Protein+Veggie-Sugar = Crazy Bi@t#

Simple math people.  Protein + Veggie - Sugar = Craycray AND add the end of the term AND the fly by the seat of our pants decision to gut our master bedroom and bath AND that whole "we're only going to drink alcohol twice a month" DUMB decision and well.........you get this

My cravings are so cyclical <----- Duh! I'm a woman, WTF isn't cyclical.  When I first started to eat clean, it was semi easy to stick to the plan with proper planning because I felt so much better.  I learned pretty quickly that carb infested "fast food" type items made me feel horrible. But there are times I just want sugar, plain white sugar and at this time of the year preferrably in the form of Starburst Jellybeans in either Tropical, Crazy, or even Original.

Anyway......if you come across me staring at the 2 for $5 bags of these at Kroger, just walk on by, give me my moment.

Ramblings

Happy Valentines Day Friends! I am not big on the manufactured holiday and believe you should always do little things to show those you love them how much you love them.  And I'm referring to actions not necessarily material things. But I do think the day is a nice guideline for the men and women out there that need a specified day to be sweet :)

Anyway it has been a few since I posted for two reasons.

One I have been busy trying to keep all the balls up in the air.

Two I was a little frustrated and was just putting one foot in front of the other on the diet front.

But I had my quarterly assessment at the gym on Sunday and realized I am making progress.  I gained 1.25 pounds of lean muscle and the physical fitness improvements I have made in the past year are phenomenal.  My resting heart rate went from 83 to 50! Most of my fitness tests were initially below average or well below average and are now well above average! We are also going to try a different focus for the next month - I am going to lay off all the cardio classes I love so much and focus on lifting and lifting heavy.  Lean muscle baby.

On the cooking front, I made a Clean Mexican Layer Dip based on this recipe and it was awesome! I made my own taco seasoning and the only change I would make would be to take out the lime in one of the layers because it was a little too salty.  And I love me some salt....... 

I also have played with clean chocolate chip cookies and really wasn't impressed. I'll keep experimenting and let you know if I find any that are worth it.

Right now I am really busy with school and we have made the decision to finally start our remodel in our master bedroom and bath so I imagine things are about to get insanely chaotic.  But since it is VD, I'll be sappy.....at least I'm get to do these things with my best friend and the love of my life.

Wine and Whine

No progress on the scale and intellectually I am okay with that.  I know what I have been eating and I know the amount of work I put in at the gym -- I am healthier that I have ever been.  I will not allow myself to be defined by the number on the scale.  I have scheduled an appointment with a family doctor to have a physical and bloodwork next week to ensure I have a functioning thyroid, my hormones aren't on the crazy train and to assure myself I am not doing all of this in vain.



Courtesy of Pinterest

That being said.

I AM FRUSTRATED!!!! I feel so much better without the processed foods, but I gotta admit I miss wine......I really miss wine.  To come home from work, sit down, drink a few glasses of my favorite red wine.......Snap Dragon, oh how I miss our quality time.  I miss prepping dinner with the radio on and a glass of Cabernet; the water with lemon simply doesn't compare. 

Courtesy of Pinterest

I can give up anything if it means I can look in the mirror and see physical progess, but come on! Give a girl a break! Why would I give up wine for nothing?  Of course, I am being fasicious but I am frustrated with my lack of progress.  I will weigh in tomorrow at the gym and report my total for my first month. I may still be a whiny ass like I am being now or I may have put on my big girl panties by then......stay tuned.

The 7 P's

Prior Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance

Courtesy of www.21to21.com

As most of you know, the importance of planning was the first lesson I learned as I embarked on this path to cut crap out of my diet.  Planning the meals for the week, packing them each day and entering them into my log holds me accoutable; it gives me a road map for the day.  Without the map, I'm lost and will definitely take wrong turns.  A wrong turn into Chipotle or the dead end at the bakery....yum, cupcakes.

Today for lunch, a large group of co-workers went to a great Mexican restaurant, but I knew how limited my options are at restaurants and I had prepared a great Chickpea Salad last night so I was able to say no and truthfully after my 2 day food hangover earlier in the week I did it with ease.  So I sat at my desk and had a modified version of a recipe I found on Pinterest.  I used garbanzo beans that I soaked and cooked Tuesday day and added chopped red onion, roma tomato, radishes, reduced fat feta, and parsley - I dressed it with a combo of lemon, olive oil, and apple cider vinegar.  It truly was delicious and I am so full.  High five to the 7 P's.

Thursday is the only day of the week I usually go to the gym in the evening.  I love my early morning workouts, the friends I have there and the energy it gives me throughout the day.  But I also have a love affair with Spinning and there is a 30 minute Spin class on Thursday at 5:15 that I adore.  If you have never tried Spinning, find a good instructor and hop on.  For me it is a competition against myself.  Can I increase the resistance?  Can I go faster?  Am I at my limit - because I should be!  Is there sweat dripping off my nose?  Did I leave a puddle? We have three different really great Spin instuctors at our gym and they all push me in different ways.  Before class I usually either lift or run. But, instead of doing a C25K run tonight, I think I am going to do some HIIT on the treadmill - the articles I have been reading about high intensity interval training are intriguing so I am going to give it a shot one to two days a week.  We already do HIIT on the Spin bike but it will be interesting to try on the treadmill.  If you don't mind, take a moment to send up a prayer to the God of your understanding that I don't sling myself off the back of the treadmill and cause serious harm during one of the "all out" sprints.

I REALLY am what I eat!

I still feel like crap from my "cheat meal" on Saturday night.  I am amazed but also comforted in knowing my body does like the new clean fuel I am putting in it.  On Saturday we left the house late afternoon for a date; Justin purchased a new gun, we killed time watching some basketball and then went to the movies.  I got in a killer workout on Saturday morning at the gym; 30 minute Spin class, 30 minute Advanced Step and then 60 minute strength training that completely left me with T-Rex arms.

Courtesy of Pinterest

We had a few hours to kill before our movie so we went to Old Chicago for a few beers and an appetizer.  We also got to watch the Florida State and Duke basketball game and you would have thought the entire bar area was full of FSU alums the way we were cheering.  Duke makes us puke in the Bluegrass State.  Anyway, I had one piece of garlic bread, one pepperoni roll and a few nacho chips from the sampler platter (those of you who have been to Old Chicago know this is not a large portion) - we were planning on Movie Tavern so I was saving room.  At the Movie Tavern I choose the mini burgers and fries -- you know, go big or go home, right?  S.E. got a pizza.  I had a small piece of his pizza, two of the mini burgers and some fries.  Initially I was happy I had indulged but not over indulged.  Well.....I felt horrible on Sunday and still don't feel one hundred percent today. 

My stomach just feels bloated and painful at times.  I was tired and lacked motivation.  My mood and my physical well being was the result of the CRAP I put in my body on Saturday night.  YUCK! I don't want to feel like this again so I am rethinking my definition of a cheat meal.  Cheat meals don't have to be fried balls of dough or carb laden meals, they can be really good meals that I don't usually allow myself to have.  A meal at a local winery with cheese and an excellent main course or a great filet with mashed potatoes seems to be a better choice for me.  I'm not saying I will never have fries or a greasy burger ever again, but it won't be for awhile.  I enjoy how damn good I feel lately and a two day food hangover from processed crap is not fun!

Freakin Friday

Happy Friday! First off, update on the scale - I am now at 157.8 so I did drop a little over a pound this week - on track.  I have also made a pact with myself to only weigh one day a week - it will either be Friday or Saturday each week, depending on my gym schedule.

A few new recipes I tried this week were Banana "Icecream" and Berrylicious Microwave Minute Muffin.  The banana icecream (pic below) was great! It produced the equivalent of about a snack size pudding cup; the perfect size to satisfy my "I must have something sweet right now or I'm gonna have a f'in episode" craving.  I added about a teaspoon of unsweetened cocoa and a teaspoon of all natural ground peanut butter.  Also I used my mini food processor because my cheap blender doesn't "do frozen." Yummy!  The minute muffin did not turn out the way I wanted it to - it was "tough".  However I think maybe my coffee cup was too big and the muffin had too much room to expand.  I'm not sure, but I'll try it again and let you all know.

Courtesy of Pinterest

I kicked the treadmill's ass last night and this morning too! I find it much easier to run outside due to I have scenery to look at and I adjust my speed to be able to run a longer period of time.  Thererfore I have had a really hard time mentally completing the C25K Week 6 Run 3; it is a 5 minute walk + 25 minute run + 5 minute cool down.  I run about 5.5-6.0 mph on the treadmill and I would hit a huge mental wall at around the 18-20 minute mark of the run portion.  But yesterday I made the decision when I walked into the gym, I was going to run for 25 minutes. Period.

I did a 5 minute walk, set the treadmill at 5.5mph and got to work.  I kept repeating "You are strong, fit, capable and quitting is not an option today."  Guess what?  It worked! I completed 3.1 miles in 34:55.  Then this morning ran for a full 30 minutes and did 2.71 miles.  Technically the run was completed before I ever got on the treadmill......the decision to not quit is more than half the battle. 

Courtesy of Pinterest

Tomorrow night we are using our Christmas gift from our awesome neighbors and going to the Movie Tavern.  This will be one of my two cheat meals for the month of January so I am going to get in a great workout tomorrow morning.  Have a great weekend Peeps!

Nada, Zilch, Zero

Courtesy of http://graemethomasonline.com

Weighed in for Week 2 - nothing, nada, zilch, zero.........

That being said, I realize I lifted heavy for the few days prior and am quite sore - I'm sure my muscles are holding some water, but DAMMIT!

Anyway, I will keep eating clean, keep training hard and I will eventually see results.  Right? Right.

Still pissed though :)