Operation Jiggle Reduction

Last weekend I was sick, this weekend my fiance is sick, so working out and diet have slipped to the wayside.  Right now I’m making a huge pot of chicken noodle soup . . . and it’s not boneless, skinless breasts in that pot.

I went to the grocery store today (to get the above mentioned chicken) and was reading labels on things.  Seriously, why does everything have high fructose corn syrup, or some other unpronounceable and hydrogenated ingredients?  It scares me.  It usually makes me temporarily vow to eat as naturally as possible, but of course I lapse into laziness.

When I first got on this site I kept hearing these references to "eating clean."  I began to research it, and eventually went to Barnes and Nobles and read the book (note: I didn’t buy the book, I just sat in one of the comfy chairs and read it for an hour or so).  I was really drawn to the idea at first, because the basic premise is exactly what I want to do, eat whole, healthy, natural foods.  What seems to contradict this is the promotion of all the fake stuff, like splenda, protein powder, and other supplements.  Those are quite possibly the most man made things.  Probably no worse than what you’d find in most things at the grocery store, but still, in my understanding of the whole eating clean deal, it seems to go against that basic principle.

So I’d like to try to eat clean, by eating whole/natural foods as often as possible.  I’m trying to cook on my own more often so that I know what goes into my food.  I’ve been avoiding white flour, added sugar, and pretty much everything that comes in a package.  If this means I’m eating clean, hooray!  If I’m not, oh well, hopefully it’ll pay off.  I’ve been really inspired by Kath Eats Real Food at http://katheats.com and am hoping to model my diet after hers.  Sticking to whole, healthy foods as often as possible, watching portion sizes, and enjoying treats in moderation.

I’ll let you know how it goes.  Also, I want to get back in the gym soon!  One or two spinning classes a week isn’t enough!  My gym offers muscles and abs classes, and I’m considering doing one of those, but I’m slightly intimidated.  Maybe I should start on something gentler like pilates . . . or perhaps both?  Decisions, decisions.  All I know for now is there’s some chicken soup that needs eating.

Yesterday I tried out the Wii Fit.  According to the Wii my weight is fine (125), my BMI is fine (23.5, even though it wants everyone to have a 22), but my balance is retched and that makes me 35 years old!  Why?  Whatever Wii, your slalom skiing was fun, but only for like five minutes. 

Aside from a gaming system predicting my untimely demise, yesterday wasn’t too bad.  I did enjoy some chicken wings, but otherwise I stuck to water and avoided pretty much everything else.  I also won $100 on superbowl squares!!

Today went pretty well, except for when I ate a cookie at the faculty meeting (there was a huge plate next to the sign in sheet and the memos).  Mental note to self, next faculty meeting bring string cheese or something that takes a loooong time to eat.  I made some yummy taco soup for dinner (ground turkey, onions, black beans, kidney beans, corn, tomato sauce and taco seasoning) and I’ll have that for lunch tomorrow too unless it’s been consumed by my ever hungering significant other.  As long as I keep feeling better I’ll be hitting the gym tomorrow! 

Everyone around me has been getting sick, so it’s no surprise that I finally succumbed to it.  Especially considering that I’ve been overeating/overworking and underexercising.  So yesterday I dedicated myself to getting better and relaxing.  I cancelled all my plans, took loads of vitamins, watched Arrested Development and the Godfather, read trashy magazines and quality books, and ate comfort food!

I realize eating comfort food may be not the “healthiest” thing in terms of physical fitness and obtaining my long term goals, but when I’m sick nothing feels better than having a full belly or delicious food.  So below is what I ate.

I realize eating junk food is never good, but I at least feel better about eating crappily when I’ve prepared it and know what went into it.  Obviously that macaroni came out of a box, but everything else I made from scratch (ok, not the cereal, but you get the point) so I know exactly what I was consuming.

Also later on my fiance brought me some ice cream to cool me down (I was sweating a lot for no apparent reason . . . eww), but I didn’t have very much of it.  I got a good nights sleep and guess what . . . I feel a whole lot better today!  Not 100% but about 80 or so.  I started today off with some oatmeal, orange juice (with calcium), and a vitamin.  I’m still psyched for superbowl tonight, but I think I’ll be passing on the alcoholic beverages.

I realize that if I want to lose weight, I’ve got to give up somethings I enjoy.  I’m willing to do that to some extent.  Here are things I won’t compromise on:

• Fat free dairy (exception: skim milk), if you’ve ever tried any fat free dairy product you know it is vile.  I can do low fat, but  not fat free.
• Pizza Thursdays . . . although admittedly I could have one slice instead of two and get veggie.
• Popcorn chicken days at work, they only happen about once a month, so it’s not a big issue.  Other than that I don’t really eat the school food.
• Friday drinks, I vow to only have one vodka tonic, but it is a necessary calming/venting ritual with my fellow teacher friends.
• Anything my mother/mother-in-law make for me.  I know I should suck it up and tell them that broccoli/noodles/anything covered in butter isn’t really healthy and I don’t want it, but I value the relationship I have with them too much to get bogged down in something like that.  I can always nibble a little, be polite about it and try and pass it off to the dog or something.
• Real sugar.  Splenda is kinda gross and scares me.  I don’t add sugar to things very often anyways.

If those things keep me from having a perfect body, I think that’s a price I’m willing to pay.

Lunch @ work: Spinach, turkey, almond slivers, cherry tomatoes, fiberone bar and cheese.  It was quite delicious, I think my coworkers might have been jealous, or they just make fun of my child’s lunchbox.

I did eat some junk at work today, which I think gave me a headache (or perhaps it was my lack of water consumption?).  I’m heading off to a 60 minute spinning class soon and when I come back I think I’m just going to have some greek yogurt with honey and some grapefruit for dinner.

Dinner: 3/4 of burger+bun with tomatoes, 1/2 of fries, Bud Light.

Lunch: Whole wheat bread with hummus, turkey, and spinach.  Low fat cottage cheese, cherry tomatoes and diet coke (not pictured).

Breakfast: Whole wheat toast, egg over easy (but I broke the yolk, so it was more like over medium), strawberries, Women’s one a day, flaxseed oil, coffee with tsp sugar (not pictured).

I like the idea of taking pictures of  my food better than keeping a food diary.  I’m a visual person and seeing what I ate gives me a better idea than just writing it down.  I could’ve done better today, but it’s certainly not terrible.

I went to the gym and did 25 minutes of this elliptical/stair stepper hybrid, then did 3×12 cable curls w/ 30 pounds, and 3×12 tricep cable curls (correct name??) w/ 40 pounds.  I also did 3×30 sit - ups with the weighted ball.  I also spend about 20 minutes shoveling out my car which must count for something right?