Day 54 of 120

8 new days of menus.  There is a lot of fish on the menu.  I don't like fish. At least I don't think I do. I was talking with a friend and she told me to try it as my tastes might have changed. She's right.  I really haven't tried fish since I was very young. 

Well, unless it was deep fried, frozen, shoved in the oven and then smeared with tartar sauce.  Pretty much I just enjoyed the tartar sauce and the fish stick was just a means to eat tartar sauce. Gross, I know. That's why I'm fat.  :-) 

Here's the deal though. I don't like the way it smells.  Even when I used to frequent the buffet, I would think "Here's my chance to try fish or salmon and not have to cook it or pay for it. I can take a bite and just not eat the rest if I don't like it."  I got to it and could smell it and just didn't like it. So I never did.  

So one of these days I need to suck it up and just try fish.  The only seafood I like is shrimp.  And I particularly like the deep fried kind. Of course. I can eat the non breaded kind if it is smothered in butter and garlic.  So moral of the story, no fish for me.  

Feel free to invite me over for fish, I promise I will try some. :-)

So new menus, I didn't look at them too closely yet I just saw Day 1 had zucchini and squash for dinner, I had it in the frig so I was all over it.  The rest fell into place nicely.  The plan was for yogurt, honey and granola for breakfast.  Apple snack. Turkey sandwich and almonds for lunch and fish, butter and zucchini and squash for dinner.  I mixed white beans in with the zucchini and squash for the protein.  It was delicious.   

Day 53 of 120

Busy, busy day. Spring break so there were 3 extra kids.  The weather is nice, still snow but very wet so all the snowpants and boots came in dripping wet. Gross.  Seriously, WHEN is spring??  

Chose day 7 of the menu.  It went well.  So have to go to sleep.  :-)

Day 52 of 120

8 days of menus, today I picked #2.  It's cereal day!  What a choice!  Frosted flakes, Fruity Pebbles, Corn Pops, Fruit Loops, Cocoa Krispies...  Oh wait.  It says "not sugared kind goofy kids kind".  Hmmm...  Aw shucks, lets break out the Raisin Bran kids!  So it was cereal for breakfast.  I said I'd try to stick to the plan so I will but I don't like cereal for breakfast. It makes me more hungry.  My kids and husband eat it daily.  We usually have cardboard shredded wheat, multigrain cheerios and raisin bran at all times in the house.  Plus a few "sugared kind goofy kids kinds".  I so can't believe my kids eat shredded wheat, they totally didn't get that from me.  But yet we buy it in bulk at Costco.

So anyways, today's menu is cereal and banana for breakfast.  Skim milk and strawberry smoothies for snack.  Sandwich and fruit for lunch.  100 calorie something for snack.  Mexican fiesta for dinner and strawberries for snack.  I added all this up and I came to just over 1200 calories.  I can do that.  Actually, I tried to make up for yesterdays overage so I ate less for dinner and skipped the bedtime snack. I came in closer to 1000 calories for the day.


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Okay, so I have to share this awesome recipe. I am backlogged on the recipe blog so it won't show up for a few weeks probably.  It is not on the Phase 5 menus of course so feel free to make it after, if you are a challenger. It seriously rocks. Healthy, simple, low calorie and delicious.

Black Bean & Pineapple Soft Tacos

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 large onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 can (20 oz) pineapple tidbits, drained
1 jar salsa (16 oz)
1 can (4 oz) chopped green chiles
1/4 cup minced cilantro
Whole wheat tortillas

Saute onion and pepper until soft. Add everything else, heat until warm.  Add cilantro last. 

This came to 820 calories without the tortillas.  This made 7 cups worth.  I put 1/2 cup on each 100 calorie whole wheat tortilla so each tortillas was 159 calories.  You can add lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, avocado, cheese or whatever but careful on calories. The 159 calories is just for the goo and the 100 calorie tortilla. I thought it was awesome as is, super flavorful, didn't need any cheese and you don't miss the meat at all.  So 2 wraps for 318 calories.  Nice.

Day 51 of 120

Weigh in day yesterday. I was really, really hoping for 214 but got 215 instead.  I'll live with that.  Hoping for a better week this week though.

Today is #1 of the 8 day menu plan.  Today is supposed to be egg, bacon, toast and jam for breakfast.  Peach for snack.  Tuna salad, crackers and grapes for lunch. Veggie oriental stir fry for dinner and then a milk and strawberry smoothie for snack.  Sounds awesome but for the tuna.  I'll have a salad with some different meat on it.  Dinner I will just sub the rice for a whole wheat 100 calories wrap and be good to go. 

I ate what I was supposed to eat today, I just ate too much of it.  Not a lot, but slightly more.  I had pineapple instead of the peach and holy cow that was good pineapple. I swear it was like eating candy it tasted so sweet. I just couldn't stop. I kept taking little bites here and there.  I figure I came in at about 1400 calories for the day when I was planning about 1100. 

Day 50 of 120

Today I chose menu #8.  8 days of different menus, doesn't matter what order but a different one each day.  This was smoothie day!  I so love smoothies. I bought some flaxseed at Costco to add to the smoothies.  I still haven't gotten too creative by adding spinach and veggies.  The kids still watch way too closely for that.  The little one would freak out if he saw green stuff.  I so want to though!

So todays menu consisted of a smoothie, popcorn, tuna salad and a burger with lettuce.  The calorie count I got when I added it all up was 970 calories. I had a smoothie, chicken salad and a sloppy joe on lettuce.  Then came the popcorn.  Yum.  The sloppy joes were incredible and I wanted to eat like 12 but I enjoyed my one on lettuce while watching my husband eat like 4 of them.  Calories came in about 900 calories tops. 

Day 49 of 120

Spring in Minnesota isn't really spring.  Earlier this week we were forecasted to get 2 inches of snow. Well, 7 - 8 inches later, my back and arms were sore!  I was up at 5 am shoveling the wet, heavy, grossness for my parents to get into the driveway. Then back out again at 2 pm shoveling with the kids again.  Hubs was at work so it was all on me this time.  I've shoveled before but this heavy snow really stank. My arms and shoulder hurt for 2 days.  Clearly more upper body exercise is in order! 

Today I chose #5 of the 8 day menus. This is a 1200 calorie day plan.  This is probably my favorite day of the menu as it is very similar to how I eat.  The only thing I switched a bit was lunch but it was very similar. Stuck to the 1200 calories, I'm a bit hungry going to bed but that's okay. I'll live. 

Day 48 of 120

Today I chose #6 on the menu plan.  Today is the "light" day. I added up the calories and it came to 822.  So I mentally prepared for a light eating day. It went well.  Switched a couple of simple things, like I had a whole wheat tortilla for dinner that I swapped  for the bread during lunch.  I enjoyed it better as a wrap. Then I added a bunch of broccoli to the egg for lunch. Because adding broccoli to any diet can't be bad, right? It went well and I finished up the day right around 825 if my calculations are all correct.

For those of you who are not familiar with Phase 5, I basically ate oatmeal with 1/2 apple for breakfast.  Walnuts for snack.  Egg beaters with broccoli for lunch.  Then a tortilla wrap for dinner with chicken, veggies and peach dressing. I totally wanted another wrap but one was good. It did the trick and I wasn't hungry.  Yea!

Day 47 of 120

Eight days of meals to choose from with no repeats.  That's the Phase 5 challenge this week.  It's interesting. Today I chose menu #3. It worked well as I was planning steak for dinner and eggs for breakfast is my favorite.  Interesting day that if you add the calories up on the meal plan, I get 1970 calories.  I presume the thought process is that after several months of 1200 calorie meals, the body needs to be "shocked" so to speak with eating a higher calorie diet. 

The body gets used to 1200 calories therefore it predicts that you will eat 1200 calories and plans accordingly.  When you throw 2000 calories at it unexpectedly, your metabolism speeds up and your body kinda says "what the heck?!"  Then when you go back to your 1200 calorie diet, your body and metabolism stays at alert for awhile, not quite knowing what you are going to throw at it. 

I get it. I believe in that and that is how I lost my weight a year or so ago.

Here's the problem for me right now, I "shocked" my body last week by eating too much crap so I don't need to do that this week.  If anything, I need to stay on a super heatlhy, low sugar, low carb week to get the junk out of my body and get it back on track.  So while I will try to stay on plan, it's not going to be a 1970 calorie day for me.  Of course, I'm writing this at 6 in the morning so who knows what the day will bring.  There are Oreos in the cupboard that are 2200 calories, that may be lunch.  :-)


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Eats:
Breakfast = 175
Snack = 150
Lunch = 400
Snack = 150
Dinner = 350
Total = 1225

I actually ate more than planned. I ate a big lunch and a hefty snack. I should have skipped dinner or eaten very light dinner as I wasn't really even hungry but it was nummy so I ate.  Then I got really full.  Walked around Walmart with the family for 2 hours and now I'm so ready for bed.  I'm still really full too.

Day 46 of 120

So part of Phase 5 this week was a new set of menus.  Day 1 - Day 8, any order, don't skip one. Interesting menus.  Today, I chose the Day 4 menu.  Switched things around, ate lunch for dinner, dinner for lunch, the kind of thing.  Chicken instead of hamburger, no bun. Ate the bed time snack in the afternoon, all in all, it went well.  

I added up the approximate calories if one was to follow it precisely.  It would be 1561 calories.  I left out a few things and came in under.  Now bed.

Eats:
Breakfast - 250
Snack - 100
Lunch - 400
Snack - 100
Dinner - 400
Total = 1250

Day 45 of 120

Anybody watch The Biggest Loser? I think it's the ONLY show that we actually watch together on TV.  Everything else we stream in on the internet. But Tuesday night is Biggest Loser night.  It's a slow show, which is annoying, but it's a good show for the whole family to watch.  We always end up talking about nutrition and fitness and it gets the kids motivated to eat healthy and exercise.  I'm so trying to teach them good habits.  My youngest on is barely 9 but I see similar food tendencies that I have.  We've been talking about it a lot and they are all doing really well.  I've made some poor decisions in my life and I'm not doing everything I can so my kids won't make the same bad decisions. 


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Eats:
Breakfast - 175
Snack - 150
Lunch - 300
Snack - 150
Dinner - 400
Total - 1175