Monday ~ October 31

I've been doing Brad's running challenge for 9 weeks now.  I've been regularly going to a strength training class for about 4 or 5 months now. I am stronger and have been enjoying the regular exercise. 

But I haven't lost any weight. 

It's highly annoying that I just haven't gotten my eating under control.  Each night and then in the morning I start out with the best of intentions and then just snack and blow it by the end of the day. 

So here I am again, with resolve to have a REALLY good week and not be satisfied with just maintaining and doing mediocre.  I so have to do better.


Sunday Eats:
Eggs, Corn Tortillas, Cheese - 325
Yogurt - 100
Corn Chips - 350
Cheese - 200
Potato - 125
Raisins - 130
Taco Chili - 180
Total = 1410

Monday Plan:
Eggs, Corn Tortillas, Cheese - 325
Yogurt - 100
2 cups Taco Chili - 360
Salad - 150
Chickpea Quinoa - 400
Total = 1335

Challenge Week 7

Don't worry, my lack of posting my food doesn't mean failure.  My schedule was odd this week and I didn't have to get up as early and by the time I got up, everyone was up and no time for morning blogging. 

I planned and sorta kinda stuck to the plan this week.  There was this chip incident that we won't talk about.  I maintained the gluten free thing but may have had a similar reactions to soy. Not sure yet, still trying to figure out these allergies and intolerance's still. 

I'm going to make this brief as I'm tired and want to go to bed.  Plus, I cut my finger on a cheese grater and it hurts to type. 

Weight is about the same.  Planning is still good.  Water is much better than last week.  I'm still reading and learning about the whole wheat free thing. Exercise is going good too.  Running was more difficult this week but I'm still giving it my all.

Finger hurts. Stop typing. 

Tuesday ~ October 25, 2011

Well, I was right about yesterday, I knew I wouldn't want to cook with hubs and the brother gone. Plus, I had to rush out to my exercise class.   I ate decently but basically just snacked all day.  Still too many calories than desired.

Monday Plan:

Pecans - 200
Eggs, corn tortillas, cheese - 300
Vegetable Soup - 200
Apple - 100
Peanut butter - 150
Ham, Turkey & Mustard - 150
Pecans - 200
Yogurt - 100
Oat Bar - 190
Total - 1590

Tuesday Plan:
Pecans - 200
Veggie & Cheese Omelette - 250
Soup - 200
Salad - 125
Ham - 60
Yogurt - 100
Chipotle Bean Burritos - 400
Total - 1335

Monday Again

This is a fairly unusual week for me.  Hubs works practically every night and my brother is gone for the week.  So I'm just cooking for me and the kids.  I enjoy making new things but tend not to as much if it is just for me.  I was planning a quinoa dish tonight but I'm not sure I have all the ingredients, so I might just make some simple bean burritos.  I need to go shopping and get some veggies in the house.  I have carrots and celery but that's about it.  I have a bunch of frozen fruit for smoothies but nothing fresh. 

So - here is the vague plan for today. I already ate my nuts this morning, hopefully I can keep my fingers out of the bag for the rest of the day.

Monday Plan:
Pecans - 200
Eggs, corn tortillas, cheese - 300
Soup - 200
Smoothie - 100
Yogurt - 100
Bean Burritos - 400
Total - 1300

Challenge Week 6

I feel like I'm on a treadmill.  Working hard, thinking about what I am eating constantly, yet...going no where.  The scale yesterday did read a 1 lb. loss but I then had a horrible weekend and ate way too much. 

We spent yesterday evening at the Emergency Room with my daughter. We were dancing to Just Dance and she cracked her knee and it made a horrible crunching sound and she couldnt' move. We thought it was dislocated but it turns out that it is just a bad sprain.  She has a knee brace and some crutches and will obviously be laying off the dancing for awhile. 

We left around dinner time and by the time we got out we were starving and went to Subway. I got a sandwich. With bread. Wheat bread.  So stupid.  I could totally feel it right away and have been paying for it all day today as well.  Bad choice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Weight:  One pound loss. I'm still eating way too much and just seem to be losing control.  Sometimes I just don't CARE which is really stupid.

Exercise:  We had an easy recovery week for running which wasn't the best for me mentally.  I started my week of running tonight and it was hard to get motivated after having an easy week.  I still was able to finish the scheduled run today and feel confident about the next jump in running time.  I did amp up the weights this week with the lower running schedule.  Plus, a whole lot of Wii Just Dance. 

Water:  So-so. I bombed this weekend, especially today.  Stupid, stupid, stupid.  I'm actually THIRSTY now, which means I'm dehydrated probably.  Off to bed though so I'll drink a ton tomorrow.

Book:  I didn't do a lot of reading this week. Actually, I did a ton of reading, just not the reading that I want to do. I've been reading The Hobbit with my two older kids and Robinson Crusoe with my baby.  (he's 9, not really a baby, but he's MY baby). 

Friday ~ October 21, 2011

I never got around to making the soup yesterday.  The school kids have Thursday and Friday off this week so I had 3 extra kids.  Three extra kids might not sound like a lot but I've noticed that with each addition of kid, it exponentially gets louder and crazier in the house.  So me standing in the kitchen cutting veggies for soup just didn't happen.  Today will be just as crazy, my plan is to make an awesome spaghetti sauce and eat it over zucchini. 

Thursday Results -

Omelette with Southwestern Rice - 250
Yogurt - 80
Tacos - 350
Fries - 200
Apple - 100
Oat Bar - 190
Salad - 250
Pecans - 250
Total - 1670

Friday Plan:
Eggs, Corn Tortillas, Peach Salsa - 300
Yogurt - 80
Tacos - 350
Salad - 125
Zucchini Spaghetti - 400
Popcorn - 100
Total calories = 1355

Thursday ~ October 20, 2011

I think I made a gluten faux pas yesterday.  First, I ate a bite of one of the kids' waffles.  We were teasing her about taking a bite of her food and I snagged a piece before I even thought of it.  I also let the kids put chocolate chips on their waffles (bad mommy) and I ate a couple of handfuls.  Small handfuls but probably about 1/4 cup so about 280 calories. Yikes.


Okay, here is my problem. The bite of waffle and the chocolate chips were in the same 1/2 hour.  Almost immediately I felt the effects of the gluten in the waffle.  Does anyone know if Hershey's Chocolate Chips have gluten?  The ingredients say, "Natural Flavors" and I've been told to stay away from things that say that.  I looked online but there doesn't seem to be any concrete evidence either way.  I know, gluten or no gluten, I need to stay away from the stupid chocolate chips but really? A small bite of waffle and some gluten dust on CChips does THIS to me? I'm gassy and hurting like crazy.  I know, TMI.  It's really annoying though. 

I had no interest in tacos or chipotle chicken salad with an upset stomach so I ended up eating pecans and going to bed early.


Wednesdays Results:
Omelette with Southwestern Rice - 250
Yogurt - 80
Asian Broccoli Slaw - 375
Apple - 100
Chocolate Chips - 280
Pecans - 400
Total = 1485


Thursday Plan -
Omelette with Southwestern Rice - 250
Yogurt - 80
Tacos - 350
Apple - 100
Vegetable Soup = 200
Salad - 125
Smoothie - 150
Total - 1255

Wednesday ~ October 19, 2011

I started rummaging around the kitchen too often yesterday.  I ate an apple and a bit of peanut butter before lunch.  I was so in a snacky mood.  Then I finished the little bit of sloppy joes in the frig, I don't think it was actually 200 calories but I'm not sure.  I told myself that I just wanted to get the containers out of the frig but it was just me with some serious snacking going on. Then I ate my nice healthy 300 calorie portion of the squash gratin.  And proceeded to eat more for another 200 calories, just because it was so tasty.  Moral of the story, I keep eating more calories than I want to!  I just need to stay out of the kitchen today!  (ya right)

Tuesday Results:

Omelette with southwest wild rice - 250
Yogurt - 80
Apple - 100
Peanut butter - 100
Asian Broccoli Slaw - 250
Pumpkin Sloppy Joes - 200
Salad - 125
Spaghetti Squash Gratin - 500
Popcorn - 100
Total = 1705




Wednesday Plan -
Omelette with Southwest Wild Rice - 250
Yogurt - 80
Asian Broccoli Slaw - 250
Spaghetti Squash Gratin - 300
Chipotle Chicken Salad - 400
Pineapple - 100
Total = 1380
Today I'm planning to eat more leftovers. I actually love having leftovers in the frig, it makes choices for lunch much easier.   Then I have a chipotle chicken salad I'm making for dinner while the rest of the crew will eat tacos. 
 
Plus I'll try not to be snacking!

Tuesday ~ October 18, 2011

Well, I stuck to the plan.  And I would have done awesome if I hadn't made some homemade peanut butter bars. They were small and highly caloric and I indulged in way too many.  I have to stop making desserts, they get me in trouble way too much. Now today I will be craving sugar all day. 

Monday's Results:

Eggs, Corn Tortillas, Peach salsa - 300
Yogurt - 80
Pumpkin Sloppy Joes - 200
Potatoes - 150
Salad - 125
Southwest Wild Rice Pilaf - 250
Broccoli - 50
Homemade bars - 600
Total = 1755

Tuesday Plan:
Omelette with southwest wild rice - 250
Yogurt - 80
Asian Broccoli Slaw - 250
Salad - 125
Spaghetti Squash Gratin - 400
Popcorn - 100
Total = 1205

I haven't figured out the calories for the spaghetti squash gratin yet but I think it's going to be pretty low cal for a healthy portion. I'm going to shoot for less calories today to make up for the peanut butter bar incident yesterday.

Monday ~ October 17, 2011

Having a plan last week really worked.  Writing it down really helped.  So we're trying it again.  Another week without gluten. 

Monday's Plan:
Eggs, Corn Tortillas, Peach salsa - 300
Yogurt - 80
Pumpkin Sloppy Joes - 200
Potatoes - 150
Salad - 125
Chicken - 150
Southwest Wild Rice Pilaf - 250
Broccoli - 50
Total = 1305

Challenge Week 5

Well, I for sure ate too much this weekend. I still managed to stay gluten free which I am very happy about though.  I ate about 1800 calories both Saturday and Sunday.  Overall, I think I had a great week and am very pleased.  I succeeded in planning, and for the most part, I stuck to the plans fairly well.  I didn't eat any wheat or gluten this week and I feel really good about that. 

Weight:  It stayed the same.  I am not bothered about this.  I refuse to be a slave to the scale and don't want to feel the need to look to it for redemption.  I did GOOD this week. I set out to do what I planned and I'm building muscle with regular exercise. So phooey on the scale. 

Calories:  Very good. In a perfect world I would like to continue to lower it a bit.  I want to keep regular on the planning and tracking.  Lowering the calories will come. 

Exercise:  I still did my 3 days of Brad's 100 days to run a 5K challenge.  He raised the bar and I was afraid of the jump in running but was pleased to see that I was able to do it.  I had my weight training on Monday night and I used weights at home on Thursday and Friday.  We're also a bunch of dancing fools here.  We now have Just Dance 3 and it's really so much fun.  Quite the workout too.  Plus, just being able to spend time with the family and laughing is priceless. 

Water: I did good until this weekend.  Well, today was fine but yesterday, I just forgot to drink. No idea why.  We went to the corn maze, it was gorgeous but super windy so I was really cold.  The kids had fun.  I just forgot to drink throughout the day.  It's harder when the schedule is different. 

Book:  I'm now alternating between Wheat Belly and Elisabeth Hasselbeck's G-Free Diet book.  While I love the facts in Wheat Belly, parts of it are not easy to read, especially when I'm in the car with kids yelling and singing and stuff.  It's getting very technical as he's showing proof of what wheat can do to you.  He's associated wheat as a problem with many diseases, neurological problems and even aging.  It's really quite fascinating.  Elisabeth's book is an easier read and I'm learning a lot.  I don't like her term "G-Free" though. It makes it seem more like a fad. It's okay though, I am still enjoying the book. I just wish I had more time to sit and read!

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Bad eating day. I just munched and ate all day it seems.  Plus, I drank 250 calories!  I have been only drinking water for a long time, but Costco has these flavored drinks that I used to drink that are only like 10 calories.  Well, when the husband came home with these, I THOUGHT that these were the ones.  Then I find out that they are 50 calories a serving at 2.5 servings a piece.  Grr.  I drank 2 of them and there are still a ton of them here. I hate to pawn them off on the kids because they don't need the extra calories either.  So we might just share one a day or something, we'll see. 

We went to some friends house for a bible study and had a lot of fun. My friend had a gluten free chocolate cake that was awesome!  I just had a small piece as it did have sugar. 

Friday Results:

Veggie omelet with peach salsa = 140
2 vitawaters - 250
Yogurt - 80
Blueberries - 50
Southwest Casserole - 500
Salad - 150
Cheese - 200 
Teriyaki broccoli slaw - 300
Gluten free chocolate cake - 250
Total - 1920 calories

Sadly, I have no idea what to expect for the weekend.  Often my husband works all weekend and it's much easier to plan meals when I am home. Well, he has the whole weekend off and we're planning to do a bunch of stuff tomorrow.  I made a big batch of teriyaki broccoli slaw tonight so I'm planning to eat that for lunches. I'm really going to try to avoid eating out. 

I've had a good week for eating so the scale should look good but so far it isn't budging.  Hmmm...  Hopefully tomorrow it will be nicer.

Friday, October 14, 2011

I stuck to the plan pretty well. The southwest rice casserole turned out to be more caloric than I thought. Lots of cheese, yum.  As far as I can tell, I've been gluten free the entire week, yet something made me quite gaseous this evening.  I've eaten black beans before with out problem so I can't imagine it being that.  I had Campbell's Chicken & Wild Rice Soup and it appeared to be gluten free, but I'm wondering? 

Sorry if this is TMI. One of my reasons for wanting to write all this down is so I know what I am eating and to find out what is happening with my body!  I am noticing the lack of veggies, despite the fact that my frig has a ton of them.  Even though the pumpkin applesauce is healthy, I should have stuck to the salad with veggies. 

Thursday Results:

Raisins - 130
Eggs, corn tortillas & peach salsa - 300
Chicken wild rice soup - 200
Homemade Pumpkin Applesauce - 200
Cheddar Cheese - 100
Southwest casserole - 500
Total = 1430


Friday Plan:
Veggie omelet with peach salsa = 140
Yogurt - 80
Blueberries - 50
Southwest Casserole - 500
Salad - 150
Teriyaki broccoli slaw - 250
Misc - 200
Total - 1370
 
We're going to a friends house for bible study after dinner and they are bound to have something to eat so I'm allowing 200 misc. calories for such thing.  She is gluten free as well so I don't have to worry about there being cake or something.  Hopefully...

Thursday, October 12, 2011

Well, I stuck to the plan.  Except that I ate too much apple risotto.  Holy cow that stuff was good!!  I meant to have 200 calories worth which would have been 1 portion but I ended up eating almost 2.  Grr.  I'll try to stick with this blog planning for awhile. Don't be alarmed if I drop off the face of the earth again though.  It won't necessarily mean I failed, it might just mean I'm sick of blogging again.


Wednesdays Results:


Raisins - 130
Eggs, corn tortillas & peach salsa = 300
Asian Quinoa = 250
Salad = 125
Yogurt = 80
Blueberries = 50
Steak = 180
Apple Risotto = 400
Broccoli = 50
Total = 1565

Thursday Plan:
Raisins - 130
Eggs, corn tortillas & peach salsa - 300
Chicken wild rice soup - 200
Salad - 150
Yogurt - 80
Blueberries - 50
Southwest casserole - 400
Popcorn - 100
Total = 1410

I ran again this morning, I usually prefer Monday, Wednesday and Friday but  I don't have my early daycare child tomorrow morning so I get to sleep in!  No getting up at 5 am, yea! I feed the baby and he goes right back to sleep in the same room as my husband is so I'm free to go run!  Plus, it's supposed to be cold and windy tomorrow. 

I'm still running pretty slow but I'm running for longer distances.  I'm amazed each week at the progress.  If you want to learn to run, I really, really, really recommend Brad's challenge.  It looks like he starts a new batch of runners once a month so I highly recommend you take a look at his program. You post weekly results with him to keep you accountable and he is constantly giving you motivation. It is perfect for a beginner like me.  I am currently in week 7 and I really didn't think I'd make it this far. 

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

The pecans were my downfall today. I ate my soup and then had this overwhelming desire to snack.  I didn't have any thing "bad" in my house to snack on but I really wanted something.  I should have just let it go and forgot about it.  Or better yet, had the salad that I had planned. But instead, I knew there were a small bit of pecans left.  I was saving them to make granola.  Well, the pecans are gone.  I had about 1/2 cup or 2 oz.  So way too many calories. 

The only good thing about eating so many pecans was that I wasn't hungry for the rest of the afternoon.  I wasn't overly hungry for dinner and should have had less but it was so GOOD!  I made like a fried rice with ham, peas, pineapple & egg but with quinoa. I'm very happy how it turned out.  1 cup is 240 calories, 16 grams of protein and super filling. 

Tuesday Results =
Eggs, corn tortillas & Peach salsa = 300
Banana = 100
Enchilada Soup - 185
Cheese - 110
Pecans - 400
Applesauce - 200
Asian Quinoa - 250
Total = 1545

Tomorrow, more leftovers. Plus a new apple risotto recipe for dinner.  I'm hoping to go for my 3 mile walk/run in the morning if it isn't raining!  (that's why I have the raisins, to give me energy while running!)

Wednesdays Plan
Raisins - 130
Eggs, corn tortillas & peach salsa = 300
Yogurt = 80
Blueberries = 50
Asian Quinoa = 250
Salad = 125
Steak = 180
Apple Risotto = 200 ( haven't figured out calories yet)
Broccoli = 50
Total = 1365

If you want to see my dinner menu plan, check my post from Sunday. I switched around the days a bit but it's still part of the plan.

Tuesday ~ October 11, 2011

Hey, hop on over to my other blog and enter my giveaway. It's for this awesome book about family dinners and keeping the family closer. It has a lot of good points and I really enjoyed the book!

I did good yesterday, basically stuck to The Plan. I decided against making chicken salad as there are a TON of leftovers in the frig.

Monday Results:
Raisins - 130

Eggs, corn tortillas, peach salsa = 300
Homemade Pumpkin Applesauce - 225
Enchilada Soup = 185
Salad = 125
Yogurt = 80
Blueberries = 50
Pumpkin Oat Bar = 240
Popcorn - 100

Total = 1435


Tuesday's Plan:
Eggs, corn tortillas, peach salsa = 300
Yogurt = 80
Blueberries = 50
Salad = 125
Enchilada Soup = 185
Pumpkin Applesauce = 225
Asian Style Quinoa = 400
Total = 1365
 
I still have peach salsa that I made from last week. It's awesome and I love it on eggs!  I'll be eating this all week most likely.  Plus a ton of enchilada soup in the frig.  I made pumpkin applesauce that is delicious and I decided to have that as a snack.  I'm not entirely sure of the calories, I just estimated based on what regular unsweetened applesauce would be.  I'm planning to make a new quinoa dish tonight.  I'm hoping it will be like fried rice, just with quinoa instead. 

The Plan

Ok, so I've been severely lacking in the planning area and it's taking a toll on me.  Here's the plan for today. In a perfect world, I'd do this daily and then update at night, knowing me, it won't last but I'll give it a shot.

Raisins - 130

Eggs, corn tortilla, peach salsa = 300

Pumpkin Oat Bar = 240

Enchilada Soup = 185

Salad = 150

Yogurt = 80

Blueberries = 50

Chicken Salad = 300

Total = 1435

I'm off now for my 3 mile walk/run and I have my exercise class this evening. 

Probably not enough veggies and I'm actually not sure if there are any pumpkin oat bars left. I made them yesterday and I THINK there are two in the frig.  I'll probably munch on celery while making the chicken salad. And with 150 calories planned for the salad, I should be able to throw a ton of veggies on there, I have broccoli, peppers and cukes in the frig.

That is the plan.

Challenge Week 4

Ugh, I've been meaning to write this all weekend and just never got around to it.  So here it is, at the last minute! 

Busy weekend, it's been gorgeous outside so we went on walks, bike rides and played baseball.  Unusual to have this many good weekends in October.  I'll take them for as long as possible though!

1.  Weight:  Gained a pound. I'm back where I started from. I ate like crap this week.  It's frustrating, and annoying.

2. Calories:  Still too many, I'm still tracking, but not planning.  It's stupid.  I'm really, really, really hoping to change that this week.  Crap is out of the house and we're stocked with fruits and lots of veggies.  We just need to tell the stupid fruit flies to get out!

3.  Exercise:  Very good still. I'm still on track with the 5Kin100days challenge.  I MIGHT have to repeat a week coming up here though, we're making quite a jump in the amount of running and last week kicked my butt. We'll see how tomorrow mornings run goes.  Weight strengthening class on Monday as usual, I'm going to up the weights this week and see how it goes.

4.  Water:  Along with my crappy eating, I've done bad with water. Usually this is fine but I can tell that I need more. 

5. Book:  Still reading Wheat Belly and continuing to learn and enjoy it.  I also got a couple of gluten free books at the library that I want to read.  I'd have more time for reading if I didn't have to help the kids with their literature.  The daughter is reading The Hobbit so I'm reading with her so she understands it better. 

I've been eating wheat all week and I can feel it. It started last Sunday, we went out to eat and then I just developed this "screw it" attitude for the rest of the week.  My body paid for it and I am eager to get the wheat and sugar out of my system and get back on track.  :-)

Challenge Week 3

Yea, yea. I know I've been bad at blogging.  I actually am thinking about changing my other blog into more of  a healthy living blog rather than just for recipes.  I'm not sure.  The problem is, I go through streaks of wanting to write.  I'm often way too tired to be creative and I don't want to HAVE to blog.  I don't want it to feel like a job or something I need to get done by the end of the week or day.  Recipes are easy.  I'm already planning meals, cooking and mostly figuring out the calories so just adding a picture and a small bit of commenting is fairly easy. Anyways, I'm rambling but who knows, maybe you'll see some changes on the other blog.

I've already been making food changes.  I've been making mostly gluten free meals.  There are still some that are not, these have either been made for others or were made before I made this decision.  I've really felt good about not eating wheat and it's going well. 

Anyways, enough rambling.  Here are my DO-IT's for the challenge.

1. Weight - I only lost 1 pound. I wanted more but I've still been eating too much.  Good stuff, no wheat and very little sugar but nevertheless, too much. 

2.  Calories - Too many.  Right around 1800 - 2000 per day probably.  It's stupid, I know it. 

3. Exercise - It's still awesome.  I can't believe it.  I'm walking/jogging every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 6 am. In the dark. It's creepy and getting darker all the time. Getting colder too.  The mornings have still been decent but I'm going to have to start bundling up pretty soon.  So much better than the treadmill though. I find that incredibly boring and couldn't imagine doing 3 miles, 3 times a week on that thing!

4. Water - Glug, glug, glug.  I had a diet coke this morning, other than that, it's been 100% water all week and lots of it!

5.  Book - Wheat Belly. I didn't make any progress in reading more this week. I did however recommend it to several including a nutritionist who taught a class I went to today.  I love the book and totally believe in it.  I am looking forward to finishing it soon!