Beyond Recovery: Christin's journal of progress (comments welcome)

[rcyannacci]

Tues:
B- same
S- yogurt and grape nuts
L- disaster...I keep running out of time for lunches, and then it's 2:00 and I'm starving and cranky. Ate a banana and some popcorn.
D- dinner with a friend at Pei Wei's Diner- salad rolls and 2 spring rolls

No exercise; took the day off

Tues:
B- same
S- yogurt and grape nuts
L- yikes...same thing happened again. Finally at 4:00, I had 1/2 a pita w/ hummus and feta, and an apple
D- starving...DH and I ordered a pizza. 3 pieces of thin crust with onions, olives, and chicken (I nixed the pepparoni at least!).

Curves 40 minutes, 10 minutes abs and legs. I'm seeing a real difference in my waist with abs 3-4 times a week!

 

[rcyannacci]

Thurs-
B- same
S- yogurt and grape nuts
L- turkey roll-up
(should have had an afternoon snack, starving by dinner)
D- 3 tacos (1 chicken, 2 beef) and some chips with queso (totally over-did it here- paying the price now)

Swam laps at the pool for 40 minutes.

 

[pearlieq]

Good job getting your exercise in yesterday. I was kind of thinking that Curves was sort of light on the ab work--I'll have to try adding some extra myself and see how that goes.

Wishing you a great Friday and a happy weekend!

 

[rcyannacci]

Yeah, doing crunches is definitely not my favorite, but somehow it doesn't seem so bad after my rounds at Curves. Since I'm already there stretching, I figure 5 more minutes won't be that bad. The first two weeks I struggled, but I feel a lot stronger now, and have really seen a difference.

Friday-
B- bagel with veggie cream cheese. Wanted a change from the usual peanut butter on a muffin, and I had run out of strawberries, so I decided to stop for a bagel. It was good, but I ran out of energy today quicker than I had expected. That shot of protein in the AM really works.
L-Ham sandwich on a pretzel roll, bag of chips, and a small gelatto. I was starving by lunch and went overboard, including the sugar at the end. My friend wasn't a big help here, plus I was having a bad day. (My department can be so stupid at times. They tried to take away my classroom for an event without giving me or my students any notice! I think I upset a few people when I kicked them out of the room and continued with class!)
D- all by myself with DH working. Had some chicken in the fridge and just threw together something with cream of chicken soup and veggies over brown rice. It was terrible! I ate 3 bites and threw it away. I think maybe I was just cranky for my day. An hour later, I made popcorn.

Curves for 40 minutes, plus 10 minutes abs and legs.

Saturday-
B- back to the same...
L- chicken and pasta soup (Progresso)
D- taco salad (not great, but OK. Did the low-fat cheese, and cut out sour cream, which used to be a given.)

Curves for 40 minutes, plus 5 minutes abs

 

[sarahsmom73]

Sorry you had a cranky day! I hope today is a better one, even if it is Monday!

 

[rcyannacci]

Thanks! New week, new attitude!

Sunday-
B- peanut butter on eng. muffin (still out of strawberries)
L- taco salad (from leftovers)
S- DH got take-out BBQ. Tasted good, but I could have done better. Had some chicken breast (good), some sausage (bad , but tasted good , cole slaw (good, not the mayo-based stuff, but cabbage and vinegar), potatoe salad (bad ), green beans, and a roll. Plus, 1/2 cup blue bell ice cream.

No sustained exercise today, but did take a short walk with the dogs, and did some yard work.

This week, I need to do better about cutting back the sugar again and moderating portions (which I've gotten better at). Getting back on track!

 

[rcyannacci]

Monday-
B- 2 deviled eggs (made them the night before...got my protein in, but it still didn't fill me up like my regular breakfast)
L- ham sandwich and a pickle, iced coffee
S- small gelatto- yes, I should have said no to the sugar, but I did limit myself to 1/2 a small
D- steak on the grill, 1/2 roasted sweet potato, salad with lite honey mustard (the new Newman's brand...very good!)

Curves 40 minutes, 10 minutes abs and legs

 

[rcyannacci]

Tuesday-
B- back to the english muffin with peanut butter and strawberries.
S- yogurt and 1/2 c. grape nuts
L- a roast beef sandwich (eliminated some of the bread...there was just too much)
S- cup of fritos chips
D- fried fish (DH made them) and a spinach, pear, and blue cheese salad.
S- 1/2 c. blue bell ice cream (It's driving me crazy in the freezer...I should just throw it away. Kicking sugar is really difficult, but at least I've made a huge dent in what I used to eat).

Exercise- Swam laps for 40 minutes. (need to remember to use sun screen next time. That TX sun is starting to really heat up. I already have a tan line!

 

[septbride2002]

Your menus look delicious! How do you plan so much food in one day and get it all prepared?

~Amanda

 

[pearlieq]

Hang in there! You can kick the sugar beast!

I know what you mean about the ice cream taunting you from in the fridge. I've got this half gallon of Edys Grand Light, which seems to last forever when you only eat it 1 cup at a time. I can't wait to be rid of it but I couldn't bear to throw it out.

Hope you're having a great day!

 

[sarahsmom73]

Ice cream is my downfall... It is very hard for me to have it in the house!!!

TGIF! I hope you have a great day!

 

[rcyannacci]

Thanks everyone for stopping by!

pearlieq and sarahsmom- Yes, the ice cream goes in the trash today! If I'm going to have sugar, I'm going to make sure it's something REALLY good (like a piece of my fav. cake!). I was at a performance last night (a bunch of students encouraged us grads to perform a piece, and we foolishly agreed), and they served cake at intermission. the grocery store-bought, fluffy white icing variety. I passed it up, but it was hard. I just kept thinking, if I gave it up, maybe I could have something really good for the same calories or less later this weekend.

Amanda- thanks for the comment on menus. Mainly, we've just been trying to cut out all processed foods and as much refined sugar as possible. The weeks when it really works for us is when I take an hour or 2 on Sunday to go to the grocery store and stock up on some fresh fruits and veggies, whatever looks good and fresh, and then plan at least some dinners for the week in advance (some weeks are too hectic for this, but I keep trying to make time). I try to keep some items on hand to help with flavor-- real parmesan cheese for grating, crumbled blue cheese, pecans, walnuts and almonds, kalamata olives.

I get a couple of magazines, and anytime I see a simple recipe with fresh ingredients, I set it aside and put the ingredients on the grocery list for the next week. We've tried a lot of new salads this way (I always keep a bag of fresh spinach in the fridge).

I'm losing weight more slowly this way than I probably would a low calorie or low carb diet (which is frustrating for me some days, especially when I see other people's progress here or at Curves), but I'm trying to remind myself that we are committing to a lifestyle change. Since the change, we've actually been eating better foods and have felt better. I used to have a very adversarial relationship with food, and I'm learning to relax a bit and have more fun planning dinners. I especially wanted to make sure and do this before we have kids; I would hate to pass on my anxiety about food and weight to a daughter, like my mom (inadvertently) did with me.

 

[rcyannacci]

Wednesday-
B- same english muffin w/ peanut butter and strawberries, iced coffee
S- same yogurt w/ grape nuts
L- turkey sandwich and a banana
D- steak (have I mentioned DH likes beef? I only ate about 3 oz), pasta w/ garlic, parmesan, fresh basil (we are growing our own, and it's awesome), and olive oil, and a spinach salad.

Curves 40 minutes, 10 minutes abs and legs

Thursday-
B- same
S- banana
L- mexican restaurant (hey, it's Austin), so chips and salsa (I tried to limit myself as much as possible) and a taquitos salad with margarita vinegrette dressing. Plus, a small cone of soft serve, which they so conveniently place on the way out the door. Again, I tried to take as small a portion as possible. Soft-serve is one of my weaknesses, and it was hot outside so it seemed perfect.
D- running out the door late for my performance because I got into a conversation at Curves and lost track of time, so a quick turkey sandwich from Jimmy Johns (bread, turkey, lettuce, sprouts, and mayo).

Curves 40 minutes, 5 min. abs.

Oops, just remembered I got my Curves measurements. After 3 months, I'm down 5 pounds and 5.25 inches. I keep telling myself, slow and steady wins the race.

 

[pearlieq]

Just popping in to wish you a happy Friday!

Good job passing up that cake! It's so much better to save the calories for something really worth it. Also, great job sticking with Curves!!! You're absolutely right, slow and steady, you're getting there!!!

Have a great day!

 

[rcyannacci]

Friday-
B- same
L- 1/2 a turkey sandwich and 1/2 c. cut fruit (I would have eaten more but it was a lunch meeting and someone cleared my lunch before I was done...oh well.)
S- Here's where I got into trouble. Asked out for Friday drinks with friends. Split a basket of fries with a friend and had 2 pints of Shiner beer. It was soooooo good! I wasn't going to do the fries, but I was starving after my 1/2 lunch, and my friend (who should have known better since he lost weight recently) egged me on.
D- pan-fried red snapper with a tortilla crust, roasted carrots with dill, a small piece of bread with olive oil.
D- 1/2 c. of ice cream. (I think I was still tipsy from the beer that afternoon and I was justifying everything!) An ounce of will power came over me, however, and I threw the rest of the ice cream in the trash!

No exercise...I was in a bar drinking, remember? (I'll make this up Sunday, which is ususally my rest day)

 

[rcyannacci]

Saturday-
B- same
L- one of my favorites. Tapas plate with hummus and flat bread, fresh pear, celery w/ a spinach dip, and french bread with olive oil.
D- pork chops, steamed brown rice, and sauteed onions and zucchini w/ terraki.
dessert- 1 small carrot muffin (baked with Splenda and Egg Beaters....so good!)

Curves 40 minutes, 10 min. abs and legs

Sunday (gloomy, depressing mood day)
B- 2 carrot muffins
L- celery and carrots with spinach dip
S- a handful of nuts
D- out for mexican...had some tortilla soup, black beans, a chicken enchilada with sour cream sauce (scrapped most of it off) and 1/2 a chicken tamale. Minimal chips, but I did have a small soft-serve cone on the way out the door.

Minimal exercise- 15 min walk with the dogs, plus some vacuuming and yard work. Didn't go swimming because it was gray outside and I was gloomy (it would have been the one thing probably to lift my mood, so I'm not sure why I didn't just do it.)

 

[pearlieq]

You lunch yesterday sounds so yummy!!!

Hopefully the weather cheered up and you're having a great Tuesday!

 

[rcyannacci]

Thanks, pearlieq! Yes, the weather is getting better and I actually swam laps today!

Monday-
B- english muffin, peanut butter
S- 2 small carrot muffins
L- turkey sandwich, baby carrots
S- handful of nuts
D- chicken scallapini with lemon and cilantro sause (DH made this) and sauteed fresh green beans and red onions
(I felt really good today about what I ate. NO REFINED SUGAR!)

Curves 40 minutes, 10 min. abs and legs

Tuesday:
B- english muffin, peanut butter and strawberries
S- 2 small carrot muffins
L- yogurt w/ grape nuts and an apple
S- baby carrots and spinach dip, plus a handful of nuts
D- DH begged me to make homemade mac and cheese (big splurge!), so I paired it with steamed broccoli and left-over green beans.

Swam laps at the pool for 40 minutes, planning on some abs tonight.

RANT- So, I'm really glad I've lost some weight and firmed up, but I am having flashbacks to 2 years ago when I could find nothing in the stores to fit. I really wanted a pair of khaki capri pants...no luck. I've fallen into that weird size range in between womens and misses. A 18 petite is still just a little too small, but a 20 is too big (and they never have petites). I leave for the beach in 3 weeks and wanted to have a few new pieces to wear, but it is just too frustrating to find something that actually fits. Maybe next month...

 

[rcyannacci]

Wednesday-
B- same
S- apple
L- left-over mac and cheese, 1 sm. carrot muffin
S- (meeting in my department) few bits of fruit, 1 sm. turkey roll-up slice, and a chocolate chip cookie (I left 1/2 on the plate)
D- (out with friends after meeting) fried chicken breast dinner w/ salad, french fries (left 1/2 on the plate), and sugar snap peas. (very Southern, very delicious!)

Curves- 40 minutes, plus 5 on abs. Went in the morning since I knew I wouldn' be able to go in the afternoon today.

So, not a great day for eating, but I did manage to keep it in moderation. And, managed my schedule to make sure I got in my exercise.

 

[septbride2002]

Sorry to hear about your clothes shopping woes! I understand them well You are doing awesome though and those 18's are going to fit in no time! I have nothing but confidence in you!

I've been slacking on Curves. I haven't been there since Monday - I just haven't been able to wake up at 6am and go. I'm hoping to get there either Friday or Saturday and then on Sunday I'll just have to workout at home. I'm thinking 2 mile walk and some work with weights.

~Amanda