Sometimes We All Need a Friendly Diet Reminder!

So TSP, remember that portion control diet [correction: lifestyle change] you've been on for the past oh, year and 8 months.

Of course how could I forget?

Right, so remember how last week you just threw it all out the window and went buck wild, like girls gone wild - on a slice of pumpkin pie - wild...

*ducks and covers* yeaaaaahhh.....

And you didn't just stop (or start) with Thanksgiving dinner... you had Mexican food the night before and then the day after you had a turkey burger and fries...

Well, they were fresh cut!

Right, doesn't count.
And there was old bay on them! You don't say NO to french fries with old bay... you can't!!

Excuses! Excuses! And then you went to the movies right after that and had a small popcorn and a coke.

*pouts* But I worked out that morning! and ran 5 miles Thanksgiving day! and worked out two other days before that!

Yeah, and how about how for the past oh, two months or so you've stopped logging your calories on sparkpeople?

Well I started writing a diet journal recently instead...

But.....

But it's not exactly working because I don't always have the calorie information in front of me, and I'm not exactly being super strict about measuring my portions either.

So you ended up breaking your diet, even if you don't realize you do

Uh, ya. I confess I do. Especially because I'm not being super observant.

And you know what this means?

That I'm only maintaining my weight instead of losing :(

You know what you need to do...and Knowing is half the battle!

Ok Ok, so yes, I confess I haven't been very vigilant with my diet for a while now. I've still lost a few inches of body fat because of my work outs, but I'm super annoyed the the scale hasn't gone down in over two months. I know it's not always about the scale and that I am doing a lot of strength training, but I also know that my diet needs improvement. I have no one to blame but myself for this because no one sat there and forced me to eat pumpkin pie, pumpkin roll, pizza, Mexican, Indian, burgers, fries and movie popcorn.... So I'm back on sparkpeople.com logging in everything I eat!

I started Saturday so I'm only 3 days back being strict with my 1500 calorie a day diet and I'm measuring my portions again too! So wish me luck, I hope I see some results by the end of the week! I think I'll know after two weeks if this is making a difference or if I really can blame the strength training ;)...but I'm not going to lie to myself I know my diet needs improvement and sometimes I just need a refresher every so often to get myself back on the right track to healthy eating!

(image from angrytrainerfitness.com)

Turkey Trot a la mode!

That's me running towards the pumpkin pie... kidding...ok maybe not...

So the turkey trot I ran on Thanksgiving morning ended up being a lot of fun. I didn't really pay attention to the route or distance, the entire time I'm thinking it's just a 5k which is nothing at all...but it turned out be 5 miles not 5k oops! Oh well, no biggie right? I can run five miles... but THEN I also didn't realize that the route was all rolling hills, mostly just up hill then flat then up hill again and very few down hills! Which I wasn't aware of until we reached the first one...and they just kept coming.

I usually run on a route that has some hills, but this was a lot of hills! And it killed my calf muscles. My right in particular started to cramp up so I had to stop to stretch it. Then during another big hill a sudden pain shot through my calf and I had to stop to stretch yet again! I also got side stitches which is something that never happens to me. Hasn't happened since I was a teenager that I can recall. I didn't even get side pain the entire time I trained for the relay or during the actual race. It must have been those hills! So needless to say I was a bit uncomfortable for the entire run, but I wanted to finish so I pushed through it. If it hadn't been for members of my bootcamp encouraging me a long it probably would have been a lot more grueling.

When the finish line was in sight I sprinted for the end (for once we were on flat ground) and finished strong. The run wasn't timed but we calculated that it was done in about an hour so I ran about 11 minute miles. So despite the aches and pains during the run we got a great exercise in the morning of Thanksgiving and (the best part) we all donated money for research towards Chron's Disease and Colitus.

I then proceeded Thanksgiving Eve to sample pretty much every dessert there was...and I'm not going to say the total number of variety but let's just say everything that had pumpkin in it, I went for, especially the pie with the cinnamon and pecan crust that my grandmother made...holy dessert heaven batman! *Bad Team Six Pack bad!*

Friday morning I got up and went to boot camp and had a great hour long full body work out...then I proceeded to destroy my diet the rest of the day with a turkey burger, some french fries and a small movie theater popcorn and small coke...(It's black Friday... I don't step foot near a mall or store if I can avoid it... movies are usually my other option for entertainment)

(Needless to say my next post will be about brushing up my diet)

How Are You're Going to Stay Fit on Thanksgiving?

So what are your typical plans for Thanksgiving?? If you asked me two years ago I probably would have said I would be doing activities similar to that of a two-toed sloth. ie. Nothing.

And on top of laying around doing nothing, I would have eaten ton of food, pie and pumpkin roll.

I've decided from now on every Thanksgiving morning I'm going to do something to keep active.

Last year on Thanksgiving day I played a pick up soccer game for two hours straight and it was awesome fun! Especially when we were kicked off the turf and forced to play in the mud. Always good times :)

This year, I'm going to do a Turkey Trot!

What's a Turkey Trot?

Well, since you asked... a Turkey Trot is a race held on Thanksgiving Day and most of races donate the sign up fee to charity, since it is the day to give thanks and all :)

And if that wasn't enough...the best part... These races are held all over the country so there's a good chance there's a race being held near you!!

CLICK HERE TO FIND A TURKEY TROT NEAR YOU!!!

The link above will take you to active.com where you can enter in your zip code to find the nearest race.


So what are you going to do this Thanksgiving morning? Be like me two years ago and lay in bed all morning then roll out of bed and make yourself presentable before you stuff your face?

Or are you going get out there and do something healthy and fun!?

Don't forget to check out my Eat This Not That post for the holidays!

sloth cartoon from cartoonstock.comturkey trot cartoon from runcolo.com

Soccer Sunday's: The End of the Road

What!? There's no crying in soccer!

Ok, well maybe just a little crying...but only because the seasons have ended and there's NO soccer for months as boring cold winter settles into the north east! Boo! Yes, I know I could play indoor but honestly I'm not a huge fan of indoor...however, I might end up breaking down and playing if I go soccer stir crazy in the middle of the winter.

So here's a recap of this weekend's games....

Saturday w/ my ladies team: Game 1. To say the field we played on sucked is putting it lightly. It's on a low ground and runs slightly down hill, so with several weeks of rain in a row it was a choppy muddy freakin' mess and very difficult to get your footing in when you're constantly sinking and sliding in the mud. (note: this was the same field I hurt my foot on, I did not go balls out during this game because I did not want a repeat of that mess). We tied 1-1, and over all it wasn't very exciting because as I said before the field was difficult to play on for both sides.

Game 2: Back to back soccer baby! We got to switch fields and play on a field that was less choppy, actually flat and dry. We also played a comptetive team--we play on the rec level which means we're out there for the fun of it not necessarily for victory all the time but hey, winning is nice too. The competitive team played a man down, but we were playing on tired legs so in my opinion we were equally matched. They dominated the first half of the game and managed to score one on us. However second half of the match we got our rhythm going and scored 3 goals two were headers...always beautiful when you score on a header! (see: Messi in this years champions league final.) Anyway, despite the other team supposedly having more skill than us we won 3-1. It was a great feeling and a great way to end our season which mostly got rained out!

Sunday Co-ed league: This was the first round of play-offs for us (second round for other teams who were placed lower). We were up against the team that was tied for third place with us that we defeated 5 or 6 to nothing a couple weeks ago. We knew they were unlucky that game and that they weren't going down with out a fight this game. By then end of the second quarter they scored two goals on us. Start of the third quarter we got a break when one of their defenders scored an own goal (take what you can get right?) and then we came back a few minutes later and put another one into the back of the net tying the match. The rest of the game was an all out fight for another goal during regulation time. Neither side was successful so we went into over time which is five minute golden goal, end of the first five minutes we were still tied. So we're now in double over time, down to the last minute it's looking like we're going into PK's at this point but from a corner kick a header was chipped into the top corner of our net. It was impossible to stop and our playoff hopes were squashed with that one goal and our season ended. Over all it was a closely matched game and well fought game. Not happy with the results but it is what it is. We still managed to have a great season and I think third place during regular season play is nothing to scoff at :) Bring on next season!

For now though I need to bump up my running make sure I stay conditioned for the sprinting and get back out there and keep up my ball skills. The end of soccer season means there's two less days a week that I'm working out so I still want to make sure I work out 6 days a week.

Trying not to cry right now because this is my last Soccer Sunday for a while! *sad face!*

Attack of the Movie Theater Snacks!

Ahh the movies, who doesn't love a good escape from life staring at the big screen every once in a while.  And the smell of the popcorn, it's hard to resist!

Wait wait! Slow down a second before we all run out to the lobby! Let's take a closer look at your favorite movie theater treats before you go crazy on that bucket of popcorn and completely ruin your diet!

Which movie theater treat is going to kill your diet?

The biggest offender...


Popcorn!

Popcorn??

Popcorn: At the low end, a medium box with no butter has a modest 951 calories, no fat, and no cholesterol. At the other end, a large bucket (around 20 cups!) with butter delivers 1,238 calories and 78 grams of fat, 49 of them saturated — approximately two days’ worth. (Source)

But I thought popcorn was a relatively healthy snack??! Sure it is, if it's air popped and not coated in oil and butter! Here's what SparkPeople.com has to say:

In theory, popcorn should be low in calories and high in fiber—a healthy, whole grain snack. And it is when you air pop your own at home. But everything changes when it's made at the theater and becomes a greasy and oil-soaked mess covered in artery-clogging butter or margarine.

A few years ago, when the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) reported that movie theater popcorn was full of unhealthy fat, the industry immediately made changes, switching from coconut oil to healthier oils, such as peanut. Over the years, however, some chains have switched back to coconut oil to save money and improve flavor.

Yikes seriously it's going to take a lot of running to work off that popcorn! P.s. I'm finding several websites that place the calorie range of the large movie theater popcorn high at 1500 calories and over 100 grams of fat... So 1200 calories might be underestimating the calories of the large bucket!

Other Unhealthy Snack Offenders!

Nachos!

(Seriously wondering if anyone actually enjoys the taste of that processed cheese?? *blech*)

Nachos: 40 chips with four ounces of what they call cheese conveys 1,101 calories — roughly equal to two large McDonald’s fries orders or two Quarter Pounders with (actual) cheese — and 59 grams of fat, 18.5 of them saturated. (Source)

Pretzel Bites!

Pretzel: The large, soft kind with cheese topping delivers 643 calories and 14.5 fat grams, three of them saturated, and four of them trans fats — amounts worthy of a dinner entree. (Source)

Jebus! I feel like I'm in a dieters house of horrors right now. I didn't know New Moon was supposed to be a scary movie!?

But wait there's still more...

How many of you go for the bottled water at the snack counter? Right, probably not many hands going up right now. So we usually wash all these salty, fatty snacks snacks down with a sugary bucket of soda!



Remember when you went to the movie theater as a child and the small soda was actually small??? Now you get a small soda and it's suitable to use as a bucket to make a sand castle out of!

Coke. If it’s a 32-ounce medium, unembellished, KIRO calculates 236 calories, but the Men’s Health team went for a lake-like 44 ounce Cherry Coke and were slammed with 572 calories.

With just a medium popcorn and Coke, you’re at nearly 1,200 calories
(Source)

Holy Calorie Overload Batman!!

In case you need a reminder when you're at the snack counter here's a chart you can print out with a quick run down of all the nutritional information to help you choose the healthiest snack!

(just click on it and it should open in a new page for you to print out!)

So what can you do to get around all this temptation???

I would recommend sharing that popcorn but Sparkpeople say's even that's not 100% fool proof!

If movie theater popcorn is a must-have, stick with a kid-sized serving and forgo the added butter or margarine. Avoid the larger sizes completely, even if it seems like a steal. Moving up to the medium serving from the small size costs only pennies more, but adds about 500 more calories and two days worth of saturated fat. Ouch!

Think you can get away with buying large and sharing? Think again. One study conducted at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign found that people who were given a large bucket of popcorn ate 50 percent more than those who were given a medium-sized bag. When asked to estimate how much they had eaten, participants thought they only ate as much as those with a smaller bag. This is one of many studies proving that if there’s food in front of us, we’ll eat it without thinking. (Source)

So the correct decision is to simply say no to the larger bucket and get your own smaller portion so you won't be tempted to keep going back for more!

Spark people also recommends you bring some healthy snacks from home... or eat a healthy meal before hand so you won't be tempted to over eat at the theater:

One way to enjoy at treat at the movies without destroying your waistline is to bring your own snacks from home. Yes, this is discouraged by most theater owners because they make a huge profit at the concession stand. However, all theatres have different policies, and some even allow you to bring food from outside vendors (such as restaurants or shops in the same mall or shopping center). Find out the policy at your favorite theatre, and be prepared to lose your snacks to an angry employee if you get caught breaking the rules.

Here are some healthy alternatives you can bring from home to munch on:

• Bottled water or 100% fruit juice
• Trail mix, made with nuts and dried fruit
• Dry cereal
• String cheese
• Air-popped popcorn, flavored with Parmesan cheese, chili pepper, or garlic powder
• Whole grain crackers, graham crackers, or rice crackers
• Baked potato chips or tortilla chips
• Bananas, grapes, raisins, or other no-mess fruit
• 2-3 miniature chocolate bars

The best way to avoid temptation at the theater is to eat a balanced meal beforehand—lean protein, whole grains, veggies and healthy fats will keep you satisfied for several hours. (Sorry, but the concession's pizza, nachos and hot dogs don't fit the bill of a healthy meal.)

Going to the movies is a social experience—and that means eating for many people. But you don’t have to miss out on the fun just because you’re watching what your diet. By bringing your own portion-controlled snacks from home or choosing carefully at the candy counter, the only things you’ll be missing are the inches you'll lose from your waist.

So there you go! You are now armed with knowledge to avoid the movie theater snack trap! Hopefully we all won't kill our diets on your next trip to the theater!

Current Status

It's been a while since I've posted one of these so here we go

here is yet another segment on this blog where I rant/ramble:

Current Mood: Happy (when I don't think about my job) unsure (when I think about other things including job)

Current Weight: 195 (-14 lbs since I started the blog) I'm definitely gaining muscle... Most importantly I've lost another 3 inches of body fat!! I even lost in my arms and the guy who runs boot camp told me that's really good because it's a smaller area! Woohoo Michelle Obama arms here I come!!

Her arms are sexy and toned! You go girl!

Currently Thinking about: Grad School... how the hell do I get this process rolling??!
Oh and also I haven't had a comment on the blog in a month! I want to know what you're thinking cause I'm thinking you might not think what I post is helpful or informative?? I dunno I need feedback :)

Currently NOT thinking about: My job and how much a shit storm the next 8 weeks are going to be.

Currently looking online at: Rob's Vanity Fair shoot... Can't help it...sorry.

I feel like this when I'm at work...

I wish I could have just stayed in bed...

Currently looking forward to: Monsters of Folk concert next week!

Currently wishing that: I was some where else... perhaps somewhere else running. I ran 4 miles last night and guess what I thought about the entire time...

NOTHING

it was nice!

Currently listening to: My blip.fm station :) Currently playing Junior Boys - In the Morning... *Warning* this guys voice causes panties to spontaneously combust

Currently Realized: I've talked to much about how I hate my job in this post. But it's true. I hate it. I need to make a career change, I wish the economy/job market/lack of health care wasn't scaring me so much or I would have chosen another career path long ago. Sorry to be so Debbie Downer! On the upside I've lost 3 inches of body fat! I'm getting a massage tonight before having ladies dinner to celebrate a friends engagement!! And I have 3 soccer games coming up so there are other things to look forward to in life besides my 9-5.