No Sugar: Day 45...The finish line!

I made it to the end!!! Yesterday was crazy busy, in fact the entire weekend was busy, but more on that later... when I have time to just process everything and think of a blog entry. I just wanted to make this one brief.

I survived my goal of no sugary sweets for 45 days!!

I can't really explain completely how I resisted the temptation because there was certainly a lot of opportunities to cheat. I guess after a while it almost became mechanical to say no to all the cookies, chocolate and cake thrown in my face.

Instead, I ate fruits or apple sauce for dessert...and after all this time, I'm not having cravings in fact I'm feeling a little repulsed by sugar...it's just not tempting to me right now. I had some of my mom's homemade chocolate chip cookies and even those weren't enjoyable...Something might be wrong with me... but I'm ok with that for now ;)

Also, now it's time to think of my next diet challenge. Any ideas?? Or are you thinking of one for yourself?? Let me know!!

Muse for Motivation!

For my readers willing to ROCK! I salute you!!!

I was raised on rock n' roll. Kinda of like I was raised on spaghetti because my mom's Italian, but I was also raised on the Who, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Black Sabbath, The Beatles, Neil Young, David Bowie... the list goes on and on. Blame my parents they were teenagers in the 70's.

I wore Zeppelin shirts when I was a teenager till they literally had so many holes in them they had to be retired (I hadn't learned the art of tshirt repair like Rob displays on his Stoli shirt back then). To this day I still love me some rock n' roll, and I especially love it on my work out mix. If you're like me, music...but not just any music, good music...is essential to a good work out. Honestly if I had to listen to top 40 radio on my work out mix I think I'd fall off the tread mill... on purpose. *Snore fest!*

Looking back there is one band that has constantly been running along with me since before I even got serious about getting fit...

Twi-hards need no introduction to the ROCK that is Muse!

Absolution was my first Muse album... in 2003 I was still in college, glued to my ipod, and spending many hours in the dark room. Muse was there to rock me through it all. And when I occasionally decided to go to the gym Muse was there too. They've always been on my work out mix ever since.

Muse made me realize that some darker, heavier rock was ok. It didn't always have to be sad Brit rock on my play list (which I had a heavy addiction to at the time, along with a certain icelandic band *cough sigurfuckingros! cough* which I'm still addicted too lol ;)).

I'm listening to Muse as I type this up, and I have to take a break to throw out the Rock fingers.............. .... ... ...

Ok, I'm ready to continue now.

Black Holes and Revelations came next.

Twi-hards will know this one best because Supermassive Black Hole came out on this album.


You know the song...If you don't, where have you been?

It made the vampire baseball scene!
Let's face it, that scene would have been even more bizarre with out it.

Muse's current studio album the Resistance has some kick ass tracks on it as well. My favorites for working out are uprising and undisclosed desires.

This album also features I Belong to You, the track that was remixed for the New Moon soundtrack. And as if you needed further proof that Muse rocks... that song features a bass clarinet solo. Guess who played bass clarinet since seventh grade... this chick! All those people who thought it was a dork instrument were so SO wrong! Bass Clarinet is meant to ROCK!




So if the Stephenie Meyer seal of approval isn't enough, I'll add my seal of approval as well...

MUSE MAKES ME WANT TO RUN MY ASS OFF!

Seriously some of their songs are adrenaline pumping rock n' roll that make me think I'm in some crazy Hollywood chase scene lol. If they don't make you want to bust your ass on the tread mill (or other form of work out) I don't know what will! When the drumming, heavy bass and rocking melody's are blasting in your ear it's guaranteed to motivate you to move!

Here's a play list of songs I suggest from all three of these albums:

And, hey if rock isn't your thing check out this Thin White Duke Remix of Undisclosed Desires from fridaymixtape.com. It's over seven minutes long great for motivation on the tread mill... although I'm warning you it *might* make you stop your run and shake your booty in the middle of your work out ;)

Check out more muse on the web:

Muse.mu
myspace.com/muse

p.s. does uprising make anyone else want to raise their fist in the air and start a riot? or maybe that's just me? haha *rock fist!*

Why Fitness Dweeb?

So I've realized that this is something I've never really addressed before... I've mentioned it briefly in my profile, but I've never really written at length explaining the name of my blog. Do you need to ask?  I grew up a band dork, I loved playing music.  It was my life when when I was a child all through my teenage years and up until my second year of college.  Even now as an adult, I still miss playing a lot.  When other girls were going to the mall, I was reading Jane Austen and watching Colin Firth in the BBC Pride and Prejudice mini-series (I owned it on VHS...yes, I worked a part time job so I could buy the box set). I'm a bit of an anglophile (I have a thing for the Brits!) and I'm in love with costume drama's, Austen, the Bronte sisters, Hardy, Gaskell...I've read it or watched the mini-series.  I like fantasy stories and movies like Lord of the Rings as well...so needless to day some would categorize me a "dweeb", but well that's me.  Get used to it.


What inspired me to start getting healthy?

Being unhealthy, out of shape, frustrated, depressed and afraid of my health for the future was what made me decide to start getting healthy. I took my first spinning class in March 2008. I was embarrassed, and couldn't keep up with the group because I was so out of shape. But I thought if THIS doesn't help me lose weight I don't know what will. Well it didn't help me lose weight. Taking one spinning class once a week wasn't enough to shed the pounds. I wasn't focusing on my diet at all.

The final straw came when I bent my sisters bed frame after jumping on it...no I wasn't jumping on the bed, we were having one of those silly fight moments and I chased her into her room and jumped after her on the bed.  I bent the frame.  It was HORRIFYING.  But looking back thank god it happened because who knows if I ever would have gotten the determination to make a life style change.  It's weird that I can pin point the exact moment in my life that I snapped, but that was absolutely it.

On April 8, 2008 after a discussion with my doctor I learned about sparkpeople.com which helped me learn to change my eating habits for good! With regular exercise and a healthy diet the weight started falling off!

I saw 5lbs drop off then 10lbs and I thought "wow this does work, I'm not giving up!".

Never Again!

fitnesspants!

How did I get away from the books and off my butt?


It was a very slow process, I still love to read, obviously that's never going to go away, but I've learned to sort of compartmentalize that side of me.  I can read at night before bed. Sure I don't read as often, but I still do.  I still love all the things I loved before I just spend less time focusing on them.

I started out just trying to play soccer.  I knew I loved soccer so I wanted to try it and I knew I wanted to get better at soccer so that made me brave enough to try other things like spinning classes and yoga.  Then the ultimate work out... bootcamp.  That was the real push to get me in shape.  The the thing to remember is that my habits didn't change over night, slowly but surely I started trying new things and spending more time at the gym and less time on my butt in front of the tv/computer or reading.

SO Why, Then,  Fitness Dweeb?

Ok, First. I am determined to get in shape and reach my fitness goal. I had been working hard at that for over a year before I started this blog. I had lost 65lbs by that point on my own. On June 26th of last year I revamped my work out routine and tried something new. I got my ass out of bed at 4:40 in the morning and went to a 5:30 am Boot camp work out. When I got done with the work out I was so proud of myself 1. for simply getting out of bed but 2. that I didn't quit. This was the toughest work out I've encountered yet. I knew that these work outs were going to give me that extra push towards reaching my goal. 3. I wanted to write about it, I wanted to share my experiences thus far and maybe inspire others to work out and eat healthy as well.

There's lots of fitness blogs out there...and a lot of them are BORING. A lot of them might be a little too serious for the average Jane-ite like myself to grasp.   So I thought, I have to find a way to make this fun. I want to talk about fitness in a way that makes it understandable, a little easier to grasp. A huge demotivator with weight loss is boredom. Boredom with your work out routine and boredom with the foods you eat and sticking to a strict bland diet. SO I thought if I made a blog that was fun, entertaining and helpful it would be a win win!

I'm a period drama/romance dork, I've been obsessed with Jane Austen since I was 17...she's still my first literary love, I played in band, I was a member of the highschool art club, I never fit in, I spend entirely too much time online, but I figured if  *I* could find the motivation to get off my ass and change my lifestyle than surely other people like me who have similar interests could see that it's possible for them too.

So my goal with this blog (and always has been) is to help inspire my fellow nerdy girls start their own weight loss journey by posting advice that's easy to understand and cuts through all the fad weight loss crap and keep it simple. Eat healthy natural foods, exercise regularly and have FUN... and that's where my dorky side comes it. ;)

No Sugar: Day 39

Captain's Log: The end is drawing near...

"Want any pudding?"

No joke, my mom just asked me that question. Mom... seriously, you were with me on Jan 1st when I said I wasn't having any sweets for 45 days.

I've been snowed in with my family this weekend in an effort to avoid being snowed in with my roommate (trust me roommate is the worst option of the two....and oh yea we got 2 feet of snow dumped on us this weekend just an FYI)

Guess what we were in the "totally screwed" bubble! YAY!

Friday. The day the snow started we had two office birthdays to celebrate. I made the cake since my good friend and sometimes bloggy buddy Plain Jane was celebrating a birthday.. I did not eat the cake and I did not touch the batter! Of course since the office closed early because of the impending doom of snow, and the state of Maryland literally hits the panic button at the sight of the little white devils falling from the sky... there was left over cake I had to take home... AND there was another cake at home that my mom made for the house...you know since we needed one there too! There was cake in my face all weekend and I had to sit and watch the entire family enjoy it. No wonder I read a lot of fan fiction this weekend!

Mom: want a slice of cake?

Me: No, no sweets.

Saturday. The snow stopped about 4 in the afternoon. We started the dig out. Brother and I stayed out til a little after 8 at which point a increasing cold and numb toes made me call it quits. It took about two days of four people working about 3-4 hours to clear our cars and drive way.... it was a lot of snow. Trust me.

Mom: Want some hot chocolate to warm up??

Me: *grumbles...hell yeah I really want hot chocolate* No, Mom. NO chocolate, remember?

Mom: Oh, ok tea then.

Me: *smiles* yes please! :)

Sunday morning. Day 2 of digging out. Mom made cinnabuns as an afternoon snow shoveling snack.

Mom: You want a cinnabun??

Me: No, Mom... no sweets remember.

Mom: Oh, well give your dad and brother one.

Dad: Why aren't you eating one?

Me: NO sweets.

The shoveling of snow (and food) commences.

Sunday afternoon. Mom bakes brownies for a superbowl party. I decide to fore-go the festivities. I know it's going to be a glutton-fest and I don't like football. I stay home with a bottle of wine, twitter, and masterpeice theater. I'm also working on revamping my work out mix since I had a "little" time to do nothing this weekend.

Monday. Plow finally clears the court, I can venture out in my little car.

Let's play find Team Six Pack's Versa....

Off to the gym I go!!! *HAPPY DANCE!!!!!!* Seriously I had major cabin fever. Sure I got a great work out shoveling all that snow, I also think I discovered new muscles in my back and new bones to be cracked back into place...but I needed to get some cardio in! I ran 3 miles on the treadmill which felt SO SO good and was fun with my new work out mix and I did lots of abs. Trust me I didn't need to work my upper body after all that snow.

Monday evening. Haven't made it home yet (parents live closer to work and the gym than I do so it makes sense to stick around for a little bit), kinda thinking it's not going to happen til later this week anyway because...we're expecting ANOTHER 12-20 INCHES OF SNOW TOMORROW THROUGH WEDNESDAY!!!!!!! GAH! Enough already!

Run for your lives!!!! It's Snowmageddon!

SO anyway as I was saying, this evening I'm sitting with my lap top and my mom walks by and asks me...

"Want any pudding?"

*facepalm* haven't we discussed this already Mom???

Welcome to my life :)

Ok just because I haven't been able to eat all the sweets around the house doesn't mean I don't enjoy dessert...My dessert options this weekend were unsweetened apple sauce with cinnamon, grapes, apples and natural peanut butter, sugar free protein shakes....and Daniel Cudmore...

Don't mind if I do!!

A Month of Work Outs

So this post was an entire month in the making :) I kept track of my work outs for the month of January... I extended it a bit beyond that though because for the beginning of the month I was out of town visiting family way down south...just across the border. Hey Miss Rebecca...I know you're reading :)

Just kinda hanging around down south for a few days.

Ok so here's my entire month of work outs after I got back from my lil trip on Jan 5th... including days I rested. Bootcamp work outs are 1 hour long and burn an average of 630+ calories depending on the work out. According to sparkpeople one hour of Spinning burns about the same around 620 calories. 1hr of Yoga class burns about 220 calories.... As for indoor soccer I guess on average I play 25 minutes or more of a game depending on how many subs we have, so that burns about 270 calories. I'll leave it to someone else to figure out the total calories burned... I wasn't a math major ;).

1/06 Wed - Bootcamp

1/07 Thurs - Bootcamp

1/08 Fri - Spinning

1/09 Sat - bike trainer 45min, upper body, abs

1/10 Sun - Treadmill 3.5 miles jog, abs, weight training

1/11 Mon - Bootcamp

1/12Tues - Bootcamp morning, and Indoor soccer evening

1/13 Wed- rest

1/14 Thurs - Bootcamp

1/15 Fri - Spinning, 1hr

1/16 Sat - Run 3 miles, kick soccer ball around for 1hr.

1/17 Sun - Rest (ladies afternoon spent trying on brides maid dresses.)

1/18 Mon - Spinning and Yoga

1/19 Tues - boot camp (bye week in soccer *sad face*)

1/20 Wed - Rest (massage for my shoulder)

1/21 Thurs - boot camp

1/22 Fri - boot camp

1/23 Sat - Run/walk (4 min run 1 min walk intervals - hills) 6 miles <--- this was killer!

1/24 Sun - Run, 3 miles (mostly flat)

1/25 Mon - Rest

1/26 Tues - Boot camp morning, and indoor soccer evening

1/27 Wed - Boot camp

1/28 Thurs - gym: treadmill jog 3 miles, abs, weights

1/29 Fri - Bootcamp

1/30 Sat - Rest - went to NYC to be a Jane Austen Fan Girl ;)

1/31 Sun - Gym: treadmill jog 2 miles, elliptical 10 minutes high resistance, abs

2/1 Mon - Bootcamp

2/2 Tues - Bootcamp morning, indoor soccer evening

2/3 Wed - 30 minutes on bike trainer, abs <- slacker day!

2/4 Thurs - Bootcamp

2/5 Fri - Bootcamp <- instructor tried to kill us today because snow storm we're having is going to keep us in this weekend.

I worked out 26 days last month. I decided to start tracking just to make sure I worked out at least 5 days in a week. I guess after all that working out you can see how frustrated I get with the scale. I'm constantly being told that it's a little bit of effort in the beginning a lot of effort in the end...but honestly I'm really enjoying all the effort I'm putting in. I love the feeling after a good work out. I never regret working out.

Just to make sure I was keeping my work outs top priority I was curious if my dorky little habits might have cut into any of my work out time.  Trust me ladies I understand more than anyone how easy it is to succumb to addictions of laying around and reading and playing on the computer all day. But still I kept my (sometimes lazy) dorky ass in check and made time for my work outs.

Just remember it's ok to get away from the computer and the books and go to the gym....they'll still be there when you get home.

And if that doesn't work invest in a  kindle (there's a or the ipad when it comes out! You can take your books with you if you need to...but honestly when I'm working out I'm pushing myself so there's no way I can focus on reading at the same time, so Mr. Darcy will have to stay at home.

Don't Beat Yourself Up

The alternate title of this weeks entry would have been how to gain five pounds in a week....but the reason I didn't have a post at the beginning of this week was because I needed to give myself a few days to cool off, clear my head, and try to remember that it's not always about the scale!

As I posted in the last entry I tried a week of low carbs to shock my system and start weight loss again. Well, this week was low glycemic.

The low glycemic diet allowed me to add fruits and whole grains back into my diet.

My daily range was 1700cal 148g protein, 191g carb, 47g fat

I could eat carbs again but I had a list that I needed to chose from, I couldn't just go balls out and eat what ever I wanted.

Acceptable carbs included fruit (except bananas, dates, figs), sugar-free applesauce, light yogurt, beans (all types, black, kidney, chickpea etc.), other veggies like squash, beets and artichokes, some grains - limited to one meal a day (100% whole wheat bread and tortillas, oatmeal, sweet potato).

Here's an example of meals I ate for Low Glycemic week:

Monday:
Breakfast
Hard Boiled Egg, 2 large
Cottage Cheese, 2% Milkfat, 1 cup (not packed)

Lunch:
Apples, fresh, 1 small (2-1/2" dia)
Baby Carrots, raw, 10 medium
Guiltless Gormet - Blackbean Chipotle Wrap,
Romaine Lettuce (salad), 2 cup, shredded
Cider Vinegar, 1 tbsp

Dinner:
Cauliflower, cooked, 6 flowerets
Chicken Breast, no skin, 4 ounces
Bread, whole wheat (including toast), 1 slice
Butter, salted, 2 pat
Cornbread, 1 oz (I cheated with this... sister made some corn bread and I love the stuff!!)
Milk, nonfat, 1 cup

Snacks:
Mixed Nuts, dry roasted (salt added)1/5 oz (I wasn't paying attention when I grabbed nuts for a snack...last week nuts were ok, this week I need to watch my intake because I could only have 47g of fat.)
Apples, fresh, 1 medium (2-3/4" dia)

Tuesday:
Breakfast:
Quaker Instant Oatmeal, prepared with water, 1 Packet
Quaker Instant Oatmeal, honey nut, prepared with water, 1 packet,
Yogurt, plain, low fat, 1 cup (8 fl oz)

Lunch:
Chicken Breast, no skin, 0.5 breast, bone and skin removed
Oranges, 1 fruit (2-5/8" dia)
Cauliflower, cooked, 4 flowerets
Bread, whole wheat (including toast), 1 slice Applesauce, unsweetened, 1 cup

Dinner:
Bread, whole wheat (including toast), 1 slice
Skippy Natural Creamy Peanut Butter, 2 tbsp
Trader Joe's Chicken Tikki Masala (1 Tray), 1 serving (I screwed up here. I was tired, didn't feel like cooking so I had a frozen dinner which had white rice.

Snacks:
Cheddar Cheese, 1 oz
Dill Pickles, 2 spear
Apples, fresh, 1 large (3-1/4" dia)



Cons of this diet:
1. you give me an inch... I take a mile. I admitted last week to my carb addiction now looking back at what I ate it's no wonder I gained some weight back. Towards the end of the week I made a big batch of whole wheat pasta with roasted peppers and onions added to the sauce and sweet Italian turkey sausage... sounds yummy right? Well I made it with the hopes that my sis would eat the left overs, but I forgot sis was leaving town so I had multiple portions of left overs that I wasn't going to let go to waste.


Pros of this diet:
1. It's more realistic.

2. You eat a larger variety of healthy foods.

3. Once again it made me look at my carb addiction and it made me realize that while I can still eat carbs I need to make an effort not to allow them it to be a part of every meal I eat!

Results of this diet:
Truth. I gained some of the weight I lost on low carb week back. This however should not be viewed as a reflection of the diet, but just proves my theory once again that the low carb diet does not work. As I said before when you go off of it you gain the weight back! I talked to one of the girls at my bootcamp who is doing the same diet and started before me. She told me she also gained some weight back after she got off the low carb week. I felt better hearing this knowing it wasn't just me. She also told me that once she stuck to the low glycemic diet she did see the weight fall off again after a little while. Ahh, the joys of dieting. I swear it's a rollercoaster some days.

I allowed myself a cheat day on Saturday because I went to NYC to see this amazing exhibit at the Morgan library about Jane Austen...yes I'm still fan girling. I'm allowed a cheat day every two weeks so it was convenient mine fell when I went out of town. I had what I normally had for breakfast since I was on a bus to New York...I ate two cereal bars and an apple. I allowed myself a vanilla latte once I got to the city because it was ff-f-f-f-ffreeeeezing last Saturday!! For lunch I ate at Franchia a vegetarian Japanese tea house. I highly HIGHLY recommend it. Everything was delicious even the $5 cup of plum tea. I had crispy scallion pancakes and spicy Malaysian ginger "chicken" fried rice, I tried a sesame and seaweed porridge but it was just "eh" not bad but not great so I only had a few spoonfuls. The meal was more than filling, probably more than I should have eaten, but damn did I enjoy every bite!

However that was where the eating should have ended. But I was craving pizza. When I got back home around 10 at night I hadn't eaten since lunch except for some nuts and an orange on the bus. I wasn't really hungry, but I told myself on cheat day I was having pizza and damnit!! I wanted pizza! So I had pizza.

And boy did I regret it. But Sunday the scale had shot up, all the weight I lost the week before was back and then some. I was freaking out...did one cheat day hurt me that much??! Did I really eat too many carbs last week?? I hit the gym on Sunday and I've worked out every day since. I beat myself up for a little while about my weight gain...I just didn't know what I did wrong. But as I said above I talked to one of my fellow dieters/bootcampers and she assured me that the weight would probably come back off soon.

I am happy to report this morning that when I weighed myself that I was back with in 1-2 pounds of where I was at the end of my low carb week. It's difficult to tell on my dial scale.

Another Lesson I learned this week.

DON'T GIVE UP! I'm not going to give up, I'm not going to stop eating healthy (even if I thought about if for a split second then I said to myself..Um WTF was that thought coming from have you gone mental!?) No, not me I'm not giving up! I have to keep thinking of the bigger picture I might have a bad day and then a good day, but I know over all I always have more good days than bad. I'm healthier and happier than I was before so I'm just going to keep working hard at it every day.

I'm going to try my best to stop obsessing over the numbers and deadlines I've mentally set for me reach my goal and just remember that this isn't something that has an expiration date once I reach my goal. This is for life!


This week's work outs:

1/25 Mon - Rest

1/26 Tues - Boot camp and indoor soccer

1/27 Wed - Boot camp

1/28 Thurs - gym: treadmill jog 3 miles, abs, weights

1/29 Fri - Bootcamp

1/30 Sat - Rest - went to NYC to be a Jane Austen Fan Girl

1/31 Sun - Gym: treadmill jog 2 miles, elliptical 10 minutes high resistance, abs

How to Lose About 5lbs in a Week

Update: Please read the follow up post to this (above) so you can see how unrealistic a low carb diet is for healthy weight loss.

Note: Please remember that we are all different, our bodies store fat and metabolize differently so we will all lose fat and metabolize food differently. So if you see your results in weight loss not going as quickly as you like don't get down on yourself. Be proud of what you can achieve and keep working to achieve more. End note :)

Ok, that being said over the fall I hit a major plateau with my weight loss. I was still dropping inches from all my work outs, but the scale was staying the same and the fat wasn't coming off as fast as I wanted to. So I got fed up and decided to give up sugar and get really strict with my diet Jan 1. I did that for a week an half while I stuck to my low calorie diet and STILL the scale didn't go anywhere even eating 1500 calories a day. Normally I probably should have lost about 2lbs or more a week.

So I set up a meeting with my boot camp trainer to discuss my diet and he put it in pretty simple terms for me. My body was too used to my diet and my metabolism slowed down. I need to make a big change in what I was eating in order to shock my system and jump start my weight loss.

His solution: A weekly rotation of Low Carb, Low Glycemic, and Low Calorie/higher carb diets.

When I heard the words low carb I wanted to freak out! Low Carbs! I'm part German and Italian!

Give me my potatoes and wheat beer and my spaghetti, Italian bread and wine and I'm a happy girl!! I was raised on spaghetti and meatballs!

I'm also a firm believer that the Low Carb diet does not work. I don't need to be an expert to say this, I've seen it first hand happen to my father. He did the Atkins diet for months lost the weight really fast, went off the diet and gained it all back. Slow and steady wins the race and all things in moderation is my motto.

Needless to say I was actually a little afraid to try the low carb because of this, but what did I have to lose? I wasn't losing anything currently with my diet the way it was that's for sure, so I had to give this a try. What gave me the motivation to give this a try was that the diet rotated weekly. So essentially my body wouldn't adjust too much to the low carb's. When I switched my diet up after a week I wouldn't gain all the weight back right away and I wouldn't go crazy from not having some oatmeal or spaghetti :) WIN!

So far I've only done week 1: Low Carb. Yesterday was my last day and I'm happy to report I survived the week. Today I start low glycemic index, so I'll be posting about that next week.

Instead of focusing on what I couldn't have I was happy with the list of foods I was allowed:

-meats/dairy: beef, chicken, fish, eggs, cottage cheese, cheese, shellfish.

-unlimited veggies including asparagus, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, cucumber, onion, lettuce, mushroom, pepper, snow peas, radish, spinach, tomato and zucchini. no carrots or green beans.

Mmmm... unlimited vegeeees!
(oh, but no fruit allowed for low carb week... sorry delicious apple!)

-allowable fats: cream/milk, canola and olive oil, nuts (almonds, brazil, peanuts, pecans, walnuts), avacado/guacamole, all natural peanut butter.

I was very happy that I could eat handfulls of nuts for a snack... if you recall I love nuts!

My daily goal was to eat 1600 Calories, 40g of Carbs, 89g of Fat, 160g of Protein

Here's an example of meals that I ate.

Sunday:

Breakfast - 3 egg omelet w/ salsa & cheese

Lunch - grilled chicken Caesar salad, no croutons

dinner - pork chop & salad

Monday:

Breakfast - two hardboiled eggs, 1 cup cottage cheese

snack - mixed nuts, dry roasted 1 oz.

Lunch - grilled chicken breast, salad w/ balsamic dressing, 4 celery sticks w/ peanut butter

snack - mixed nuts

dinner - 5oz Tilapia, asparagus

The Con's of this diet:


1. I don't recommend this diet to anyone who is just starting out with making a change in their lifestyle. It has a LOT of restrictions as to what you can and can't eat and you need to plan every meal. If I did this as a Newbie dieter I probably would have given up and that would have gotten me no where. If I had to follow a diet that said NO you can't eat this and NO you can't eat that then I would have had a very hard time because it would have been giving up too much too soon for me and I would have gotten overwhelmed.

I believe it's important to learn how to make healthy choices on your own with out restrictions first. Learn what foods (from all food groups) are healthy for you and learn how to properly portion your food before trying something like this. This is what sparkpeople.com teaches you. I had no restrictions on my diet starting out, technically I could have eaten what ever the hell I wanted to. But what I learned very quickly was well, I can't eat what ever I want beauce I won't see results. I had to learn on my own what healthy foods would fill me up instead of wasting my calories on an empty snack that would leave me hungry.

Now that I've learned all this, it was the right time for me to analyze my diet again and cut more out. Which is why I tried this low carb/low glycemic/low calorie rotation.

2. Removing carbs from your diet causes a HUGE DROP in energy. Carbs were my main source of energy before I gave them up. I would eat a cereal bar before working out and at 5am it really gave me that boost I needed to get through bootcamp. Eating protein for breakfast doesn't enter my system as quickly, so I found myself tired through my work outs, tired in the middle of the day, crashing at the end of the day and taking long naps.

3. I had to eat protein shakes some days to make sure I got enough protein. Can we say... blech!

The Pro's of this diet:


1. I learned that it wasn't so terrible to cut carbs from my life. I survived the week, granted I was tired a lot, but I did it. I've also realized that when I reach my weight loss goal and go off of this rotation diet, I don't need to depend on having carbs in my daily diet. I can go a day or several days with out toast, oatmeal, or pasta. And I figured out a scoop or two of peanut butter with a cup of milk will give me enough energy to get through my work outs.

2. I saved money, learned to plan ahead and ate better. At the grocery store I only bought chicken breast, fish, vegetables, nuts, cheese, cottage cheese, eggs and milk. I didn't eat a single processed, over salted frozen meal, and I didn't go out every day and buy a salad for lunch. I am a self proclaimed microwave queen and I usually buy salads for lunch or even frozen organic meals like Amy's brand. This week I prepared breakfast, lunch and dinner for myself and I learned to experiment more with some seasoning and I cooked a mean dish of tilapia! YUM.

3. I SAW RESULTS!!! After months of the scale not budging in either direction I FINALLY saw it go down again and it felt AMAZING!! I was so excited that after only a few days I saw the scale drop. After a week, my new jeans are already fitting me better! And people at bootcamp told me they saw a difference already!

But it's not just about the diet ladies!!

You got get up, get out there and exercise as well!

This was my work out schedule this week:

Monday: Spinning 1hr, Yoga 1hr

Tuesday: Bootcamp, 1hr (no soccer this week *sadface*)

Wednesday: rest (got a massage ;))

Thursday: Bootcamp, 1hr

Friday: Bootcamp, 1hr

Saturday: Run/walk (run for 4 min, walk 1), 6 miles and lots of hills!

Sunday: Run, 3 miles (not much hills)

Best part about my Saturday run was that I got a compliment for doing a good job from a cute stranger runner guy....who happened to pass me once when I was going down hill (enjoyed the view though) and when I was near the end he was already running back up hill (enjoyed that view too...I'm bad). But he was cute and said I was doing a good job so I forgive him for putting me to shame.

No Sugar: Week 3

Just want to give you all a little update on how I'm surviving the sugar cravings as I go into week three of my goal to stay away from sugary sweets for 45 days...

Yesterday, JE, my bloggy-mate/co-worker, brought Berger cookies into the office. If you're wondering what a Berger cookie is...

Yep, that's a big ol' slab of chocolate on top there.
I think there's about twice as much chocolate as there is cookie.

These are locally made here in Bawlmer (Baltimore to you non-local folk)... don't be fooled they're not that fabulous, unless you really are trying to achieve death by chocolate. In my opinion these cookies are over the top sweet. On top of the Berger cookies another co-worker brought in...

Erm, wasn't Christmas almost a month ago?

There's also two bags full of miniature chocolates lying around. At any given moment there are 4 different areas of temptation in my office: File drawer near my desk, supply closet, kitchen, co-workers ledge.

But wait there's more...... Every month a cake is brought into the office to celebrate birthdays...it just happens to be here today...

Best birthday cake ever!

Anyway, so with all that temptation at my finger tips... have I caved???

NOPE!

I haven't been tempted to touch a single bite... it's kinda like being a married woman... I'm married to my new diet. I can look but I can't touch ;)

Let me put this into visuals you, my fellow fangirls, can all understand...

repeat with me now ladies.... you can LOOK at that delicious tasty treat:

Look at this GQ motha-trucker


But don't TOUCH...
Naughty, naughty!

Just once more ladies so that you don't forget.... Look

at the sexual white chocolate

at the goodies

But don't TOUCH!!

Even if it's so very tempting... especially when the goodies look like they want you to take them to bed (chocolate + bed = messy sheets... and you really don't want to ruin your 500 thread counts, do ya?)

The Skinny on Sugar

Sugar... do do do do do do Oh Honey Honey do do do do do do... You are my Candy Girl...

I somehow don't think this game would be as popular if it was called "vegeland"...

So I've got a sweet tooth, I've always had a sweet tooth (I wonder if it's candyland's fault for brain washing me as a small child ;))...I'm sure most of us are in the same boat... but as I've announced in my 2010 Goals, I've given up sugary sweets for 45 days.

My reason for this are not only because the holidays season and all its delicious cookies killed me, but also because I've been reading a nutrition book that's helping me look at the foods I've put in my body in a different way.

Once I read about sugar I had to consider either being more watchful about my intake or cutting it out of my diet completely. I chose the later obviously for the time being. I am a firm believer in all things in moderation, but I've hit a plateau and I am hoping that cutting sugar from my diet will help me break through that.

I've been reading this really informative book called "You Are What You Eat" by Dr. Gillian McKeith



Here's what the book says about Sugar Cravings:

You will crave sugar if your blood sugar levels are constantly out of balance; if you have nutrient deficiencies, yeast overgrowths; if you eat a diet high in refined, processed carbs and junkie foods. Sugar cravings are a sign that you may suffer from a condition known as hypoglycemia, causing you to crave even more sugar.

You end up becoming the victim of a seesaw effect of soaring and plummeting sugar levels. This is why if you start to eat just one chocolate bar, you are bound to crave more. The sugar gives you the rush, but this drop is never far behind. The best way to to beat the sugar fix is to go cold turkey: no sugary foods or sweets for a month. The herb astragulus can give you a natural energy lift (500mg daily). ...

Certain foods help regulate blood sugar levels and tame sugar cravings. Whole grains and fresh veggies are great choices. Yams, sweet potatoes and squash help to curb a sweet tooth too and they don't elevate blood sugar levels in the way that sugary sweets do.

Food Cravings:

Sugary, carbohydrate-rich foods and sweets raise the level of the feel-good chemicals in your body (these are the endorphins serotonin and norepinephrine). The trouble with eating high sugar foods is that sugar enters your bloodstream very quickly and causes a rush of insulin along with a rush of serotonin. If there is a sudden rise in sugar levels, the insulin breaks it down very quickly, leading to a drop in both sugar and endorphins. this leaves you feeling worse than before and you may reach for more sugary foods to boost your mood, setting up a cycle of food cravings, weight gain, fatigue and mood swings which is hard to break.

Don't deny it we all know once you get started on one little sweet it turns into a lot of little sweets. That's why I had to go cold turkey! The book breaks it down even further to talk about insulin levels and how the body deals with all the excess sugar...this is where it gets really interesting... I had one of those *light bulb* moments after reading this section of the book:

Insulin Imbalances:

When you eat food, glucose from the digestive breakdown of the food is absorbed into your gut and blood. The body takes what is requires and then produces insulin to lower glucose levels back to normal, converting the excess glucose into a compound called glycogen which is stored by the liver.

On a healthy diet this process works perfectly, but excessive consumption of refined carbohydrates, particularly sugary foods, upsets the balance and everything starts to go haywire. Your body has to produce increasing amounts of insulin to break down the sugars. Eventually you become resistant to the insulin, and instead of converting excess glucose into glycogen, it turns into fat. You are then caught in a vicious cycle where the more unstable your blood sugar levels, the more prone you will be to craving sweets and unrefined carbohydrates like bread.

An imbalance of the hormone insulin can often be the root cause of overweight. Too much sugar causes glucose intolerance in the body, and when you are overweight you break down sugar less effectively. It's a Catch-22 situation.

I couldn't believe this was happening in my body when I eat sugary foods but there was the explanation plain as day. It completely made sense as to why it was difficult for me to eat just a little bit of chocolate bar instead of the whole damn thing. Now, I'm not saying I'm not to blame in as well, I know better and should have the will power to resist...hell we should all know better than to gorge on sweet foods, but it's easy to see how the reaction to sugar in our blood stream makes it harder to say no.


Whats that you say, you only use sugar substitutes?

Just in case you might think your body was off the hook because you only eat foods with artificial/no-calorie sweeteners think again. Have you ever wondered why our grocery store shelves are filled with diet products, non-fat, low-fat, low-carb, no calorie, sugar free products and yet our society is still just as overweight as ever? Those sugar substitutes aren't helping you in fact they might make you gain weight.

Artificial sweeteners trick the body into thinking you're going to get a rush of energy from calories. Don't think of the word "calories" as necessarily a bad thing. Calorie is the term used to measure food energy. We need this energy to survive. It's where you get your calories from that make all the difference. Anyway! So Artificial sweeteners enter the blood stream your body thinks its going to get a natural rush of energy from calories, but then there are no calories. Long story short, studies show you might be more likely to eat more food through out the day to make up for tricking your body...

When it comes to dieting, most of us are willing to resort to a trick or two to help us curb our appetite and eat less — drinking water to fill up when we're hungry, for example, or opting for artificial sweeteners instead of sugar to get the same satisfying sweetness without the offending calories. But new research suggests that the body is not so easily fooled, and that sugar substitutes are no key to weight loss — perhaps helping to explain why, despite a plethora of low-calorie food and drink, Americans are heavier than ever.
In a series of experiments, scientists at Purdue University compared weight gain and eating habits in rats whose diets were supplemented with sweetened food containing either zero-calorie saccharin or sugar. The report, published in Behavioral Neuroscience, presents some counter-intuitive findings: Animals fed with artificially sweetened yogurt over a two-week period consumed more calories and gained more weight — mostly in the form of fat — than animals eating yogurt flavored with glucose, a natural, high-calorie sweetener. It's a continuation of work the Purdue group began in 2004, when they reported that animals consuming saccharin-sweetened liquids and snacks tended to eat more than animals fed high-calorie, sweetened foods. The new study, say the scientists, offers stronger evidence that how we eat may depend on automatic, conditioned responses to food that are beyond our control.

Read the full article on Time.com


If this research isn't a deterrent from fake sugar, I'm just going to remind you that these sweeteners are CHEMICALS.

Read this... Aspartame Controversy:

Aspartame was discovered in 1965 by James M. Schlatter at the G.D. Searle company (later purchased by Monsanto). He was working on an anti-ulcer drug and spilled some aspartame on his hand by accident. When he licked his finger, he noticed that it had a sweet taste.

So let me get this right, someone is researching for an anti-ulcer drug and discovers this chemical was sweet and then somehow we decide it's ok for human consumption? Sure opinons are going to vary on the safety of Artificial Sweeteners depending on what research report you read, but personally, I don't want these un-natural chemicals in my body.


Hopefully it will make you think twice before you decide to grab a diet soda.

In fact it seems with all soda's you're in a bad situation. Regular soda's are loaded with sugar and high fructose corn syrup. And diet sodas are loaded with bad fake sugars.

When I started my weight loss I switched to drinking sparkling water instead of sodas. Even today a regular coke is a rare treat. Last time I had one was on Christmas eve. I found that what I really missed about soda wasn't the sugar it was the carbonation so I don't miss it at all. I'm a sparkling water junkie (watch out for the sparkling waters that add fake sugar to them though!).

Are there ANY healthy, natural no-calorie sugar substitutes??

I haven't tried this personally but I have heard of this product. Dr. Gillian recommends Stevia as a natural alternative to sugar.

Stevia: Craving Curber

You are going to fall in love with this incredible green-leafed plant belonging to the chrysanthemum family. Stevia is a sweet herbal plant that is much sweeter than sugar. But unlike sugar Stevia has the ability to regular blood sugar levels, suppress sweet cravings and lesson hunger pangs. It's helpful for diabetics and hypoglycemics and contains protein, fiber, complex carbohydrates and vitamins.

To top it all off, Stevia has no calories. The glycosides are note metabolized in the body and are thus eliminated with out any calories being absorbed. Load of credible research supports the use of Stevia. I use it with patients who have a real sweet tooth. in almost every case, the patient reports a significant decrease or the complete eradication of sugar cravings. It is available in powder or liquid extract.

Agave Nectar is another natural alternative to sugar. I've also had liquorice root in tea as a sweetener.

And here's one more thing I wanted to touch on because I was slightly confused about the term I've been seeing on a lot of nutritional labels especially on products from the health food store: Evaporated Cane Juice... don't be fooled it's just a fancy term for sugar!


Here's an article on Glamour.com with more deets:

If you're an avid ingredient label reader like me, you've probably seen "evaporated cane juice" on a million different food products lately. It's everywhere! So, I wondered, what the heck is it, really, and is it any better for you than sugar? Here's what one expert had to say...
****
It's easy to see the absence of "sugar" on an ingredient label and think that you're scoring yourself some health points. But is evaporated cane juice really any better for you? Here's what nutrition expert Melina Jampolis, M.D. had to say:
"Evaporated cane juice is pretty much just sugar," she says. "It is less processed so it retains trace vitamins and minerals but has the same amount of calories as sugar. It is a little sweeter so you might get away with using less sugar which is always good."

I hope this post helped you look at your sugar intake in a different light. Maybe you might even consider cutting it in half, or eliminating it like I did.



P.s. So I was thinking if it's true we are what we eat.....that would make me....

A Trader Joes.

What's Your Excuse for Not Going to the Gym?

Too tired, not enough money to join, too self-conscious, traumatic childhood experiences in gym class...drank too much cheep wine the night before...I'm looking at you Charles Shaw...

There are literally a million excuses one could come up with for not going to the gym... Here's some excuses a certain prissy friend gave to me... and Oh, yes... I am judging you missy...hardcore! lol

Bad hair day? Wear a hat or just chop it off like I did, it'll always look funky fun.
Socks don't match? Seriously who cares, wear a pair of pants.
Shoes don't match? How in the world is that even possible??! You lost a shoe??
Clothes don't match shoes? Ok, Seriously! Stop being such a girl you're going to a place where you sweat like a pig not the cotillion.

Truthfully there are no excuses for being lazy and not making it to the gym! Even if you're having a bad hair day or don't have enough money to join a gym, live to0 far from a gym or are too self conscience to work out in front of other people... a lot of exercises can be done at home with out worrying about whether or not people are staring at your pony tail or spending a dime on exercise equipment.

Here's something I never thought to use as a piece for work out equipment...

A paper plate... no i'm not kidding.

Paper plates can be used on carpeted surfaces to reduce the friction/resistance and as a result you'll be using a lot more muscle to hold yourself stable. You can use paper plates to work out hips/thighs/legs and arms here's an example from about.com:



A push up can be modified with plates by simply placing both hands on the plates and as you lower your body push one hand straight up away from you, then on the next push up do the same with the opposite hand.

A plain old chair can be used for tricep dips:



What about cardio? Simple exercises like high knees (or running in place but the goal is to get your knee up to hip level), jumping jacks (you can also add a squat to this when you jump your legs out lower your body to a squat), mountain climbers (these can also be done with paper plates to make it a bit harder ;)), squats, lunges etc.

What about your core? There's a whole variety of sit up exercises that can be done to target every area of your abs... here's a 15 minute Abs work out from Sparkpeople.com! One of my favorite is circle crunches or "around the world" crunches. You will feel these working every corner of your abs! Team Six Pack here I come!



If you want to spend a little bit on some exercise equipment here's what I have lying around my house and what I used this evening to get my work out in because a certain someone was Ms. Lazy Bones all morning and afternoon:


Some El Cheapo dumbells.... most retailers sell a light weight set for about $12.00. I even saw them for sale at target so you can pick a set up anywhere.

With these I did chest flies, Russian Twists, lunges (both letting the free weights hang and using them to twist and work my abs.), and Push ups with a row.





Resistance bands, again these are also El Cheapo... about $12-13.00

with these I did standing chest flies and rows, I also used them the help stretch my hamstrings at the end of my work out.








Indoor bike trainer... these can be pricey... first you need a regular old bike to hook up to it, second the trainers are about $130-400.00 or more depending on the model. Fortunately this one didn't cost me a penny because my sister aka the twi-hater is obsessed with bikes and owns several and she got one of these for x-mas a few years ago :)

However don't let the cost deter you. These are great because in the cold months you can turn any bike into a stationary bike and work out in your house then fold it up and put the trainer away and the bike back down the basement, unlike that treadmill laying around your house that is now used as fancy laundry storage system. I spent about 45 minutes on this bad boy tonight.


So even my typical excuses this time of year for not working out because it's cold outside and I don't have a shuffle anymore for work out music aren't valid. As I said there are no excuses because A) I can (and you can) work out at home with little or no equipment and B) I stole the sisters ipod mini for music...shh don't tell ;)
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