Holy Cow!

So I am not quite sure where two weeks went, but I am sure that they have happened because I am behind on homework and it is the end of the month.

So to re-cap the past two weeks I have had successes and I have had failures.

Let's start with the failures so that we can end on a positive note:

FAILURES:

• Taco Bell. I know. Disgusting, especially since the latest release of the meat not really being meat. Since this story has came out, I have definitely curbed this bad habit. I am still having issues with bowling and class nights, but I am trying to get a handle on it.
• Sweets. I hate that I can't turn away a dessert. I hate that I like them. But I do, so I need to figure out a way to limit myself and I need to figure out a way to not want to cheat on that limit.
• Preparing and planning meals. I have no excuse besides my utter laziness on a Sunday evening.

SUCCESSES:

• Water. I am hydrated. I make sure to drink at least three of my nifty camelbaks a day
• Exercise. I know I could do better, but even if it is late and I am tired I will do at least 30 minutes of toning per day to keep my muscles moving.
• Breakfast. This has always been my biggest down fall, but I am happy to report that I have ate breakfast everyday since I have made the commitment. They haven't all been complete and filling, but they have not been donuts or bagels either. One small win for me.

Moving forward. Well this week is already starting off a little rocky since I didn't grocery shop yesterday or prepare any meals. That means that I will probably fail on the eating out most every night this week. Well since I don't really have a plan, I will figure it out tonight while I am bowling, at least I can do something productive while I am waiting my turn. I have homework that I can catch up on too.

Another update, I am toying with the idea of going gluten free. Maybe not 100%, but possibly for certain times of the day. Gregg thinks it is bogus, which is probably true, but might possibly help my love for bread, and sweets.

So the food of the week is quinoa. Do you know what you can do with quinoa? Do people even know what this is? Well you tell me and next week I will let you know what you can do with this wonderful little seed. :)

Week #2 Plan, Week #1 Recap

Week #1 successes:

• Water intake are a minimum of 64 ounces was met everyday.
• Daily breakfast (even on school days)
• 4 workouts for the week (30-60 minutes each)

Week #1 fails:

• Sweets. My demise. The worst was foodie Friday treat sweet rolls...ugh.
• Taco Bell. Twice.
  
• Did not follow my food plan 100%

Well it seems that my fails are definitely out weighing my successes. Time to turn it around for week #2.

Week #2 Plan:

Food:
Breakfast: Oatmeal (pumpkin oatmeal found here), fruit with peanut butter sprouted grain toast, Protein shake with fruit

Snacks: Celery sticks with peanut butter, cheese sticks and jerky, mini cliff bars, pretzels, yogurt, apples, bananas, oranges

Lunch: Salad with veggies and sliced turkey, pasta shells with veggies, quesadilla with chicken and salsa, sprouted grain grilled cheese

Dinner: Pasta shells with chicken, chicken enchiladas, Wendy's chili, Mexican pizza

Workout goal:

5 workouts this week (3 cardio and 2 muscle toning). I am still using that Nike Traning app.

Recipe of the week:

Low-fat cream sauce for a pasta dish. I don't know about you , but I love pasta and not only do I love pasta, but I love cream sauces on top of pasta. Does anyone know how many extra calories of fat this adds? Well let me not burst your bubble, but it is a lot. Spaghetti with marinara is around 500 calories per serving, Fettuccine Alfredo is around 900 to 1200 per serving.* Crazy.

* these are average calories based on serving size, not actual portions served.

Low-fat Cream Sauce:*
~1.5 tablespoons of butter
~1/4 cup of flour
1 clove garlic
1 cup 1%, low-fat milk
salt
pepper

*Enough sauce for 2 cups pasta. (2 cups dry)

Melt butter on medium to low heat, add minced garlic clove while melting, add flour until all of the butter has disappeared and it appears to be a buttery paste...not a floury paste. Whisk constantly for 3 to 4 minutes. DO NOT STOP stirring. You do not want to burn your roux (pronounced roo). When the roux starts to separate and becomes thick add half of milk, keep stirring until all of the lumps are gone. (mixture should still be kind thick) Then add the rest of the milk. Mix until smooth. Should have a nice consistency like Velveeta. Add salt and pepper to taste (1/4 teas of each). Add cooked pasta to sauce and mix. You can then top the pasta with mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, grilled chicken, frozen veggies, sun dried tomatoes, or whatever you feel would be good with pasta, which is pretty much everything.

This is my own recipe from techniques that I learned from making gravy and macaroni and cheese from the Pioneer Women. A roux is not easiest thing to do, but definitely handy when you need to thicken something up. Remember practice makes perfect!

Another tip that I learned from last week is that I really need to prepare better. With my on-the-go lifestyle I have no room for leaving things until the last minute. So I have prepared a few lunches, the pumpkin oatmeal, steamed some veggies, and cut some veggies for salads and other meals. I took pics, but they take too long to load, so maybe next week!

Good luck this week, hopefully I will make some progress this week, instead of just maintaining.

Meal Plan Week #1

I think that this is the hardest part of the whole process.

Breakfast: Pumpkin oatmeal, Eggs with spinach and cheese, Banana with peanut butter toast.

Snacks: Almonds, cheese stick, orange, yogurt, carrot sticks, celery with peanut butter, mini cliff bars.

Lunch: Romaine salad with veggies, Peanut butter and jam on sprouted grain bread, chicken salad.

Dinner: Bean and cheese burrito, grilled meat with veggies, salad with veggies, pasta with veggies and feta.

Recipe of the week: To keep the theme of eating breakfast each day...one of my most difficult challenges, I chose this recipe. Pumpkin Oatmeal:

Ingredients

• 1 (14-ounce) can pumpkin puree (the unseasoned kind)
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups unsweetened almond milk, or water
• 2 tablespoons raisins (golden or regular)
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice OR 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon plus 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom plus 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 cups quick cooking oatmeal (not the instant kind)
• 1/4 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
• Honey or maple sugar, for serving
• Heavy cream, for serving

In large saucepan over high heat, combine the pumpkin puree, water, milk, raisins, salt, and pumpkin pie spice (alternative spices). Bring to a boil.

Add the oatmeal. Turn the heat down and cook according to your oatmeal instructions; mine usually takes about 15 minutes. Stir often.

Meanwhile, in a small cast iron skillet over medium heat, toast the pepitas until they're fragrant and a gentle golden brown, about 10 minutes.

Once the oatmeal is cooked (each grain should be tender), serve with honey or maple sugar on the side, pepitas to sprinkle on top, and cream if people like it more like porridge.

Since this is the first week of school I am concerned of what kind of meals I will be able to have time for, like on Thursday evening I have class until 9, so what will be a realistic dinner in that situation. So this week is kind of an experiment. Like I said before I just have a couple of goals to eat breakfast and veggies. Also, I want to make sure that I drink enough water...at least 64 ounces.

Official Week #1

Alright, the only noteworthy victory from this week was that I made sure that I ate breakfast everyday. Other than that, I would say that my crappy eating has carried over to the new year. I have taken my measurements so I know what I am working towards...I can't exactly remember what my last measurements were, but if I do remember right, YUCK. Very disappointed in myself.

Goals for this week:
Eat breakfast every day, work out 4 days this week, eat veggies with at least two of my meals and one of my snacks.

Work out for this week:
All come from the Nike Training Center app from my phone. This is actually a pretty cool app. It has made a bunch of different work outs based on what you want to focus on, they can be done at home are at the gym while jamming out to your tunes. This week I will be alternating from the Get Lean section and the Get Focused. The Get Lean portion is cardio intervals and the Get Focused is 15 minute workouts to focus on specific areas. All workouts will be 45 to 60 minutes with warm up and cool down included. I will either workout in the morning before class or right when I get home from work, school or bowling.

Day 1 and 3: Fighter Fit.

Day 2 and 4: Ab burner, Butt buster, Back definer, and Arm definer.

I get to do a lot of lunges, Russian twists, and push-ups. YES!

Meals for the week:
I didn't have time to plan this out just yet, so I will have to report this out tomorrow. I will tell you that I will be having oatmeal and coffee for breakfast, a banana with some nuts (almonds most likely) for morning snack, a salad, yogurt, and an orange for lunch (I will probably add something to this), I haven't decided on my afternoon snack yet and dinner is still up in the air.

Tomorrow I will post the rest of my meals and the recipe of the week.

Alright, I am wishing myself good luck because I am definitely going to need it.

What This is ALL About

Wow.

I am really going to do this. So I have made the goal, now I just need to plan how to accomplish this goal. This goal for me is not only be a healthier and more in shape version of myself, but to change my life and life style. I am easily swayed to eating out, eating quick and eating treats and little cheats (as I like to call them). And skipping my workout to work longer, snuggle with a blanket on the couch or just to sit and tell myself I need to relax. Which is true sometimes, but not for months at a time. On this blog, I am not only to report to you what I am eating and when I working out, but I have to admit to you when I have slipped up and what my excuse is. So that not only can you see how ridiculous my excuses are, but so that I can see how ridiculous they are too. By the end of the year, I want to recognize that I cheat on my meals when I am stressed or lazy and have solutions to combat that feeling. I also want to have a different outlook on food and exercise by the end of the year.

They say it take 40 days to make something a habit, but did they tell you that it only takes one day to reverse all progress made in that habit. As you know in the course of a year there are several 40 days. To be exact there are 9.13 40 day cycles. Since I will probably not be set up to reporting to you until 01/10 that leaves 8.76 40 day cycles to screw up or make it. Over the course of this year, I can think of at least three times that I could be derailed. #1: When I go to San Francisco for my annual Janba bowling tournament. This tournament is not only filled with bowling, it is filled with alcoholic beverages, delicious Japanese food, and late nights of grabbing something quick to eat before you crash to wake up 6 hours later. #2: Trips to New York. For one I live to gorge on bread, pizza and baked goods. And let's not forget Loretta's delicious home cooked meals. Plus there is always eating out and the whole trip is geared towards where we are going to eat. Danger, Danger. #3: Holidays. Enough said. This is treat central for every where you go. There is no escaping chocolate covered yummies.

Alright, so now you realize that may seem like the most crazy thing a person could do, but I am putting myself out there for all of you to see. This is to show you that even with the most determination to be a healthier person, there will be set backs. And there will be failing times, but I am tired of fat pants, flowy tops and ways to look thinner. I just want to be comfortable and proud of the body that I am living in. No more shame. Here is to 2011 and a healthier more alive self.