As I have posted, I spent a little over a week away from the scale. I was a little nervous coming back, but I ended up being down a pound, which means that I’ve lost 15 pounds over the past year! Hurray!

I think that it might be a good idea for me to weigh in a little less often for awhile. I’ve gotten the hang of eating well, and there’s really no reason for need the constant feedback. Furthermore, I’m under so much stress right now that my fluid levels are probably going to be pretty erratic. I’m going to keep up with my food journal and try to keep my exercise level high, but just weigh in a little less often. We’ll see how that goes…

Yesterday was a kind of odd snacking day…I was studying all day and didn’t feel very good, so I ended up just eating a bunch of snacks rather than real meals. I’m feeling much better today.

Food:
–Whole grain protein pancakes with peanut butter and raisins
–orange

–.8 oz dark chocolate
–Zucchini sticks
–Coffee with cream

–Sauteed tempeh and spinach

–Fruit salad

–Big bowl of spinach soup
–2 oz. beef
–Crystallized ginger

–Rye cracker with peanut butter and dried cranberries

–1/2 Ezekiel English muffin with hummus

Exercise:

7080 steps
20 minutes on stationary bike
5 minute ab workout

I had a really good day yesterday. I got in all of my steps, I ate well, and the hubby and I went to the gym together. Furthermore, I got to wear one of my favorite old skirts that finally fits me again!

Food:

–1/2 diced mango with 1/2 cup nonfat yogurt
–1/2 Ezekiel English muffin with peanut butter
–Small cup of coffee with half and half

–trail mix (golden raisins, dried cranberries, pecans, nature’s path cereal)
–Small orange

–1/2 whole wheat mini pita stuffed with goat cheese, bell pepper and zucchini
–Small can of v-8
–Green beans

–2 Wasa crackers with laughing cow

–Nature’s Path Flax Plus Multibran cereal with lowfat milk

–Turkey meatloaf
–Zucchini with shallots and garlic in butter spiked oil

Steps: 11504
20 minutes on stationary bike
30 minutes weight lifting

Exciting news: the husband went to the gym with me on Monday! The husband has never been a gym person…he did sports in high school and used to bike everywhere he went. Unfortunately, he’s not doing sports anymore and we live on a busy street with crazy traffic (not the best for biking). Despite his deep bias against the gym, he agreed to work out with me. We had a great time. He is going to give a try at being my workout buddy for a little while! I am very happy about this, because I am always more consistent when I have a buddy with me. Even if we’re doing totally different things, I work longer and harder when I have a friend with me. I am still sore! We are going again today…yay!

Foodwise…this is one of those weeks where I know that I just need to ignore the scale. I am getting back on track with eating clean. I ate very well yesterday…I just need to continue to up my vegetable intake. I’m drinking tons and tons of water and I’m working out. Yet the scale seems insistent that I am gaining a pound every day. I know that this can’t possibly be fat…I blame monthly water retention. It is still frustrating.

I am doing my best to stay on track regardless of my frustration. I made myself a healthy breakfast and a healthy sack lunch, and I have an easy dinner all planned out. I’ll write a post about my dinner later. It is incredibly fast and tasty. I don’t think it takes more than 10-15 minutes to make the entire thing. (Another Food Network victory!)

This was a crazy weekend. But, title to the contrary, I did pretty well. I “survived” a trip to a wonderful Mexican place with the in-laws. It’s a wonderful hole-in-the-wall restaurant where the owner cooks you wonderful, delicious, authentic food with her own hands…in completely enormous portions. I got some shrimp fajitas. Shrimp is a nice lean protein, and because it is so expensive, those fajitas tend to have mostly grilled vegetables and just a few shrimp. I eat them straight out of the pan with a little guacamole, no tortillas required. I did overdo it on the tortilla chips…this is what I get for letting myself go out to dinner when I was really hungry. This place is delicious, but fast it definitely isn’t.

I seem to have broken through my plateau a bit. As of this morning, I weigh 131.6. I’m excited, but I have mixed feelings…my relationship with food wasn’t the most emotionally healthy this week, and I don’t want to get into the mindset that any loss is a good loss. I hope to post more about this later when I have time to explain better. In the mean time, here is my food log for yesterday.

Food:
–1 whole wheat scone (plain)
–1 mango
–Nonfat latte

–Handful of nuts and dried fruit

–Leftover shirataki noodles with chicken and veggies
–1 rye crispbread with avocado
–Light string cheese
–.3 oz extra dark chocolate

–roughly 15 tortilla chips with salsa
–Shrimp and veggie fajitas
–Salad (chopped lettuce and tomato in lemon)
–Two tbsp. guacamole
–Two bites of refried beans

–apple

Steps: 10215
20 minutes on stationary bike
20 minutes lifting weights

I’ve still been extra hungry the last few days, but I’ve managed my hunger pretty well by eating lots of small meals full of fiber and protein. I’m hanging in there. I wonder if part of my hunger is due to the fact that I’ve recently increased my exercise or it its just garden variety stress cravings?

Food:
–Ezekiel English muffin with peanut butter
–1/3 cup strawberries and 1/4 cup nonfat yogurt drizzled with honey
–Café au lait

–Pistachio raisin trail mix
–apple

–v-8
–1 Fish taco (50 calorie low carb tortilla, catfish, black beans, avocado, salsa, part skim mozzarella)
–Pepper sticks
–Two light rye cracks and 1/2 wedge of laughing cow light

–.6 oz 85% dark chocolate
–Coffee with half and half

–crockpot chicken vegetable curry over whole wheat couscous

–High fiber cereal with skim milk

I have the yummiest dinner last night! I was feeling creative so I mixed up a batch of homemade puttanesca sauce…it was delicious. Flavorful and tasty and not too heavy!

First, I sauteed two shallots and one diced red pepper in some olive oil. When those had gotten carmely and sweet, I added a can of diced tomatos, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. (Easy on the salt…you’ll be adding more salty things later). When the sauce was partially reduced, I added a big handful of chopped fresh basil, a pinch of red pepper flakes, a couple tablespoons of capers, a squirt of anchovy paste, and a drained 6 oz. can of albacore tuna. (Traditional puttanesca sauce has olives in it, but the husband hates them, so I just added extra capers instead.) I realized a bit late that I didn’t have nearly enough fresh garlic, so I compensated by crushing in the garlic at the very last minute and adding a little garlic powder. Served it over whole wheat spaghetti with a grating of fresh parmesan. Delicious! And the husband loved it!

I had a really hungry day yesterday. I just wanted to eat everything in sight. My strategy when that happens is to nibble all day long, but stick to very healthy foods and try to keep portion sizes small. If I try to convince myself that I don’t need food, I just end up binging later. I did okay…ate CONSTANTLY, but mainly stuck to healthy food.

Food:
–Small orange
–Two tsp peanut butter
–1/4 cup Greek style nonfat yogurt
–Pumpkin oatmeal pancakes
–Coffee with cream

–1/4 cup raisin pistachio trail mix

–Small orange
–Black beans, tomato and avocado wrapped in a 50 calorie low carb tortilla

–Light rye crackers and laughing cow
–v-8
–Bell pepper sticks

–Luna bar

–Banana

–1 cup whole wheat pasta with puttanesca sauce

–.3 oz 85% dark chocolate

–Glass of nonfat milk
–Two pieces of dried tamarind

Steps: 10085

This is just quick. I know I’m late on this one, but I have discovered that I LOVE sweet potato fries! Costco sells them pre-cut up in big bags, so I decided to try them out. They were totally delicious. The only problem was that I didn’t use any nonstick spray or oil on the sheet, so they stuck and and got kind of charred. Next time I will try using some cooking spray and see if that helps!

Food:
–One egg omelet with spinach and goat cheese (1 tbsp). (used about 1/2-1 tsp olive oil in prep)
–Two baby tomato flowers
–6 strawberries

–1/2 small brownie

–2.5oz catfish, tomato and zucchini over whole wheat spaghetti in lemon caper butter sauce
–Small handful of roasted chickpeas

–10 pistachios & 4 raisins

–3 large strawberries
–1/2 Ezekiel English muffin with peanut butter
-.25 cup nonfat yogurt

–1/2 mango
–sweet potato fries
–1/2 of a large mustard rubbed pork chop
–Roasted asparagus

–Small orange

The paper finally got finished and turned in yesterday afternoon, but not before it had managed to induce some serious carb binging. I pulled an all-nighter trying to finish the stupid thing, meaning that I totally screwed up my inner clock and needed a lot of food and caffeine to stay alert. I got mildly sick and couldn’t stomach anything with a lot of fiber in it. Thus, I was pretty much gorging on white flour for 36 hours. I haven’t eaten like that in a very, very long time.

Today was my “reset” day. My goal is to remind my body what the normal routine looks like (or at least should look like). I had the day off from school today, which helped. I got a good night of sleep and hit the gym first thing when I woke up. I got in a good hour long workout, then walked to the grocery store and stocked up on produce (three mile round trip!). I wasn’t really hungry at first, but I did my best to make myself eat some light, tasty, nutritious food on a semi-regular schedule. I’m loading up on water, and I’m trying extra hard to get in my protein and veggies. This feels a lot better!

Food log (so far):

–One egg omelet with goat cheese and basil
–Two roma tomato “flowers” with salt and pepper
–Leftover roasted asparagus

–Two light rye crackers with hummus
–Big bowl of husband’s chicken vegetable soup (it’s the best I’ve ever tasted…I don’t know how he does it)

–1/2 cup high fiber cereal with a sliced strawberry and lowfat milk

–Diced mango
–Spicy roasted chickpeas
–3 oz. herbed catfish with tomatoes and fresh basil
–Crunchy mixed veggies marinated in balsamic vinegar

The husband made me a completely delicious dinner for Easter yesterday. We started with an appetizer of my request…sliced apple topped with dabs of goat cheese, a few toasted walnuts, and a drizzle of honey. I had something like that in a restaurant once and fell in love with the concept. You can use just about any kind of nut or good cheese, and you can substitute pears or figs for the fruit. It’s fun and decadent, but basically healthy. Next, I had a cup of the husband’s lemony white bean soup…very light and springy. For the main course, I had a small portion of herb rubbed lamb served with a big helping of crunchy vegetables marinated in balsamic vinegar. I also had a glass of nice red wine. For dessert, I had two juicy chocolate dipped strawberries. Whoever invented the chocolate covered strawberry was genius…they are sexy and decadent and delicious, but they are actually quite reasonably healthy….just berries and a small amount of dark chocolate.

I am proud of my healthy, tasty Easter dinner, and I’m pretty proud of my healthy breakfast and lunch. I am less proud of my afternoon snack. I am really embarassed, but I am going to share my folly with all of you. As I’ve mentioned, I’m working on a really big paper right now and I’ve been hiding away in Starbucks to get away from my husband and other attractive nuisances in my studio apartment. For the most part, I haven’t been getting any sustenance other than the occasional nonfat latte, but yesterday I got pretty hungry. Hunger got the better of me and I turned to the pastry counter. (I know, I know.) I picked the smallest thing I could find that still looked edible, a whole grain zucchini walnut mini muffin. Granted, Starbucks has odd notions of what standard size and miniature are, but I thought it might not be too bad.

All I can say is that I’m proud of myself that I got up the courage (after having downed the muffin) to look up the nutritional information. 390 calories, 24g fat, and 42 g carbs!!! For a MINI muffin! The full size pastries were much worse! Are you kidding me??? I won’t be doing THAT again. When I was at my heaviest, Starbucks pastries were a pretty regular treat for me. I didn’t eat them every day, but eating something that caloric on a regular basis really adds up. I’m not proud that I ate that stupid thing, but I am proud that I owned up to my denial.

Food:
–2/3 cup high fiber cereal with skim milk
–A couple spoonfuls of nonfat fage yogurt
–Coffee with cream

–Seared ahi tuna with fresh salsa
–Steamed broccoli with olive oil
–Nibbles of husband’s food (two bites of chicken with tomato cream sauce and two bites of breadstick dipped in olive oil)

–Nonfat iced latte
–orange
–Mini zucchini muffin

–Glass of red wine
–Apple slices topped with goat cheese, toasted walnuts and a drizzle of honey
–Cup of simple lemon white bean soup
–Grilled lamb with balsamic zucchini and bell pepper salad
–Two chocolate covered strawberries

Exercise: I lost my pedometer I am looking for it, but this may put a dent in my step recording. I walked a fair amount yesterday, but probably not 10,000 steps. Maybe 7,000? I also lifted weights for 40 minutes.

Today is not an “official” weigh in day for me, but I’m so excited because I actually saw the number on the scale move down for the first time in over two weeks! I was really starting to think that I’d hit a plateau. Of course, one scale reading does not a trend make, but having the scale suddenly drop a pound lower always feels good. I needed a burst of motivation!

Here is yesterday’s food log:

Food:
–Whole wheat protein pancakes with fresh berries and butter
–Coffee with cream

–Veggie wrap (50-calorie low carb tortilla, hummus, fresh veggies)
–orange
–Square of dark chocolate

–Protein bar
–Mini bag of gummi bears

–orange
–Rye cracker with peanut butter

–Dijon chicken
–Roasted asparagus

–More pancakes with strawberries