my defense, I needed some phone numbers from a PDF file, and it never occurred to me to *gasp* use the phone book!! By the time I finished working out (complete with checking my email between sets) and got my day started, it was nearly noon. I hate that. Fortunately, I do have to be up early for an appointment tomorrow, so no slacking.

Food has been decent today. I was low on fat, so I enjoyed some extra coffee with cream. I'll eat low fat just so I can do that. I love my coffee with cream.

apple
cottage cheese
coffee w/ cream

chicken breast
raw carrots, cauliflower, broccoli
coffee w/ cream

cube steak
baked onion rings

bagel w/ low fat cream cheese

turkey slices on bagel

Calories - 1372
Carbs - 110 (17 fiber)
Protein - 123
Fat - 53
Ratio - 31.3c/35p/33.7f

Challenge 1 Day 44

Just when I thought I couldn't hate cardio any more, I try the treadmill. It totally kicked my butt, and I couldn't even do proper BFL intervals. I think need to start at a slower speed because there was no way I could sustain the faster speeds for a minute at a time. Maybe I need to take the Couch to 5K approach. Actually, I may do that between BFL challenges.

Food was great today! I ended up needing some massive calories at the end of the day to even get to 1300, but I wasn't hungry most of the day.

apple
cottage cheese
coffee w/ cream

veggie omelet

turkey slices
raw veggies

grilled chicken
mixed veggies

tuna sandwich
pepper jack cheese

Calories - 1346
Carbs - 113 (25 fiber)
Protein - 136
Fat - 45
Ratio - 32.3c/38.9p/28.8f

Challenge 1 Day 43

Today was much better. I reluctantly got out of bed, ate my pre-work out meal (which is the same as my post workout meal in terms of item and quantity, so I'll only be listing them once), and did my warm up on the treadmill. Now, I've never used a treadmill before, so this was an interesting experience. I can only imagine what tomorrow's cardio will be like. We've all seen the videos of people's feet moving too slow for the treadmill, so they get knocked down and shot like a cannon across the room. That's me.

I think I'm going to have to suck it up and shell out some big bucks for a decent protein powder. I'm having a terrible time getting enough protein. Carbs and fat are no problem at all. I have my vegetables and oils when needed. Protein is harder though, because sometimes getting enough protein puts me over my fat limit. I buy the leanest stuff I can find, but it's still sometimes pretty fatty. And let's face it - extra lean beef feels like ground cardboard. I have to really spice it up to enjoy it. Protein from meat is easy enough to get, but sometimes I get tired of meat. But what about beans, you say. Beans are a great source of protein, but they are also fairly high in carbs, so it would put me over my carb limit. I suppose I could always combine the beans and meat and try to balance my meals that way. Crikey! So simple, and it never even occurred to me. For some reason, Alice Cooper's "Hey, Stoopid" just popped into my head. Note to self: soak some pinto beans.

Food was good today, I think. I ate when I was hungry, and I didn't have any cravings.

apple
cottage cheese
coffee w/ cream

cucumber & carrots
chicken breast
English muffing w/ butter

carrots
sliced turkey

meatloaf
green beans

cottage cheese
English muffin

Calories - 1656
Carbs - 140 (36 fiber)
Protein - 153
Fat - 61
Ratio - 32.4c/35.4p/32.1f

Ironically, I'm high on protein today. Go figure.