Today was eventful with a lot of changes to my planned meals for the day. I made up chicken sausage fuisili for our lunches and dinners for today, however I forgot I had a new hire lunch today! So I hurried online to look at the restaurants menu to see what my options were. The choices were very limited, so I ended up having grilled chicken with roasted red peppers, onions and spinach. It was originally served on a bun and smothered with cheese, but I made modifications and I think I did a pretty good job. We then got tickets to the unveiling of the new MN Vikings stadium which meant we werent making it home to have dinner. We opted for Chipotle which is always good, especially since we could have brown rice on it, instead of just a salad.
Morning Weigh In:
Kiana: 153.2 lbs
Anthony: 245.2 lbs
Menu:
Breakfast @ 7am:
Steel cut oats with blueberries
Snack @ 9:45am:
Orange
Lunch @ 12:30pm:
Grilled chicken with roasted red peppers, onions and spinach; pineapple and strawberries
Snack @ 3pm:
Apple
Dinner @ 6pm:
Chipotle bowl with brown rice, lettuce, chicken, tomatoes and salsa
Workout:
None - I was supposed to do cardio but ended up with a huge headache after the unveiling and went straight to bed when I got home. Super bummed!
Notes on Food:
I made steel cut oats this morning - it took longer than I expected but I liked it - more texture than normal oats, but not a big change in taste in my opinion. My husband thought they were ok - he didnt mind the texture but thought they had a blander taste.
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Well today was the big dance competition day. We were away from home for over 15 hours, we relied on the foods I brought from home and maintained extra willpower to stay away from those giant cookies and maui wowi smoothies they were selling at the concession stand! There were a couple of changes in the lunch and dinner plans today, but we made it work and stuck as close as we could to the plan. Although it was a crazy busy day, we got through it and Im proud of me and my husband. Its been a long time since we havent binged on a Saturday evening.
Morning Weigh In:
Kiana: 156.0 lbs
Anthony: 252.2 lbs
Menu:
Breakfast @ 6am:
Oatmeal with blueberries, scrambled egg with red, green and yellow peppers
Snack @ 9:15am:
Cauliflower with hummus
Lunch @ 12:00pm:
Chipotle Chicken Salad (romaine lettuce, chicken, tomatoes and medium salsa)
Snack @ 3:30pm:
Cauliflower with hummus
Dinner @ 7:15pm:
Sirloin steak, 3 broiled shrimp, garden salad with Italian vinaigrette and vegetable medley
Workout:
Several walks and up/down stairs throughout the day
Notes on Food:
Eggs and peppers = yum! I used the Target Archer Farms brand frozen red, green and yellow peppers, sauteed them in olive oil for a few minutes then added in the scrambled egg and sprinkled with sea salt - delicious! Im not looking forward to going back to only egg whites on Wednesday - loving the whole egg right now!
Yes, we went to Chipotle! I had a salad with no cheese - it was flavorful, because its Chipotle, but I did miss the cheese a little bit. We can have healthy fats today, so I debated on getting guac, but figured the chicken was probably prepared with some sort of fat, so I was getting enough of it in the chicken and opted for just that instead.
Dinner - we went to Jensens Cafe (near the event center) to eat and kill time before awards. They had a an egg white omelet that sounded good, but I went for the steak and shrimp (my husband ate part of my steak). I had salad with Italian vinaigrette, however it seemed like it was cream-based, instead of oil based, so I only ate a tad - maybe just a teaspoon. The meal also came with a veggie medley and a dinner roll - the roll went to my carb loving daughter! I will say, that I need to do a better job of asking the waitress questions about the food and how they prepare it - I should have asked about the dressing prior to selecting it, instead of assuming.
Also, I should have ate a snack since I was up until 11, but did not - oops!
Preparation:
I prepped the veggies and nuts a couple of days ago, so those were easy to grab and through into the cooler. I put together some containers of hummus and blueberries in the morning along with several bottles and a pitcher full of water. Between my husband and I, we need to drink at least 200 oz of water and figured why have to go up to the concession stand to buy water? Avoid temptation and bring as much as I could with.
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Yesterday was our first day on The Fast Metabolism Diet. Although I wasnt feeling the best all day (my stomach hurt from the moment I woke up and I got a headache around 4pm), I still ate all of the food on the meal plan and did my cardio for the day.
Menu:
Breakfast @ 6:30am:
Strawberry French Toast
Snack @ 9:30am:
Pineapples and Strawberries
Lunch @ 12:45pm:
Open-faced Turkey Sandwich
Strawberries
Snack @ 3:45pm:
Apple
Dinner @ 7:15pm:
Chicken and Broccoli Rice Bowl
Workout:
Insanity Max Cardio Conditioning DVD
Morning Weigh In:
Kiana: 163.2 lbs
Tone: 261 lbs
Overall, I felt like I ate a LOT on Monday. Eating every 3-4 hours is an adjustment for me - Im used to eating 2-3 times a day and I definitely do not eat this much fruit in a day. So far, yesterday was a good start to the diet. I cant wait to see how the rest of the week turns out.
Quick note on the foods:
Strawberry French Toast was made with Sprouted Grain bread - a very nutty/wholesome taste. It was different and not my favorite dish, but I ate it!
Open-faced Turkey Sandwich - again, sprouted grain bread, so not my favorite and I was glad there was only one slice of the bread!
Chicken and Broccoli Rice Bowl - this turned out pretty good and the kids had some too. They kept asking "what smells so good?!" while it was cooking. I made a double batch for lunch leftovers and since Tuesday night is dance night and Im busy with running my daughter back and forth from the studio, we decided well have it for dinner Tuesday night as well.
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Today feels surreal - I cant believe we made it a week! I feel more prepared for the upcoming week, or I guess, I feel like I know what to expect. Today was a prep day. I went shopping for the things weve come to like and hopefully did a better job at getting enough veggies - although I did stock up on lots of frozen veggies to make it easier.
Weigh in today was great and surprising for me, considering we ate out twice yesterday. My husband was not too thrilled, he only lost 0.2 lbs. We plan to assess his portions a little better this week to ensure hes having the right amount. He was extremely hungry in the first few days last week, so we upped the protein, but I think he needs to increase the veggies instead.
Morning Weigh In:
Kiana: 155.2 lbs
Anthony: 252.0 lbs
Menu:
Breakfast @ 8am:
Scrambled egg and peppers, Oatmeal with blueberries
Snack @ 11:30am:
Scrambled egg and peppers
Lunch @ 3:00pm:
Subway salad with chicken breast
Dinner @ 7:15pm:
Grilled chicken, frozen veggie mix and quinoa
Workout:
P90X Yoga DVD (just 30 mins)
Notes on Food:
We woke up later than normal (8am), so our day was a little off with timing of food. We opted to take out the second snack and only ate 4 meals. We tried out subways salad for lunch. It was pretty good and the Italian dressing was oil based!
Preparation:
I didnt really plan out this day too well, we pretty much winged it, but it turned out pretty well. I made sure that I prepared lunch for Monday and Tuesday. Back to complex carbs and fruit!
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I was very interested in seeing the number on the scale this morning - I know, I know, its only been 1 day! But, with all the food I ate yesterday and how full I felt, I thought FOR SURE I would be at the same weight or have gained a pound. But magically, Im down 2 lbs and my husband is down 4 lbs! Again, I know its just been a day, but checking the scale every morning is helping to motivate me to keep going and a daily reminder that I can do this!
Some key items that I also want to mention are the water intake and energy levels. I am particularly interested in having increased energy on this diet plan. I feel that for many years, I am always tired and often take naps on the weekend or in the evening. Im hoping that with the clean eating, I will see some improvements.
Water: You must drink 1/2 your body weight in ounces. Not as big of a deal for me since its only 80 oz, but the hubby is adjusting to drinking 130 oz of water a day.
Energy: Im not seeing a drastic improvement in my energy yet. I can say that I didnt yawn a million times on the way into work today but I dont feel like I can jump up and go run a 1/2 marathon. I plan to monitor this throughout the 28 days and will keep you posted.
Morning Weigh In:
Kiana: 161.0 lbs
Tone: 257.0 lbs
Menu:
Breakfast @ 7am:
Oatmeal with blueberries
Snack @ 10:30am:
Apple
Lunch @ 1:30pm:
Chicken and Broccoli Rice Bowl - leftovers
Pineapple
Snack @ 3:45pm:
Apple
Dinner @ 7:15pm:
Chicken and Broccoli Rice Bowl - leftovers
Notes on Food:
Oatmeal with blueberries - It was actually pretty good and I sprinkled some Stevia on it as well. I normally eat oatmeal with a TON of brown sugar and raisins, so this is a big change, but one that I can easily adapt to.
All other foods were either leftovers or fruit, so nothing else to add. I still felt full throughout the day, which makes it difficult to eat the snacks.
Preparation:
Im definitely a newbie on buying vegetables and planning accordingly for the menu items. I realized at 7:30pm that I needed to make soup for tomorrows lunch and that I didnt have enough veggies for it. So, I ran to the store and started the soup around 9:30pm (after dance). Not the best planning in the world since the soup needed to simmer for an hour than cool down to de-bone the chicken. After I turned off the stove, I went to bed and woke up a couple of hours later (1:30am) to de-bone the chicken and got everything ready for lunches. If this soup is any good, Ill be sure to plan my Tuesday nights a little better!
Workout:
None (only because of the crazy Tuesday dance schedule)
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Well, we do it to ourselves - we went the movies AGAIN! This time, however, I didnt have as big of an urge as the last 2 times to have popcorn. Im more concerned about next weekend - there are 2 or 3 movies we want to see over memorial weekend. Im hoping we can just go watch them all on Monday!
Its getting hard with the weather getting nicer and the kids wanting to go out for ice cream or fro-yo. Im excited to bring them there, but while we cant have dairy right now, its tough. My daughter (who is a very picky eater) is asking more questions about the diet, which has opened up a nice opportunity to educate her on healthy foods and what it means to make our bodies healthy - not just skinny. I explained how we all need to eat fruits and veggies and to eat grass-fed organic meats and dairy. Shes starting to understand and I believe as we continue to bring more diverse foods into the house, she will learn to love eating healthy as well.
Morning Weigh In:
Kiana: 152.4 lbs
Anthony: 244.6 lbs
Menu:
Breakfast @ 6am:
Oatmeal with blueberries, egg with peppers
Snack @ 9:30am:
Cauliflower and raw sunflower seeds
Lunch @ 1:30pm:
Filet mignon and vegetable medley
Snack @ 4:30pm:
Nitrate free chicken deli meat and carrots
Dinner @ 7:30pm:
Avocado quesadilla
Workout:
None
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Day 5 means a new phase for the next 3 days! We get to introduce healthy fats and bring back in some grains and fruit - yeah oatmeal and blueberries! And carrots that I can dip into hummus. I truly cant believe Im actually excited to eat oatmeal!
Big challenge for the day was going to the movie theater! Ugh the popcorn smell was amazing! But I had my water and veggies, I stayed focused and made it through successfully!
My husband is having a harder time with cravings than me, especially as the weekend approaches. We are used to going out, eating popcorn, chips, cookies, ice cream and cheeseburgers all weekend. But at this point, I think weve done so well this week that Im not interested in cheating - nor do I feel its an option. I want to get my metabolism up so I dont have to continue to struggle with my weight. We are 5 days down - only 23 more to go! Its really not that long, so MIND OVER MATTER!
Morning Weigh In:
Kiana: 157.6 lbs
Anthony: 253.6 lbs
Menu:
Breakfast @ 7am:
Scrambled egg, oatmeal with blueberries, celery
Snack @ 10:00am:
Carrots and hummus
Lunch @ 1:00pm:
Leftover steak, cauliflower and a pear
Snack @ 3:45pm:
Celery and almond butter
Dinner @ 7:00pm:
Steak, zucchini and quinoa
Workout:
None
Notes on Food:
Quinoa - this was new for the hubby and something Ive had before but had never made it myself. I used chicken broth instead of water and I think it turned out really good. Next time, I think Ill add some veggies into it instead of on the side.
Preparation:
Again, Im still getting the hang of this diet as it switches gears a little bit. Although fruit and grains are added back in, there are some limitations - no apples in phase 3 :-(! Im making minor adjustments and had a pear for lunch instead. Tomorrow is the big dance day, so Ill be spending some time packing and prepping tonight or in the morning to ensure we have all the snacks we need to make it through the day successfully.
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Today is the beginning of week 2 - OMG we made it a week! In my last post about the Week 1 recap - I lost 8.4 lbs and the hubby lost 10.8 lbs in one week! AMAZING RESULTS! Im so proud of us! We stuck together and didnt let the temptations get to us. We had our moments but we leaned on each other to get us through and now we feel good. I feel great - Im back into my size 8 pants, my ring is starting to fall off again and overall I feel a sense of achievement. My energy is about the same, perhaps a little better but its Monday and Im probably still recovering from an exhausting weekend.
Im looking forward to trying a couple of new recipes this week, of which one of them I did tonight and it was delicious! I feel more relaxed going into this week since I know what to do from a planning perspective. Im also interested in what the scale will bring but I know that I cant possibly lose another 8 lbs in a week, so Im hoping for at least 3 to 4lbs. We shall see!
Morning Weigh In:
Kiana: 154.8 lbs
Anthony: 250.2 lbs
Menu:
Breakfast @ 6:45am:
Oatmeal with blueberries
Snack @ 9:45am:
Apple
Lunch @ 12:45pm:
Broccoli and Chicken Rice bowl
Snack @ 3:45pm:
Apple
Dinner @ 6:30pm:
Chicken Sausage Fusilli
Workout:
Insanity Max Interval Circuit
Notes on Food:
Broccoli and Chicken rice bowl is a favorite of ours from last week. Its actually pretty simple, it just takes about 30 min to cook - just enough time to do some dishes and laundry! There is some prep work in chopping veggies but its worth it.
Chicken Sausage Fusilli - this was awesome! Ive never had chicken sausage and was skeptical of the recipe when I first read it, but we tried it and it turned out great. Im so glad we have enough for leftovers for tomorrow. Big plus - we got to have PASTA (we were both very surprised). It was a brown rice pasta that I found at Kowalskis (No Wheat on this diet!). The pasta was actually pretty light in texture and taste really good. YUMMM! This is definitely a recipe I will make forever! It can easily be doubled to make for a gathering or to have more leftovers. New favorite recipe!
Preparation:
I made lunch ahead for today and tomorrow - which is new for me. Ive never made a meal for future days, that I hadnt ate for dinner that night. So cooking at 9pm last night for todays lunch was so different, yet felt good to get it done on a Sunday night. I may think about prepping more meals for the week on Sundays, but I get nervous that it wont taste right or that itll dry out from the fridge. Anyway, something to consider for next week.
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Its day 21 - woohoo! I am truly counting down the days now. Dont get me wrong, this has been a wonderful learning experience that I plan to incorporate into my life, but I just want to have some frozen yogurt with cookie dough! Im looking forward to Monday, May 27th, but not looking forward to the stomach ache Ill have that very next day LOL! I will try my best to eat in moderation on the 27th, but it is not guaranteed! And then, back on the plan - eating clean and often throughout the day, working out and having a little treat every once in awhile!
Sundays are when I run to the store for the weeks groceries. Im getting better at having various foods in the house at all times and I have a better handle of what we need for the recipes. One irritation I continue to have is the limitation of foods at the grocery stores in the suburbs! Super Target is getting better with their variety of organic foods, but there is not a single sprouted grain tortilla in this burb! Ill make another trip out to the co-op later this week so we are prepared for next weekend - though Im unsure how much more of avocado quesadilla everyone will be up for! It is good though! And, I want to pick up some almond flour as Ive acquired a few gluten free baking recipes I want to try out in a couple weeks, when I plan to add sugar (or honey) back into my diet.
Morning Weigh In:
Kiana: 152.4 lbs
Anthony: Didnt weigh in
Menu:
Breakfast @ 8:30am:
Oatmeal with blueberries, egg with peppers
Snack @ 12pm:
Cauliflower and hummus
Lunch @ 2:30pm:
Subway salad
Snack @ 4:30pm:
Egg with peppers
Dinner @ 7:30pm:
Avocado quesadilla
Workout:
P90X Stretch DVD
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Im a little late with reporting my results this week but its been a very long and busy weekend. I had my weigh-in at the Medi-Weightloss Clinic on Saturday morning and found that I had only lost 0.8 lb. Oddly enough, last week I did do a lot more exercising than usual and was really trying to be diligent about keeping active but the numbers didnt reflect that effort. Somehow my muscle mass was down and my fat mass was up... so this week Im going to be extra careful about my calories, portions and how often Im eating things like almonds and peanut butter. I had been bad about keeping to only 3x/week on the nuts and its caught up to me.
Mothers Day was kind of tough. I actually didnt even bother to log my food Sunday because I had no idea how. We went out to a brunch buffet and lets just say that I dont think everything I ate there was on the plan but I did at least try to stick to mostly meats and veggies that didnt have heavy sauces. I even had dessert which I knew wasnt on the plan but I couldnt help myself. Mothers Day is always a little depressing for me because I had always thought that I would be a mother by this point in my life. But at 30 years old, Im still just mom to a cute little dog so I guess if I ever want for someone to celebrate me on Mothers Day then Ill have to be even more strict with myself on this diet so I can get started on having a family of my own.
Ill keep my fingers crossed for my next weigh-in and hopefully it has better results, despite my hiccup on Mothers Day.
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Im getting the hang of this diet as the days go on. I do feel better today about having leftover steak and beef jerky for snacks. Im also making mental notes on what meals were a success and which meals Ill need to swap out next week. Which reminds me, I need to update my spreadsheet!
The scale was down, but not as much as each of the first two days - I blame this on the heavy protein intake and the weight lifting. Either way, Ive lost more in the last 3 days than I have any other week on previous "diets". Lets hope this continues through the weekend!
Morning Weigh In:
Kiana: 158.4
Anthony: 254.2
Menu:
Breakfast @ 6:30am:
Egg whites with garlic, onions and spinach, scrambled.
Snack @ 9:30am:
Leftover steak and celery
Lunch @ 12:30pm:
Chicken and vegetable soup
Snack @ 3:30pm:
Beef jerky
Dinner @ 6:30pm:
Steak and green beans
Workout:
P90X Legs and Back DVD - switched up the back exercises (since I did those yesterday) and did biceps and triceps during that time instead.
Preparation:
I enlisted my husband to help me with cutting up all of the carrots, celery and cauliflower that we had and put them into containers so that they are ready to go for the next few days. I also put raw almonds, cashews, and sunflower seeds (healthy fats for phase 3!) in baggies so that those are ready to go as well.
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Oops, I missed a few days here of posts, so here I go.
Today, the hubby and I were off of work for my daughters dance competition. The day worked out pretty nice - after breakfast my sister came over and we did the P90X yoga video. I then made up snacks for us to have during the competition and we literally ate lunch right before walking out the door. After the competition and awards, we stopped at Panera and Subway for salads and subs for the kiddos. While the diet may seem very labor intensive with having to make food at home most of the time, it is nice to stop and have it prepared by someone else. And I love that Panera uses antibiotic free chicken and has really tasty balsamic vinaigrette dressing.
I think the best quote Ive heard while on this diet was from my son about the avocado quesadillas - "mom, these are the best thing Ive ever ate! Well, except for chocolate because that is my favorite!" Love that kid!
Morning Weigh In:
Kiana: 152.2 lbs
Anthony: 244.2 lbs
Menu:
Breakfast @ 7:30am:
Eggs benedict
Snack @ 10:30am:
Carrots and hummus
Lunch @ 1:30pm:
Avocado quesadilla
Snack @ 4:30pm:
Carrots and raw sunflower seeds
Dinner @ 7:30pm:
Panera salad
Workout:
P90X Yoga DVD
Notes on Food:
I made eggs benedict for the first time in my life and I think it turned out pretty good. I received the recipe from the Haylie Pomroys email subscription. I didnt care for the taste of the hollandaise sauce so I omitted it. It was the first time I had poached in egg (I found a wonderful tutorial online) and they turned out great. I used a brown rice english muffin (shh...were not supposed to have brown rice today - oops!), turkey bacon, steamed spinach and the poached egg. Very good!
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The start of day 3 (which is still only being on the diet for about 48 hours) still showed pretty good results...3 pounds of straight fat in 48 hours!?..heck yes!!....here are todays stats at 7:32am:
Weight: 188.5 lbs
Body Fat Weight: 43.2 lbs
Body Fat Percentage: 23.0%
Given this digital scale can not always be accurate...and my water level fluctuate, Im still okay with todays results. Only bad thing is that the weekend is about here and I have 2 dinners to go out to on 02/10/13....so hopefully I can choose wisely from the menus...and I guess once those meals have processed (usually takes my body about 48 hours), the scale will tell me around 02/12/13! Looks like I may just have to double up on workouts this weekend to compensate!
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