January 31

It's all a guess, honestly, except the green smoothie. Today was Elijah House graduation, and it was a-l-l day long (well, 10:30-3:00), then I went to the mall to decompress. As I was about to leave, I ran into an old friend and she and I talked for over two hours! I didn't get home until 7:15, but it was ok. For me at least, the Music Man had the kids by himself from 9:30 am until after 7!

Breakfast:
green smoothie (250)

Lunch:
corn chowder (100)
cornbread (150)
brownies (300)
cheesecake bites (300)
cookie (125)
grapes (50)
veggies (50)

Dinner:
corn chowder (100)
hummus and pita (300)
fruit and yogurt parfait (250)

Water:
10

Fruits and veg:
12

Total calories:
1975

Weight:
135 (I'm sure the scale is wrong, I think I need to change the battery because it weighed the Monster at several pounds lighter than normal, too.)

January 30--heather

Breakfast:
Uhm, didn't quite get to breakfast today. We had guests coming, and I started on lunch this morning and then just forgot.

Lunch:
hummus and homemade pita (275)
pineapple (75)
hershey kisses (40)
tortilla chips (140)
graham cracker (70)
granola (60)

Afternoon snack:
green smoothie (175)
graham crackers (140)
hummus and pita (100)

Dinner:
chili and brown rice (300)

Evening snack:
hershey kisses (100)
licorice (150)
corn chowder--made it for EH graduation tomorrow and kept tasting for flavor balance (80)
fruit roll thing (70)
rice cake (50)

Water:
11

Fruits and veg:
14

Total calories:
1825

January 29--heather

Breakfast:
banana (80)
jam and bread (100)

Lunch:
pasta and sauce (150)
peach (50)
rice cake (40)

Afternoon snack:
beet smoothie (170)
almonds (100)

Dinner:
cauliflower stir fry (200)
beet smoothie (170)

Evening snack:
jam and bread (100)
licorice (60)
hershey kisses (40)
banana (80)
angel food cake and berries (200)



Water:
9

Fruits and veg:
17

Exercise:
Pilates mat (100)

Total calories:
1580

Weight:
137.2

The Day the Key Broke

January 25, 2009 – Nicole’s Food Log

So, after yesterday’s food frenzy, I resolved to have a better day today. Um, until my friend Jess called me for lunch.

I’d nearly forgotten that I’d called her to see if she wanted to grab a drink after she got off work (she had a game that night) and she’d said she couldn’t but wanted to do lunch… which is never a good thing for the diet.

And thus I suggested Extreme Pizza which I thought, at least, could get me away from any restaurant with a bread basket.

And since EP is in the same complex as my gym I thought I’d get a workout in.

Right… until I left for the gym, realized I’d left something inside the house and promptly had my key break.

(AND NO… THERE WASN’T A SPARE IN A ROCK OR THE CAR OR WITH A MOUSE…)

So, an hour later I was now $59 in the whole to the locksmith and later for my afternoon than I intended.

After talking to Jess, I realized that I did have about 15 minutes before she’d get there for lunch, so in my frantic attempt to do SOMETHING not crappy, I went to the gym, got on the treadmill, jacked the speed up at least a bit from usual and ran for a mile.

And then I went and ate crap.

But the good news is I did go back to work out afterwards. And dinner was out of a frozen box to minimize the complete damage at least.

Well, kinda…

Breakfast
Two slices Orowheat (180)
Margarine (60)
Egg (70)

Workout
1 mile run (117 calories burned)

Lunch
Slice of cheese pizza (460?)
Marinara sauce (100?)
Twisted sticks (1200?)

Workout
45 minutes on bike (240 calories burned)

Dinner
Frozen mac and cheese (310)

Calories: 2380

Weight: 71.4kg

And Then Monica Threw A Party

January 24, 2009 – Nicole’s Food Log

Really it was an unproductive day all around... lots of good intentions that got interrupted by an afternoon surprise birthday party. But I suppose at least I got a workout in. (Um, for what that's worth.)

Breakfast
Pancakes (590)
Syrup (100)

Lunch
2 Skyline burritos (770)
*Ok, well kind of two… really what happened is I overfilled one and so I took all the goo that came out and scooped it into another tortilla… smart, right? Ok, no. Whatever.

Snack (Or Mon’s Party)
2 Woodchucks (360)
Piece of cake (250?)
* I can’t even tell you what kind of cake it was. White. But it tasted different than that. All I know is I didn’t eat all of it and it was a square piece, other than that, I have no idea.
Sopapilla (175)
* No stuffing on this one and they were kind of mini. As they were about the size and consistency of a Pillsbury crescent roll, that’s what I’m going with. If I’m wrong, oh well, at least I didn’t hit the buffet.

Workout
Here’s my real achievement… I drug my ass from the party to the gym. At which point I thought maybe had I drank more I would’ve gotten more accomplished, but that’s an experiment for another day! (Hahahaha…)
55 minutes (310 calories burned)

Dinner
Mac and Cheese (990)
Hot dog (100)
* Ok, bad, but worse is I watched Miss America while I did it!

Total calories: 3335

January 28--heather

Breakfast:
jam and bread (175)

Lunch:
green smoothie (300)
almonds (50)

Afternoon snack:
rice cake (50)
almonds (70)
pear (80)

Dinner:
pasta and sauce (500)

Evening snack:
green smoothie (100)
fruit roll (70)

Water:
10

Fruits and veg:
10

Exercise:
weights (150)
step (500)

Total calories:
1395

Weight:
137.6

January 27--heather

Nikki, you're so welcome! But I told you it wouldn't stick, I'm back up to 138.6. I can't complain TOO much, since that's still 6 lbs in 12 days, but certainly not what I was hoping for.

The goal is to get down to 135 by next Friday (when we leave for Patton's trip), which seems reasonable to me. We'll see if I'm willing to put in the work, that's where the rubber meets the road!

Breakfast:
green smoothie (225)
almonds (75)

Lunch:
walnut oatmeal burger (300)
sweet potatoes (100)

Afternoon snack:
banana (75)
almonds (25)
graham crackers (140)
hershey kisses (60)

Dinner:
oatmeal walnut burger (275)
salad (50)
cereal (75)

Evening snack:
graham crackers (100)
rice cake (50)
licorice (100)

Water:
10

Fruits and veg:
9

Total calories:
1650

Weight:
138.6

Thanks Heather

January 23, 2009 – Nicole’s Food Log

So, a quick note to Heather… thanks for the fact that your ridiculously obnoxious weight loss motivated me to get off my ass today.

After a crazy long day in which I never saw sunlight, I found myself leaving the office in the cold and snow about an hour later than intended.

I wasn’t overly motivated to go work out and was going to blow it off (again) until I read Heather’s blog.

Which pretty much guilted me into going for a run on the grounds that “Well, I may not be losing any weight, but I’ll be damned if I’m gonna go home and sit and get fatter.”

Breakfast
Peanut Butter (50)
Orowheat bread (90)

Lunch
Skyline chili burrito (560)

Workout
2.85 miles on treadmill (330 calories burned)

Dinner
Fettucine alfredo (520)

Total calories: 1550

January 26--heather

I woke up at 4 am and couldn't go back to sleep. Then the Look Alike got up at 5. The Princess followed at 5:30, and the Monster at his usual time of 6:30. I am tired.

Breakfast:
jam and bread (180)
almonds (100)

Lunch:
jam and bread (90)
pancake and syrup (120)
berries (50)
rice cake (50)

Afternoon snack:
green smoothie (175)
rice cake (50)
almonds (75)
cherries (50)
graham crackers (140)
hershey kisses (60)

Dinner:
oatmeal walnut burgers (470)
sweet potato fries (150)
s'more (200)

Evening snack:
banana (80)
hershey kiss (20)
licorice (75)

Water:
14

Fruits and veg:
11

Exercise:
Reformer (200)

Total calories:
2135

January 25--heather

The MM let me sleep until 9:20, and we leave for church at 9:45. Clearly that was breakfast on the run! Anyhow, on to the food:

Breakfast:
banana (80)
graham crackers (170)

Church:
small brownie (150)

Lunch:
stuffed pepper (100)

Afternoon snack:
green smoothie (200)

Dinner:
Chili's fajita pita with black beans and broccoli (550)
2 hershey kisses (40)

Evening snack:
green smoothie (200)
banana (80)
almonds (50)
hershey kiss (20)

Water:
13

fruits and veg:
15

Exercise:
step (575)

Total calories:
1600

Weight:
137.0 (won't stick, I ate w-a-y too much salt today)

Lazy Day

January 22, 2009 – Nicole’s Food Log

So, I had a bagel craving, ate like crap, worked too long and blew off my trip to the gym.

About the only thing right I did was feel guilty when I got home and do the Jillian Michaels workout (Thank You Exercise TV!)

Breakfast, Lunch, Snacks
2 ½ bagels (1000?)
Cream Cheese (200?)

Workout
Jillian DVD (200 calories burned)

Dinner
Mac and cheese (1280)
Chicken strip (100)

Total Calories: 2580

Weight: 70.4kg

January 24

I went over my calorie allotment for the week by 10 calories, so I feel pretty good about that. I did a little extra fidgeting to make up for it. :D

Gosh, this month has gone both really quickly and totally slowly. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I can't believe it's already the 24th. On one hand, I have no idea where this month went. On the other, the Music Man's trip is still two weeks away and feels like a lifetime because I'm so excited. Sigh.

Can't believe I'm holding onto the 139, woohoo!

Breakfast:
green smoothie (200)
almonds (100)

Lunch:
banana (80)
green smoothie (100)
jam and bread (125)
grilled swiss and pepper jack sandwich (350)
cherries (50)

Dinner:
pancakes and syrup (285)
sausage (150)
strawberries (50)
hershey kisses (40)
rice cake (50)

Water:
14

Fruits and veg:
9

Exercise:
1 hour step (525)

Total calories:
1580

Weight:
139.6

January 23

Wasn't particularly hungry today, and was exhausted from three hours of bargain shopping (didn't find much, bah). Will probably be starving tomorrow, of course!
Breakfast:
bananas (170)
cereal (60)

Lunch:
eggs (130)
swiss cheese (110)
strawberries and blackberries (100)

Afternoon snack:
yogurt (110)
rice cake (40)
hershey kisses (60)

Dinner:
stuffed green pepper, tortilla chips, and salsa (325)
2 hershey kisses (40)

Evening snack:
banana (80)

Water:
12

Fruits and veg:
10

Exercise:
Reformer (100)

Total Calories:
1225

Weight:
139.6

Day 2 on the Running Wagon

January 21, 2009 – Nicole’s Food Log

So I returned to the treadmill again today. No less unpleasant, really. But I did up it to 2.46 miles which is something. (Not much, but something).

My friend Mac once said that the process itself never gets better, but you train to become more accustomed to misery and thus prolong your exposure to suffering.

Gosh, doesn’t that motivate you to go bust out a marathon?

Speaking of which, time to fess up that my friend Christiana is trying to get me to do the Disney Marathon next January.

We’ll see. My friend Caroline did it last weekend and it’s supposed to be a lot of fun… or, fun for a marathon anyway. Her only real complaint was that it’s so large it’s a logistic clusterf*&^.

Oh, and there’s no beer at the finish line which is always a disappointment.

Though, for fun, I advise checking out the following video Cree sent me that she found on YouTube...



The funnnniest part of this video is the ice bath. HYSTERICAL!!! As an occupational thing, I'm very well aware of ice baths and have heard the tales, seen the physical thing over in the Recovery Center, but never had the fun of doing this awful awful thing to myself.

(NOTE: I asked around regarding whether ice baths really are this bad and was given a resounding YES!)

Anyhow, we’ll see what I think of the concept of the marathon later in the year, but gives me something to think about while suffering other than a blatant desire to get skinny. I like the idea of being able to say you did it. Not for time or anything special, just to say I survived.

Actually, you see that on resumes in the Springs. Under “Activities” people will write “Pike’s Peak Ascent or Marathon Survivor.”

No joke.

Then again, if I ran 13.1 miles up a mountain or 26.2 up and down, that’s how I’d greet people: “Hi, I survived the Ascent.”

(NOTE: While I come up with crazy ideas, that was nothing more than a random tangent, but crazy and stupid are not two words that are interchangeable. We will NEVER hear me even vaguely consider such nonsense).

I digress.

Anyhow, so the treadmill bonding returned. Woohoo.

Oh… and, even more important… I HAVE DRUGS!!!

Got my Cipro filled at Walgreen’s last night.

For those with good memories or (like me) just a knack for useless trivia, Cipro became most famous for it’s use treating anthrax.

This scares me more than a little, but I suppose if it can kill anthrax it can kill bronchitis.

Or me.

Here’s to hoping for the former.

Ok, moving on to food…

Breakfast
Egg McMuffin (280)
*Of note, I like a good Egg McMuffin and see nothing wrong with it. My coworker mocked my muffin, said 280 calories is a ridiculous amount to eat for breakfast and then claimed that her sopapilla (sp) was wayyyy healthier. Uhhhh, Heather, you wanna take that one?

Lunch
Pizza bites (300)

Workout
2.46 miles on treadmill (281 calories burned)
13 minutes on bike (76 calories burned)

Dinner
Mac and cheese (780)
Mayo (80)
Hot dog (100)

Total calories: 1540

Weight: 70.2kg

Back to the Running

January 20, 2009 – Nicole’s Food Log

Something Heather said in a blog awhile ago struck me: “If I want to lose weight like I did last summer, I need to eat like I did last summer.”

(Paraphrased, of course as I’m too lazy to look it up.)

To which I realized… you know, the only time I ever have a bat’s chance in hell at losing weight has been when I run.

Now, granted, I haven’t ran since the end of December and, up until now I’ve had the same lame excuse.

“Blah blah, I’m sick, blah blah, can’t breathe.”

Doesn’t life suck?

So today I decided to suck it up and get on the treadmill.

Look, running when you can’t breathe never killed anyone, right?

Yeah, that’s what I thought.

So I put in my two miles. At which point I realized that two miles at 6,500 feet with bronchitis is not a pleasant experience. Now, I’m not one to whine about living at altitude and I really dislike people who do because the reality is that you adjust. It’s harder on your lungs, true, but after eight years you kinda figure it out.

That said, if you compromise your breathing in any way out here you are screw-ed.

Breakfast
Two slices Oro Wheat (180)
Egg (70)
Margarine (60)

Lunch
Ravioli (620)
Breadsticks (700)
Fettucine side car (500?)
*So we were completely unmotivated to work after the inauguration and thus we went to the Olive Garden. I probably would’ve gone easier on the breadsticks had it not taken 40 minutes to get the food.

Workout
Two mile run (225 calories burned)
20 minutes on stationary bike (110 calories burned)

Dinner
Frozen lasagna (300)
Skinny cow (150)

Total calories: 2580

Weight: 70.2kg

So It’s Been Awhile

January 19, 2009 – Nicole’s Food Log

Ok, so I haven’t blogged in a while and I’m backlogged to boot. Decided to cut down on my catching up as really it’s all the same… Variations of ok-bad eating combined with life on a bike and I’m still sick.

I reintroduced rowing last week which was a good thing, though it pains me to see that I’m anywhere between 18 seconds and a full minute slower than usual due to my crappy lungs.

Speaking of which, consulted a doc (ironically from Heather’s neck of the woods) and the thought is that I originally had the flu which turned into a secondary bacterial infection of bronchitis.

Which would explain why the shaking, aches and fever stopped, but I’m breathing kinda like a 70-year-old smoker.

Fun, right?

So last week I ran into a triathlete friend of mine while in the gym and we were discussing the fact that I don’t really cook… at least nothing that involves a recipe anyway.

He gave me a little hell and an encouraging pep talk that I should cook more often, but cook what I really like to cook.

Thus I decided that once a week (baby steps people) I’m going to try and fix something that actually involves directions not affiliated with a blue box and a kraft label.

Anyhow, I fixed quiche for breakfast on Saturday and have been eating it every morning since.

Truly, who doesn’t love quiche? Ok, probably Heather, but I’m a fan.

And no, don’t even ask if I made the crust. Let’s not be silly…

Breakfast
Quiche (560)

Snack
Wheat thin (9)

Lunch
Frozen fettucine (300)

Workout
3,000m row (157 calories burned)
55 minutes on bike (295 calories burned)

Dinner
Bowtie pasta (630)
Sauce (70)
Parmesan (40)

Total Calories: 1609

Weight: 70.6kg

January 22--heather

I'm not sure it'll "stick", but I'm finally below 140. At least I got to see it today, and I'll work hard to stay there. At the end of the day, I realized that I spent 140 calories on candy. That's a lot, 10% of my calories went that way. Yikes!

Breakfast:
green smoothie (200)
cereal (60)

Lunch:
bread and jam (100)
wild rice (100)
1/2 apple (40)
rice cake (40)
hershey kiss (20)

Afternoon snack:
green smoothie (100)
swiss cheese (110)
licorice (100)
jam and bread (100)

Dinner:
dahl (125)
brown rice (200)

Evening snack:
blackberries (30)
cherries (30)
strawberries (45)
hershey kisses (40)

Water:
13

Fruits and veg:
9

Exercise:
step and weights (475)

Total calories:
1440

Weight:
139.8

January 21

Gotta do better today!

So I've discovered that the less I eat dairy, the better I feel. Well, not so much that, but the inverse. When I have dairy, I feel icky. I woke up this morning so congested and disgusting. I haven't figured out how unfermented dairy affects me in other ways, but the muculence is so foul that I am pretty much convinced that it needs to be in my diet in veeeeeery low quantity.

Breakfast:
green smoothie (150)
cereal, dry (60)

Morning snack:
jam and bread (80)
banana (120)

Lunch:
salmon, green beans, and wild rice (350)
2 hershey kisses (40)

Dinner:
egg whites (90)
green smoothie (100)
toast (100)
swiss cheese (110)
banana (110)
hershey kisses (100)
rice cake(40)
licorice (100)

Evening snack:
nachos (350)

Water:
12

Fruits and veg:
10

Exercise:
weights (250)
elliptical (300)

Total calories:
1900

Weight:
141.0

January 20--heather

Oh crap. That's all I have to say about today. Have you seen the commercials for the new Weight Watchers Momentum program? With the cute little hunger guy (who, incidentally, looks very much like the monster in The Children's Place's monster sale)? Call his 300-lb, 6 foot tall daddy, and you'd approximate my hunger for the day. Almost.

Breakfast:
bread and jam (175)
green smoothie (200)
cereal and milk (200)

Lunch:
eggs (90)
almond butter and jam (225)
banana (120)

Afternoon snack:
smoothie (100)
sweet potato chips (100)
banana (120)
hershey kisses (50)

Dinner:
salmon (140)
wild rice blend (150)
green beans (40)
licorice (50)

Evening snack:
cereal and milk (325)
cinnamon-sugar toast (350)
tortilla chips (75)


Water:
12

Fruits and veg:
11

Total calories:
2510

January 12, 2009 – Nicole’s Food Log

Let’s recap. Still sick. Still hating it.

Are we noticing a theme?

I am. And not liking it.

Really my only achievement at this point is dragging myself to the gym where I plug along like the tortoise who ain’t catching the hare any time soon.

On to the food…

Breakfast
OroWheat bread (90)
Peanut butter (50)

Lunch
Smart Ones Lasagna (300)
Thin Minty thing (150)

Workout
40 minutes on bike (225 calories)

Dinner
Mac and Cheese (750)
Hot dog (110)
Skinny Cow (150)

Weight: 70.8kg

Total calories: 1600

January 19-heather

Today is MLK day, meaning that the Music Man is home with us. Woohoo! It's also my grandma's birthday, and it's a big one! My gram is 70 today. For whatever reason I also happen to remember that it's my old therapist's birthday, so happy birthday Michele. And Tim Lautzenheiser, whom we love. Happy birthday Timmer!

Breakfast:
green smoothie (200)
rice cake (50)

Lunch:
eggs (140)
pancake (110)
green smoothie (100)
sweet potato chips (40)
hershey kisses (60)

Dinner:
(this is all a guess based on nutrition information for basic Greek foods, since the MM took me to dinner at an independent restaurant)
spanakopita, greek salad, chicken souvlaki, rice, and baklava (850)

Water:
6

Fruits and veg:
7

Exercise:
jazz class (300)
reformer (200)

Total calories:
1550

Weight:
141.0

The Day I DID Go to the Gym

January 11, 2009 – Nicole’s Food Log

So I still feel like death warmed over. Other than my excursion to Tony’s Friday night, I’ve pretty much laid on my couch all weekend.

Turns out the fever and the shaking and the high heart rate, aches and general malaise were all a warmup for the actual cold thing itself. I’m not sure if this is good or bad, but anything beats constantly thinking you’re going to pass out, so that’s something, right?

Or maybe not, but at some point tonight I pried myself off the couch and attached my ass to a bike. It wasn’t too awful and at least I got something done.

But now I want more drugs.

Sigh.

Oh… on a random note, I’d like to take out an ad for how FABULOUS the Skinny Cow chocolate ice cream cones are. Honestly, my new favorite thing in the world!!!

Breakfast
Two pieces Orowheat toast (180)
Margarine (60)
Egg (70)

Snack
String cheese (60)
Wheat thins (130)

Workout
66 minutes on stationary bike (301 calories burned)

Dinner
Fettucine (520)
Chicken strip (100)
Skinny cow cone (150)

Total calories: 1270

Weight: 71.0kg

January 18

Another pound, or so says the scale. Who knows, but I'm happy to see the numbers moving again!

Breakfast:
green smoothie (150)
banana (100)

Lunch:
lentil chili (200)
sweet potato chips (75)

Afternoon snack:
green smoothie (150)
m&ms (50)
pumpkin pie (60)

Dinner:
hershey kisses (80)
pumpkin pancakes (190)
turkey sausage (150)
maple syrup (100)

Evening snack:
eggs with cheese (220)
apple (80)
pb bread (100)

Water:
16

Fruits and veg:
12

Exercise:
step (525)

Total calories:
1705

Weight:
141.4

January 17

I really didn't think I'd be able to stay in my calorie range this week because of the terrible start I got on Sunday, but I'm happy to say that I made it this week. My calorie cycling didn't exactly work because of the Sunday mistake, but I did manage to lose 2 lbs. and stick to it pretty closely. I was pleased with that, and can't wait to actually get back to the calorie cycle this week. Monday is a holiday for the Music Man and I'm totally jazzed to spend a few hours at the gym.

Tonight MM asked me if I wanted to go out to dinner and I told him I had to decline the Chinese buffet because I'm being really serious about dropping wight right now. He snuck off to the other room and called my Music In-laws and asked them if they'd watch the kids Monday night to he could take me to a vegetarian/vegan restaurant, wasn't that sweet? I can't wait to try a new place!

Breakfast:
green smoothie (150)

Lunch:
tacos (300)

Afternoon snack:
green smoothie (150)
sweet potato chips (50)
pumpkin "pie" (60)
banana (100)

Dinner:
turkey, roasted green beans, and sweet potato chips (350)

Evening snack:
licorice (100)
rice cake (40)
banana (100)

Water:
13

Fruits and veg:
16

Exercise:
weights (225)
step (550)

Total calories:
1260

Weight:
142.4

The Day I Almost Went to the Gym

January 10, 2009 – Nicole’s Food Log

Seriously? I’m OVER this being sick thing. I hate it.

I hate it for all the normal reasons, but mostly I hate it because I’m not getting anything done. Completely 100% unproductive.

So today I resolved that I would work out if it killed me.

Yeah, that didn’t happen. Somewhere around 6 o’clock I swore I was going to get up and go to the gym. Because even if I didn’t have it in me to run, row or lift, I can almost always convince my legs to peddle.

Then I started doing some math. I hadn’t eaten since breakfast which I was ok with, but I knew I’d probably need something for the old gullet before I worked out. I was guessing some string cheese and wheat thins would take the edge off. But that would clock in at around 150-200 calories.

Now, I already felt like crap, so clearly this wasn’t going to be a long workout. At best I was going to burn 250-350.

Minus the 200 calories I needed to eat just to motivate myself off the couch.

Add in the fact that it’s cold and dark outside and you come up with absolutely no reason to go anywhere.

It sounds like a cop out, but it’s actually something I stole from a coach friend of mine in the office.

A couple weeks ago I had a party to hit after work. I got caught up with stuff and was trying to figure out if I was going to have time to go to the gym beforehand, but first I clearly needed a snack.

In the form of, um, the leftover Papa John’s in the fridge.

So I walk in to Eddie’s office pondering about whether I can squeeze a row in before the party and he looks at me like I’ve lost my damn mind and says “Skip the workout and throw away the pizza.”

At which point it dawned on me: “HEY IDIOT… Though you should work out for all the normal reasons, from a caloric perspective, he’s right. You can save yourself an hour by dumping the pizza in the trash can and bypassing the gym entirely.”

Now granted, one would be better off dumping the pizza AND going to the gym anyway, but perhaps that’s a lesson I’ll learn another day.

On to the log…

Breakfast
Pancakes (510)
Syrup (100)

Snack
Wheat thins (70)

Dinner
Spaghetti (600)
Marinara / vodka sauce (100)
EVOO (120)
Parmesan (80)

Total calories: 1580

Weight: 71.0kg

Since When Doesn’t Grease and Booze Improve Your Health?

January 9, 2009 – Nicole’s Food Log

I gave up today. Threw the towel in to the sick gods and said “Screw it, you win.”

Yup, I stayed home sick. A real productive day too, complete with laying on my couch and watching Grey’s.

My friend Linda, however, was in town from Boulder and, as I hadn’t seen her in a year or two, I agreed to go to happy hour even though I could barely walk for longer than 30 seconds without my heart completely going nuts and me generally wanting to die.

That said, whatever, I wasn’t planning on moving off the barstool, so figured I’d be ok.

And I was.

Perhaps now rounder, but not dying, so hey…

Lunch
Mac and cheese (750)
Hot Dog (120)

Snack
Wheat thins (70)

Dinner
Cheese curds (150) … I ate like three!
Garlic fries (550)
Grilled cheese (650)
Vodka cran (200)

Total calories: 2490

Weight: 70.9kg

January 16--heather

Breakfast:
green smoothie (200)

Lunch:
sweet potato nacho thing (300)
egg noodles (75)

Afternoon snack:
green smoothie (100)
rice cake (40)
chocolate chips (30)
orange (50)

Dinner:
tortilla chips (150)
lentil chili (100)
banana (100)
licorice (60)

Evening snack:
m&ms (50)
tea (50)
sweet potato chips (50)
pumpkin "pie" (60)

Water:
9

Fruits and veg:
13

Total Calories:
1425

Weight:
143.2 (I complain about losing weight, then a little comes off. Maybe I should complain more? Nah, probably not.)

Another Day of Being Sick

January 8, 2009 – Nicole’s Food Log

I’m officially sick. And hating it.

I woke up this morning, drug myself to the bathroom and discovered I was running a fever.

You know what the only thing better than bringing out a thermometer for the first time in years is?

The fact that your mother isn’t there to say you don’t have to go to school. I tried, though. I called our office manager to ask if she knew what was on the agenda for the staff meeting … our first in months as the boss never ever does group meetings.

The thought was if I mentioned how bad I felt and the fever and whatever I could come up with that she’d encourage me to stay home.

Right. Mon has the same cold and her attitude (as expected) was pretty much “I could give a shit.”

Now, I’m a big girl and can handle calling in sick without having my hand held.

That said, I’m also smart enough that I’d be in for a day of trash talking behind my back because if other people can get off their death bed to make it to the meeting, why can’t I?

Sigh.

On to the food…

Breakfast
Egg (70)

Snack
Thin Minty thing (100)

Lunch
Hot Pocket (290)

Snack
Chips (75)
Dip (120)

Dinner
Frozen pizza (430)
Fries (360)
Ketchup (25)
Parmesan (40)

Total Calories: 1510

January 15--It's Half Over (and I Haven't Lost a Pound)

Breakfast:
green smoothie (200)
sweet potato chips (50)
an empty sugar cone (45)

Lunch:
polenta and sauce (250)
banana (80)

Afternoon snack:
grenn smoothie (100)
sweet potato chips (50)
rice cake (40)
empty ice cream cone (finally gone, whew) (45)

Dinner:
sweet potato tacos and corn (250)
rice cakes (75)
brownie bites (420)
tea with honey (40)
licorice (175)
sweet potato chips (40)

Water:
16

Fruits and veg:
11

Exercise:
pilates mat (150)
ABL (150)

Total calories:
1860

Weight:
143.8

Jan 14--Day of the crown

I don't mind going to the dentist. Isn't that weird for someone who has had four (fifth today) crowns and root canals in the last four years, plus an implant? And don't even get me started on the debridement, I think that was the worst of all. I never went as a kid, so I didn't have that fear that people develop as children. Thankfully, the Firecracker Princess LOVES going to the dentist so far, and always asks if she can go along. The Music Man goes on Monday and is none too pleased, but I think that's because he's getting two cavaties filled.

Breakfast:
green smoothie (175)
banana (80)

Lunch:
yogurt (130)
polenta and sauce (200)

Afternoon snack:
green smoothie (175)
sweet potato chips (50)
banana (70)

Dinner:
roast, egg noodles, and peas (300)
licorace (100)
banana (70)

Evening snack:
sweet potato chips (100)
chocolate chips (30)
cereal, dry (100)
empty ice cream cone (45)

Water:
14

Fruits and veg:
14

Exercise:
60 mins weights (200)
30 mins elliptical (250)

Total calories:
1645

Weight:
144.4 (still, sigh. I'd love to drop a pound now and again)

January 13

I was perfect until the Baskin-Robbins, sigh. I did better than I could've done, though.

Breakfast:
green smoothie (140)
almonds (50)
banana (80)
cheerios (30)

Lunch:
lentils (100)
yogurt (160)
orange (50)

Afternoon snack:
green smoothie (140)
rice cakes (100)
licorice (75)
m&ms (50)

Dinner:
banana (70)
polenta and sauce (230)
apple (40)
licorice (75)

evening snack:
baskin robbins (245)

Water:
14

Fruits and veg:
11

Exercise:
30 minutes elliptical (300)

Total calories:
1635

Weight:
144.4

Well if the Cheesecake Doesn’t Fix Things…

January 7, 2009 – Nicole’s Food Log

So I’m sick. Every muscle in my body aches. And I feel like I’m going through menopause at 29. I’m hot and I’m cold and hot and cold. I thought the good news was that I wasn’t going to be hungry.

And I wasn’t. Til Fed Ex brought the cheesecake. Not just any cheesecake. Straight from New York, melt-in-your-mouth crumbly goodness.

We clearly don’t see me turning that down do we?

No. Remember that thing about you can’t turn down foods you’ll never (or not for months) see again? Yeah, you could turn down Cheesecake Factory and say you can make one at home. Or drive up to Denver another day.
But this? This is cheesecake from heaven. And unless you’re flying out to NYC soon, you’re not getting it again.

Hell, I’ve flown out to NYC every March for the past three years and I still don’t get that stuff.

Judge away, but I was happy dammit.

Speaking of happy… I went to Walgreen’s to go stock up on Zycam and Dayquil… Suffice it to say I wanted to die and nothing says a chaser to death like a box of mac.

Eaten on one’s couch. After which I realized that I was officially so sick I couldn’t bear to turn the lights off as I slept on the couch.

(And NO, I wasn’t sick from the mac! Yeesh…)

Breakfast
Egg (70)

Snack
NY Cheesecake (500)

Lunch
Smart Ones (300)
Chips (250)
Dip (200)

Snack
NY Cheesecake (500)

Dinner
Mac and Cheese (1280)
Hot dog (120)

Total calories: 3220

Weight: 70.6kg

January 12-Starting to Feel Better--heather

Yesterday was a crazy day, in one of those good ways, except for the ravenously hungry thing. I keep forgetting how hard calorie cycling is because, at the end of the low calorie day which you spend practically starving, you have a bigger day, which sets up up to be just as hungry the following day, which is low calorie again. Sigh. It wasn't such a problem in the summer when I was working out 15 hours a week and therefore wasn't home much, but it is now that it's cold and there's not much we can do outside.

I know that calorie cycling works because it leaves you feeling hungry. It's showing me that my body's hormones are ramping up my hunger on the low days to achieve homeostasis, exactly what calorie cycling is designed to prevent. It doesn't seem like a nice thing to do, on either end!

Anyhow, so I need to decide if I can commit to calorie cycling and just do it and quit whining or if I'm just not ready. Those size 7 jeans are seeming further and further away, and that doesn't make me happy.

Breakfast:
green smoothie (160)
dehydrator cookie (80)
sweet potato chips (50)

Lunch:
chicken (100)
eggs (140)
orange (50)
sweet potato chips (25)

Afternoon snack:
green smoothie (110)
dehydrated cookie (80)
sweet potato chips (30)
swiss cheese (70)
half a cheeseburger (175)


Dinner:
licorice (240)
honey lentils (120)
green beans (20)
banana (70)
dehydrator cookie (80)

Evening snack:
rice cake (50)

Water:
14

Fruits and veg:
11

Exercise:
90 Mins Reformer (200)

Total calories:
1650

Weight:
144.4

Jan 11--heather

Today was interesting. I was ridiculously hungry tonight, and ate enough to show for it (400 calories over my day, sigh). Back to it, tomorrow. However, since I burned 550 at step, at least I average out to 1500 calories today.

Breakfast:
swiss cheese (70)
banana (70)
nutrigrain bar (130)

Lunch:
pizza (700)
dehydrated cookie (80)

Dinner:
dehydrator cookies (240)
salmon, black beans, and broccoli (460)
oreos (150)
taffy (50)
chicken (100)
half cheeseburger (175)

Water:
12

Fruits and veg:
5

Exercise:
60 min step (550)

Total calories:
2225

Something’s Not Right

January 6, 2009 – Nicole’s Food Log

By the end of today I realized that something’s just not right. Ok, really, I knew that by about 5:15. Work was over and it was time to hit the gym, but I reallllly didn’t want to work out.

And not in the typical, apathetic “I want to watch Gossip Girl on my DVR… It’s too cold to walk from my car to the weight room… I just hate my life so screw it all” kinda way.

No, I was having a hard time imagining having the energy to move. Usually a trip to the gym makes me happy. Even if I huff and puff before I get there, I feel better afterwards.

And somehow I knew that wasn’t going to be the case today. In large part because when I pictured myself sitting down at the rower I couldn’t see me lifting my arms up at all, let alone actually doing anything.

Indeed I was right. I plopped my tired-don’t-wanna-be-here self on a bike with the notion that the thing involved less physical movement than any other option and everyone knows that even if you have a puke bucket next to you, one can always sit on a bike and move your feet forward. (NOT so with a treadmill people.)

Within five minutes I realized that this sucked. It wasn’t making me feel better. I wasn’t happy. And even cranking along at a low setting felt like I was peddling through mud.

Whatever. I also spent half my day eating the Lays that Monica brought back from Walgreen’s, so time to suck it up and keep moving.

I convinced myself to keep moving for 300 calories and then I could get off. Usually when I do such things I get distracted or realize it isn’t that bad.

Not today.

This isn’t good peeps. For those who missed the memo, I DON”T DO SICK and this could be a lonnnnnng couple days.

Breakfast
Egg (70)

Snack
Egg (70)
Thin Mint kinda thing (100)

Lunch
Lays chips (150)
Dip (120)
Lean Pocket (290)

Snack
Lays (100)
Dip (60)
Thin Mint thing (100)

Workout
55 minutes on stationary bike (300)

Dinner
Mac and Cheese (780)
Tuna (50)
Mayo (40)

Calories: 1930

Weight: 71.2kg

January 10--Tomorrow begins a new week!

I overate this week by like 2200 calories, yikes. Let's try this again!

Breakfast:
cereal and milk (240)
banana (60)

Lunch:
subway veggie sub (no cheese) (460)

Dinner:
cream soda (160)
Pizza (725)
licorice (300)
orange (50)

Evening snack:
green smoothie (160)

Water:
9

Fruits and veg:
11

Exercise:
60 min step and abs (500)

Total calories:
2155

The Day I Learned to Eat the Baby Cheeseburger

January 5, 2009 – Nicole’s Food Log

I had today all planned out to be a nice, light food day. And then I realized that there were more important things in life… like Buckeye football.

For those living in a hole somewhere, Ohio State played (and tragically lost to) Texas in the Fiesta Bowl. I’d planned on watching the game at home with some frozen Weight Watchers thing until my friends Becky and Julie (a Texas girl… that was interesting! Hahaha…) invited me over. The catch? As we’d all just gotten back from the break, there was no food in the kitchen, so I’d have to pick up some fast food on the way over.

Hmmmmm…. Ordinarily this would be a recipe for disaster, but it actually worked out ok… while some would say this would be an excellent opportunity to try out one of wendy’s new salads, I’m calling bullshit on that right now. No way.

That said, I’m a quarter pounder girl, but I’ve recently become aware that the “baby burgers” at most of these places only pack around 300 calories a piece. But could I (who am happiest with a 6-7 oz. piece of yummyness dripping with bacon, fat and extra cheese) really like a baby burger?

Well, figured we might as well try it out and see.

And, if all else failed, I figured I’d order a big set of fries if it turned out that I really could pack the little thing down in 30 seconds flat.

The verdict? Surprisingly the baby burger (ok, fine: “Junior Cheeseburger.”) was tasty and decently filling. For a moment I considered ordering baby fries too, but then threw that idea right out the window. I part because I did the math in my head and knew I was in a bit of a caloric hole and, well, frankly because I wanted a bunch of fries, alright?

On to the food…

Breakfast
Slice of OroWheat Bread (90)
½ tbs peanut butter (50)

Snack
Lean pocket bacon egg and cheese (150)

Lunch
Smart Ones Baked Ziti (300)

Snack
Premium crackers (60)

Workout
3,000m on rower (161 calories burned)
23 minutes on stationary bike (139 calories burned)

Dinner
Junior cheeseburger (300)
Biggie fries (460)

Total: 1410

Weight: 72.0kg

January 4, 2009 – Nicole’s Food Log

So in my attempt at a mini-detox, I decided to keep it light for the first part of the day. As discussed in probably my Christmas Eve blog, if you become used to eating 500 huge meals all day long then you need that much food to keep from gnawing on your coffee table.

Thus, I figured if I cut back a bit, ye old stomach could eventually balance back out to something that vaguely resembled normal.

Wasn’t a bad lil experiment, really…

Breakfast
Apex Bar (160)

Lunch
Apex Bar (160)

Snacks
Apex Bar (160)
String cheese (60)
Wheat thins (130)

Workout
54 minutes on stationary bike (303 calories burned)

Dinner
Mac and cheese (780)
Tuna (50)
Mayo (40)

Total Calories: 1530

January 9--heather

There's no way I'm going to make my calorie goal for the week, since I have 2050 banked (for two days), so I'll probably go over by about 1500 calories this week.

Breakfast:
green smoothie (200)
Much better than yesterday, but I need to blend the greens longer if I'm going to use frozen, since there were bits. Ick.
small banana (60)

Lunch:
eggs (150)
tortilla chips (50)

Afternoon snack:
green smoothie (100)
small banana (80)
almonds (50)
garlic rosemary bread (100)

Dinner:
banana (80)
salad (50)
pizza (580)
popcorn (100)

Evening snack:
cereal and milk (250)
banana (70)

Water:
10

Fruits and veg:
16

Calories:
1920

January 8...

...will go down in infamy as the day that I can't believe how much I ate. As I post at 7:30 am, my stomach still hurts from the overindulging. Sigh. Darn cookies.

When I do the math, it's interesting that the day, while certainly indulgent, it's as bad as I predicted. I think that's because my mindset has changed back to winning the war with my weight, so it FEELS like more. I honestly had a 3200 calorie day going on in my head!

Breakfast:
green smoothie (175)
Of note, this is probably the worst green smoothie I've ever made. If this were my first green smoothie, I'd probably spit it out. Too much kefir and frozen spinach (this is the first time I've bought spinach already frozen instead of fresh and frozen it myself--not terribly tasty).
almonds (100)

Morning snack:
tiny banana (70)

Lunch:
pot roast, ww egg noodles, carrots, and green beans (350)
HUGE hunk of rosemary garlic Italian bread (300)

Afternoon snack:
cereal and milk (250)

Dinner:
grapes and blueberries (100)
chicken, potatoes, and green beans (400)
tortilla chips and dip (250)
cookies (520)
key lime pie (300)

Water:
13

Fruits and veg:
12

Total calories:
2565

See? I Ate a Banana! And… “Why I Should Have Been the Milk Drinking Poster Child”

January 3, 2009 – Nicole’s Food Log

However unintentional, I did eat a banana today. Let it not be said that I NEVER eat fruit.

Ok, here’s the scoop… I went to my friend Jill’s for her birthday tonight all resolved not to eat a thing. And I did very well … until she brought out the chocolate frozen bananas and insisted I have one. Heavily insisted. And Jill’s an old judo girl (ironically I met her before my current job! Small world!)… she could hurt me!

So ate the banana I did.

While I’m at randomness, can we discuss my discovery of EXACTLY what a serving size of milk is? Not much. I find this to be disturbing. One will notice I don’t drink milk much. There’s a reason for that. Not that I don’t like it. Quite the opposite. I grew up as a milk addict as a kid.

And not just any milk. WHOLE milk. 150 calorie, 8 grams of fat, whole milk.

And I drank it like it was my JOB.

(Of note, to this day I attribute 18 years of that to my round state… some will tell me I’m full of shit… yeah, do the math and try again…)

Anyhow, if you asked I’d probably say I drank a good six cups a day as a kid. After actually measuring out a cup for the first time (well, other than cooking) I realize that the real amount of milk I drank was wayyyy higher. I’ll stop before I realize how much higher, but, again, you do the math… NOT a good idea.

(Of further note: the reason for the large milk consumption is we didn’t drink pop … er, soda, as kids. Juice was done sometimes at breakfast, but largely if you had a glass in front of you it was the white stuff and we could be poster children for the dairy board.)

As an adult, I have a philosophy that 90% of my liquid consumption comes from water. If there’s gonna be caloric intake involved, there should be some level of chocolate or booze as part of it.

Which, come to think of it, might explain that my former drink of choice was a white Russian… before I realized it was calorically inefficient. Well, that and really there’s only so many of those things you can drink in a sitting.

Ok, on to the food log…

Breakfast
Pancakes (590)
Syrup (100)
Milk (80)

Workout
75 minutes on stationary bike (381 calories)

Dinner
Mac and Cheese (1280)
Hot dog (120)

Snack
2/3 chocolate frozen banana (200?)

Total calories: 2370

Weight: 72.2kg

January 2, 2009 – Nicole’s Food Log

Breakfast
Toaster Strudel (200)

Lunch
Fettucine (520)

Workout
2,500m row (133 calories burned)
75 minutes on stationary bike (376 calories burned)

Dinner
Um, so I went to Carraba’s… guess it could’ve been worse

Bread (300?)
Oil (240)
Pasta (600)
½ sogno (500)

Total Calories: 2360?

Weight: 72.0kg

January 7

Breakfast:
cayenne tea (I'm seriously congested, and this combo of lemon juice, honey, cayenne pepper, and water is about the only thing that helps) (60)
green smoothie (160)

Lunch:
rice chex (25)
tortilla chips and salsa (150)
eggs and mustard (250)

Afternoon snack:
green smoothie (160)
swiss cheese (70)
dale and thomas popcorn (150)

Dinner:
pot roast (240)
ww egg noodles (200)
carrots (50)
green beans (30)

Evening snack:
small Frosty (gotta finish up my day) (330)

Water:
12

Fruits and veg:
10

Total calories:
1875

Exercise:
Reformer 60 mins (200)

Weight:
142.8

January 1, 2009 – Nicole’s Food Log

You know, it hit me this morning that I’m a little over eating like a heifer. Much as my 13 days of debauchery in Dayton were great fun, I’d like to return to something a little more normal.

Sadly, I flew back to the Springs today and intended to kick off the new year with a good trip to the gym.

Uh, yeah, that didn’t happen, but I did work out vicariously through a Biggest Loser marathon.

Does that count?

Breakfast (Airport)
Bagel (300)
Cream cheese (150)
Part of an egg and cheese thing (400)

Lunch
Smart ones mac (300)

Dinner
Mac and cheese (750)
Hot dog (150)

Total calories: 2050

Weight: 72.9 (OUCH!!!)

January 6--Trying Again

Today's my first low-calorie day on the zig zag, so I have to really focus today! It actually turned out being much easier than I thought, primarily because I'm ridiculously congested, and therefore can't smell or taste anything. Nice. Tomorrow is a higher calorie day, so I hope it clears up over night!

In other news, I got my Reformer today. Love!!

Breakfast:
green smoothie (150)
apple (100)

Lunch:
french onion soup (200)

Afternoon snack:
green smoothie (150)
almonds (50)
orange (125)

Dinner:
ww pasta and sauce (350)
mandarin oranges (30)
apple (40)

Evening snack:
cereal and milk (200)

Water:
12

Fruits and veg:
14

Total calories:
1395

Exercise:
30 mins reformer (100)

Weight;
144.8

Protein? Really?--heather January 5

I realized something this morning, sigh. I realized that if I want to lose like I did this summer, I need to do what I did this summer. That means I need to up my protein intake and decrease my fats (not that we eat a ton of pat, but you know what I mean). I need to track my food in sparkpeople so that I can easily see my percentages, and get my protein up to 25-30% of my daily intake. A good fat loss diet for me looks like 30% protein, 60% carbs, and 10% fat, so that's where I'm going for now.

Breakfast:
green smoothie (175)--5 g. protein
1 big ol' orange (125)

Lunch:
3 medium eggs w/ salsa (180)--18 g. protein
yobaby organic yogurt (110)--4 g. protein

Afternoon snack:
green smoothie (175)--5 g. protein
almonds (100)--4 g. protein
apple (75)
swiss cheese (50)--5 g protein

Dinner:
taco salad (300)--10 g protein

Evening snack:
cereal and milk (300)--7 g. protein

I was done here, but then I realized that I was supposed to eat 1900, so here I am eating nachos at 9:30
nachos (300)--10 g. protein

Water:
12

Fruits and veg:
12

Exercise:
Reformer (200)

Total calories:
1890--14% protein, wamp wamp.

Jan 4--The Day of the Would-Be Migraine

Any of you that get migraines know your triggers (hopefully, at least). Mine mostly coincide with the barometric pressure, not enough sleep, and too much exercise, which is exactly what it's like here right now. Eating salty carbs is a great way to fend one off, and in fact carbs in general seem to help. That might help explain why I ate nearly 500 calories at church alone. Nice. Not sure those size 7 CK jeans are going to fit by the Music Man's birthday trip!

Breakfast:
cereal and milk (240)
banana (90)

Church:
granola bars (180)
graham crackers (260)
Ritz (80)

Lunch:
green smoothie (150)
eggs (120)

Afternoon snack:
green smoothie (100)
almonds (50)

Dinner:
chicken (240)
sweet potato fries (150)
peas (40)
bread w/ honey (200)

Evening snack:
cereal and milk (250)

Water:
14

Fruits and veg:
13

Exercise:
60 min step (450)

Total calories:
2120

Last Day in Ohio… Time to Go Out with All My Faves!

December 31, 2008 – Nicole’s Food Log

So the good news for the day is I hauled myself back to Bally’s for a run. I’m not sure weather it’s the decreased altitude (What is Dayton, like 150 feet?) or the increased fuel, but I don’t do bad running wise when I’m here.

Now the fact that I don’t ever do it and eat like a cow all day, well that kinda offsets things now doesn’t it?

On the upside, we went to a movie and I discovered that, in keeping with the tradition of great food that will one day kill you, the DYT has bad ass movie food… up to and including a full case with 12 types of Ben and Jerry’s! Gosh… and you’d think they’d gotten you already with the $10.50 ticket price.

To my credit, I avoided the movie food. That and the run are about all I can say positive for the day.

Here go…

Breakfast
Two Grands Cinnamon Rolls (620)

Workout: 4.8 miles on treadmill (508 calories burned)

Lunch
Two Chili Cheese Coneys (700)
Fries (300)
*Saying goodbye to Skkyline is always so difficult!!!

New Year’s Eve festivities
Five cheese sticks (550)
Sauce (80)
Vodka Cranberries (450?)
Mikesell’s BBQ Chips (300)
Cubed cheese (350)

Total calories: 3350

December 30, 2008 – Nicole’s Food Log

Breakfast
Leftover pizza (300)

Workout
25 minutes on elliptical (205)
*Damn I still hate that thing, but had to get something done!

Lunch
Mac and cheese (960)
Hot dog (40)

Dinner
Max and Erma’s… someone recently said that the best things about Ohio all involve food … and they were right. Who doesn’t love Max & Erma’s?
Erma burger (700?)
Fries (430)
Sundae (500)

Total Calories: 2930

January 3, Starting to Zig Zag--heather

The best thing I learned from eating when I was hungry from October through December was that I could eat that way and not gain weight. It shows me that when I DO reach my goal weight, I can maintain pretty easily as long as I keep up a moderate gym routine. That said, it's a new year and time to lose weight again, so I'm going to start calorie cycling (also called zig zagging) tomorrow. The premise is that you eat the most on the days when you're most active, so that makes Saturday my BIG day. That's the plan, I'll stick pretty close to it.

Monday: 1,900 calories
Tuesday: 1,400 calories
Wednesday: 1900 calories
Thursday: 1,400 calories
Friday: 1,600 calories
Saturday: 2,100 calories
Sunday: 1,600 calories


Breakfast:
2 eggs (160)
cranberry walnut bread (150)
half a banana (40)

After gym snack:
2 small bananas (160)

Lunch:
turkey sub (300)
french onion soup (100)

Afternoon snack:
green smoothie (350)
almonds (100)
tortilla chips and pico (130)

Dinner:
Applebees steak tips, broccoli, and "seasoned"-ha-potatoes (330)
DQ small dipped cone (330)

Evening "snack":
cereal and milk (240)
chicken (100)
banana (80)

Water:
12

Fruits and veg:
17

Exercise:
60 min step (450)
60 min weights (325)

Total calories:
2570

The Pizza Diet, Yoga, Porn Shops and Would-Be Shadiness at a non-Bocce Bocce Bar

December 29, 2008 – Nicole’s Food Log

Not that I’ve eaten fewer than 2500 calories in forever, but today was another fabulous day… made worse by the kid brother’s desire to make Dijourno pizza for breakfast… or lunch… depending on what you call waking up at 10:30 and making pizza before you go to practice.

Following my pizza… chased with mac and cheese baby, I hit my first yoga class in a very long time. Probably second ever if I think real hard, actually.

The yoga class wasn’t too bad. I went with my friend Anita from high school and – other than my chronic inflexibility – it went well.

But the best thing about the yoga class wasn’t the class itself, it was the journey there. You see, this particular yoga studio is located in the Oregon District… home to many a bar and, well, lots and lots of porn shops.

In fact, as I got directions, they went something like: “Drive down 5th Street and then there’ll be a side street to park right before the Goodwill. It’ll be right across from a porn shop with a giant marquee. There will be a few before you get to that, but you’ll recognize it when you see it.”

It was my mother, however, who gave me the best advice of all: “Whatever you do, DO NOT park in the porn shop parking. They have people who constantly check those spots and you’ll be towed after five minutes.”

Um, ok. Silly me (who clearly hasn’t been to Oregon in awhile and doubts I’ve ever driven myself) thought “Well, OF COURSE I’m not going to park in the porn lots. How stupid does she think I am?”

Uh, yeah, the porn shops own half the District which means that there is almost NOWHERE to park that won’t involve towing. So I learned after approaching several spots that I then had to back right out of.

After yoga, Anita and I decided to go visit a place called the “Bocce Sports Grille.” (For those Daytonites reading, it’s at the old Shuckin’ Shack on Main Street.)

Clearly being more than a little stupid, we both thought that a “Bocce Sports Grille” would involve a bocce court which we thought would be fun to see… or at least worth a good laugh.

Imagine our surprise when we walk in and this place is clearly HALF the size of the Shuckin’ Shack. And there’s not a soul there.

So we get seated and Anita asks about Bocce courts. Without missing a beat, the waitress clearly says “No, no bocce courts” as in “Why would there be bocce courts? Or anything in the entire bar related to bocce? Just because the place is called the Bocce Sports Grille?”

Silly us.

Then Anita starts chatting with the waitress and we discover that the reason the place looks so small (uh, nevermind the creepy empty factor) is that there’s a “private club” in the other half of the building.

No one will clarify what “private club” means, but people are clearly showing some kind of card to get in.

Ever optimistic Anita suggests that maybe it’s a smoking bar since smoking is now allowed only in private places in the DYT. RIIIIGGGGHHHTTTT… I have a list of suggestions, but probably won’t mention most of them here.

Though we remained the only customers for all of two hours, I must say they make tasty pizza and cheese fries…

Breakfast
Bagel (260)
Margarine (50)
Cream Cheese (30)

Snack
Piece of Dijourno (232)

Lunch
Mac and cheese (780)
Mayo (40)
Piece of Dijourno (232)

Snack
Piece of Dijourno (232)
*HEY… It’s GOOD STUFF PEOPLE!!!

Workout: 1 hour yoga (150 calories)

Dinner
Cheese fries (500?)
Pizza (800?)

Total Calories: 3156

Weight: 72.5kg

Defensive Eating

December 28, 2008 -- Nicole's Food Log

My mother mentioned a term today that dietarily tragic and yet interesting enough to blog about: “defensive eating.”

An interesting term from a woman who doesn’t do sports in any way shape or form, but maybe 8 million hours watching the kid brother play basketball and football has rubbed off.

The concept is this… “offensive eating” is normal eating. “I’m hungry, my body needs food” eating.

Defensive eating is a strategy frequently seen around houses where people eat like horses. Put simply, defensive eating occurs when you eat an item simply so you can have it before someone (usually a sibling) gets to it first.

As a kid I grew up with a younger sister who could eat ANYBODY under the table. Not only did she nearly eat people out of house and home, but she stayed at a continuous 115. That's at 5'8". While eating four hot dogs as a pre-dinner "snack."

You always knew that if there was a favorite item in the fridge or cupboard that you had to eat it before the Female Garbage Disposal beat you to it.

Now going home, the sister is married and gone (and, um, not 115 anymore!), but she has been replaced by the younger brother who is 6'8" and, at 200 pounds is looking to GAIN weight... and would probably eat the neighbor's dog if it was pre-cooked.

It's taken years to stop (or decrease) defensive eating, realizing that in Single Girl Land if you eat the last whatever, you just go buy another one and no one will come and take it before you get home, but must say it was a constant struggle to not be the constant defensive eater while home and the accomplishment of the day was not, when my mom pointed out that clock was ticking on the pumpkin pie, to eat half the damn thing before the boy found it.

That said, I did eat lots of other crap...

Breakfast
1/2 piece of pumpkin pie (150)

Lunch
Mac and cheese (780)
Mayo (40)
Hot dog (40)

Dinner
Cheesecake factory...
2/3 four cheese pasta (800?)
Bread (250)
Butter (100)
1 1/2 biscuits the size of my head (450)
Chocolate peanut butter cookie dough cheesecake (1000)
*No really... I looked it up. I've always had high fat taste and this showed it. Apparently my FAVORITE type of cheesecake is 1150 calories a pop. (Though I knocked of 150 as I don't eat most of the peanut butter topping.)

Total calories: 3610

Weight: 72.4 kg

January 2--Off To a Good Start!

Today I went to the thrift store to buy some goal pants. First, a pair of Calvin Klein jeans (for $3.88) in a size 7--super snug. Then, a pair of Gap kaakis for ($4 something, they were 30% off the ticket price) in a size 6. Let me say that I'll be going to that thrift store MUCH more often for my own clothes, they have great brands for just a few bucks. I buy the kids' clothes new because at end-of-season clearance I pay pennies more than thrift store prices, and even though I bargain shop for myself, I can't say that I get deals like that. The tags are on a color cycle, so at times stuff is 70% off the ticket price!

Anyhow, so I think that 10 lbs will be get me into the 7s, not so sure about the 6s. We'll see when the 10 lbs comes off, I guess!

Breakfast:
green smoothie (175)
almonds (100)

Lunch:
banana (90)
tuna cakes (100)

Afternoon snack:
green smoothie (175)

Dinner:
french onion soup with appenzeller and swiss (150)
4" turkey sub (250)

Evening snack:
coconut cake (300)

Evening snack:
banana (100)
a HUGE orange, FIFTEEN OUNCES! (130)

Water:
12

Fruits and veg:
14

Exercise:
3-D, 60 min (500)

Total calories:
1570

January 1--A New Year!

Since this is the food blog, I figured I'd post my goals for this year with regard to nutrition and body changes.

Last night, I was drawn in by QVC (seriously) and bought a home version of the Pilates Reformer. I'll still take my classes at the gym, but this is a great way to practice as I start my own certification. Local friends, I'll need to teach you on this puppy as I log my teaching hours!

I also signed up for my study materials to start my Pilates certification (this is a l-o-n-g process).

For 2009, I will reach my weight goal by April. I've slacked hard core for the past three months, and that is OVA. I don't actually know what my final goal is, but it lies somewhere between dropping ten and thirty more pounds. I'll have to see how my body feels and looks to make a final determination. I'm thinking that thirty would put me in a size 2-4, and I'm not sure that's what I want. I plan to head to the thrift store and buy a pair of pants in a 6 as my goal pants, just to keep motivated.

Breakfast:
swiss cheese (70)
green smoothie (200)

Lunch:
salmon (100)
egg white omelette w/ diced red onion and appenzeller cheese (80)
apple (70)

Afternoon snack:
green smoothie (150)
pizza (250)
ingredients of the buche de noel (80)

Dinner:
tuna cakes (150)
salad (50)

Evening snack:
buche de noel (from December Daring Bakers--total guess) (150)
cereal and milk (240)


Water:
11

Fruits and veg:
12

Total calories:
1590