Food - August 23

Breakfast

Kashi Go Lean Cereal

Skim Milk

Large Banana

Snack

Protein Shake

Lunch

Egg Salad on Whole Wheat

Baby Carrots

Cantaloupe

Snack

Rice Pudding, 3 servings (SHAMEFUL!)

Pistachios, 1/2 cup

Dinner

IHOP

Danish Crepe with Strawberries and Cream Cheese

Eggs, 2

Bacon, 2 slices

Sausage, 1 slice

Snack

Raspberry Leaf Tea with raw sugar

Food - August 21

Breakfast

Greek yogurt with strawberry

Banana

Snack

Mounds bar

Lunch

Whole wheat tortilla with

zucchini, squash, onion, peppers, and avocado

Amy's Organic Lentil Soup

Snack

Rice Pudding, 2 containers

Dinner

Spinach & Cheese Calzones

Cantaloupe

Snack

Red Raspberry Leaf tea with raw sugar

Food - August 20

Breakfast

Kashi Go Lean cereal

Skim milk

Watermelon & cantaloupe

Snack

Greek yogurt with strawberry

Lunch

Whole wheat tortilla with

grilled zuchini, squash, onions, peppers, and avocado

Kozy Shack rice pudding

Kashi granola bar

Snack

Triscuits with hummus

String Cheese

Dinner

Salad with romaine, carrots, and red cabbage

drizzled with homemade French dressing

Whole wheat fettucine with homemade alfredo sauce

Homemade whole wheat baguette with butter

Snack

Red raspberry leaf tea with raw sugar

Food - August 13

I'm embarassed to even post this...

Breakfast - 400

Egg McMuffin (minus the ham) - 240

Hash Brown - 150

Sugarfree Red Bull - 10

Lunch

Deli Egg Salad Sandwich

Onion Rings, 1/2 regular order

Sugarfree Red Bull (10)

Dinner

Sauteed Broccoli

White Rice

Spring Roll, 2

Cheese Rangoon, 4? 5? 6?

Fortune Cookie

Red Raspberry Leaf Tea with 2 tsp Sugar (30)

I told you I was embarrassed, but if I only posted my good days, how would that help me?

Yeah, so, um, I obviously haven't made it to the grocery store yet.  But, on the plus side, I really limited my take-out caffeine consumption.  Usually, with that lunch, I would have a had a 32 oz Diet Coke.  I also would have had a 16 oz Diet Coke with breakfast and a 20 oz Diet Coke for dinner (in addition to my two Red Bulls.)  That's a gallon and a half of soda for the day and 550 mg caffeine.  Yikes!  I'm trying to keep my intake to less than 250 mg a day. 

At least I split the onion rings.

Food - August 12

Definitely not the best day eating wise.  I've noticed that when I start my day with caffeine, it sets me on a really bad cycle.  I'm much better if I get my Red Bull sometime between 10 and 2.  (Much later than 2 and it keeps me up at night.)  My caffeine jonesing aside, I really need to hit the grocery store.  I'm out of fruit and veggies, other than the two really scary kiwis rolling around in my crisper.  I didn't have any of my healthy and filling snacks in the house either, so I had to grab one of Jason's puddings because I was starving.  Yes, it's made from real ingredients (milk, sugar, chocolate and hazelnuts) but it's still junk food.  I'd much rather have some carrots with hummus or some nuts and fruit.  Go figure.  For lunch, I didn't have anything to pair with my soup and Kaelin ate about half of it.  Way too small to be a meal!  I was ravenous by 2.  By the time Jason made it home at 5, I could have eaten a horse (had the horse been made of soy.)  I had him stop by the drug store and pick me up some chocolate.  A thousand calories of chocolate.  Yikes!  My bad planning set me up for a bad dinner too -- fast food pizza.  I ate way too much and went to bed way too full.  Granted, my calories were reasonable (I need about 2500 to maintain weight) but it really wasn't a good way to spend 2300 calories. 

Breakfast (190)

Sugar-free Red Bull x 2 (20)

Kashi Go Lean Cereal, 1 cup (140)

Almond Milk, 1/2 cup (30)

Snack (110)

Hazelnut Chocolate Pudding (110)

Lunch (~200)

Black Bean Vegetable Soup, 1 1/2 cups (~200)

Snack (1030)

Russell Stover Assorted Chocolates, 4 pieces (280)

Lindt White Chocolate, 3.5 oz (750)

Dinner (720)

Little Caeser's Cheese Pizza, 3 slices (720)

Total ~ 2250

Food - August 11

You've probably noticed I haven't done in a "real" blog post in over a month.  Honestly, I haven't had much to blog about (plus, I was on vacation for two weeks of that without high speed internet).  I'm still running, but you can see that through my mydailymile widget.  I want to start P90X again (at least a couple of the discs), but Harper's crawling and required constant supervision.  By the time Jason gets home at night, I'm too tired.  Thank goodness he's off for the next 4 days then switches to swings (working 1:00 PM to 1:00 AM) so I'll be able to get some exercise in during the mornings.

Anyways, since I don't have much else to talk about and because I'm doing a 6 week challenge with the girls at Blog to Lose, I'm going to start photojournaling my food.  Usually, I'm all or nothing when it comes to tracking.  I'll either measure everything to the gram and have meticulous spreedsheets detailing calories, fat, calcium, etc. or I throw in the towel if I don't know the exact nutritional content of something.  I figure using photos might help me stay on track since I don't NEED exact details.  I can see it in the picture.  Please feel free to leave me some feedback or yell at me when I have a less than stellar day!

Breakfast (235)

1 c. Kashi Go Lean cereal (140)

1/2 c. Almond Milk (30)

Clementine (35)

1 c. Red Raspberry Leaf tea with 2 tsp sugar (30)

Morning Snack (140)

Greek Yogurt with Strawberry (130)

Sugar-free Red Bull (10)

Lunch (360)

Grilled Spinach and Brie on Whole Wheat with Onions (300)

Peach (60)

Afternoon Snack (270)

Cottage Cheese with Strawberry (140)

2 tbsp Sunflower Kernels (130)

Dinner (~500)

Cheese Tortillini with Homemade Cannellini Bean Sauce (~500)

Bedtime Snack (230)

Mounds (230)

Yes, I eat way too much at my desk.  I also justify eating a Mounds because coconut is a fruit and it has 3 grams of fiber.  Really, a Mounds bar is MUCH MUCH better than most other candy bars and it's dark chocolate too.  Dark chocolate is a health food!  And no HFCS!  Woo!  (See how I did that?)  I was a little light on the veggies yesterday with around 2 servings (spinach at lunch and peppers in the sauce at dinner.) 

Total of around 1735 calories, give or take.

Crispy Eggplant with Spicy Marinara and Feta

Ingredients
1 eggplant, about 1 lb, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
2 eggs
2 tbsp milk
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp ground red pepper
1 tsp dry basil
2 cups marinara
1 cup feta cheese

Directions
1.  Mix milk and eggs in a small bowl.  Mix wheat germ, parmesan cheese, basil, and pepper in a second bowl.
2.  Dip eggplant slices in egg mixture, then coat both sides in the wheat germ mixture. 
3.  Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  Eggplant should be crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.
4.  Add red pepper to the marinara and warm over low medium heat.
5.  Top eggplant with marinara and feta cheese.

Makes 4 servings.

Mine actually looks like the picture in the book!

Recipe adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Vegetarian Cooking for Today (1993).

A Little Too Much Weekend Fun

I stepped on the scale this morning for my weekly weigh-in -- up 3 lbs.

Uh-oh.

"Whatever," I thought to myself.  There's no possible way that I gained 3 lbs over the week.  Sure, I did enjoy a few too many slices of flag cake and I had a couple of beers with dinner.  After the BBQ last night, I'm probably just retaining water. 

Then, I checked my food journal.  Oops.  My last entry was July 1st at lunch.  Why hadn't I been writing down what I was eating?  I started to rack my brain trying to remember my meals.  Let's see... there was the McDonalds on the way to the commissary.  And the huge hot fudge brownie ice cream sundae on Friday.  Saturday, Jason and I worked our way through a pint of Americone Dream while watching movies.  Oh, I forgot about the candy bar I had on the way home from the commissary.  And there were the several granola bars I had while researching an article for work. 

Maybe that 3 lbs isn't just water weight.

I still don't think I ate 10,000 extra calories over the last few days, but since I wasn't journaling, I'm really not sure.  I'm going to officially weigh-in tomorrow to give myself a chance to recover from last night's dinner.  I'll still probably be up, but it's nothing I can't deal with.  I'm going to be a little more vigilant and make sure that I'm recording what I eat.  I'm going to drink my water.  I'm going to follow my new running schedule.  I'm not going to think about how ecstatic I was last week when I was a mere 2 lbs from my pre-baby weight.

One bad weekend isn't going to derail my months of work.

Another Pointless Committee

Last month, Roni (of Roni's Weigh) did a completely awesome post about the obesity epidemic and what the Healthy Weight Committment Foundation aims to do about it. While Roni offered some great ideas of her own, the new organization was basically just rehashing the same old, same old -- exercise and eat right. Well, duh.

Anyways, I wanted to share my very long-winded comment to her here on KUrunner.

I agree that something needs to be done, but I very much disagree with their methods. Obesity is not as simple as calories in versus calories out. I think most Americans are already “conscious” that we need to eat better and exercise. Weight loss and health is so much more than that.

Why are we overweight in the first place? We know more about nutrition and exercise now than we did 100 years ago, even 50 years ago. But the numbers keep going up. Telling me that I need to eat X number of calories doesn’t change the fact that I want that candy bar.

We, as a society, is stressed to the limit. Moms are expected to be super; we are supposed to get up, make a healthy breakfast for the family, get the kids dressed, pack the husband’s lunch, drop the kids off at school and make it to work by 8:00 for a staff meeting. Then, we are supposed to workout during lunch while magically working on a presentation, pick the kids up and cart them off to soccer, dance and band. We go home and make a wonderful pasta primavera from scratch while entertaining three kids without resorting to TV or video games. Don’t forget the laundry that we have to do or the bathrooms we need to scrub. Then, we are expected to make time for the husband.

Yeah, right. No wonder that McDonald’s looks so tempting on the way home.

If HWCF wants change, maybe they should go after the source. Change the goverment that makes boxes of processed crap cheaper than fruits and vegetables. Go after the fast food restaurants that are on every corner where an extra value meal is cheaper than a pound of meat. I’m not saying that there isn’t personal responsibility involved, but it’s kind of unfair to the crack addict when society willingly puts a dealer on every street. (And yes, I believe that being obese is just as dangerous as being hooked on drugs.)

But telling us what we’ve already been told thousands of times before isn’t going to change anything.

But it gets better. This "health-minded" group is made up of CEOs from companies such as Coca-Cola, Nestle, Mars, Hershey, and Kraft. They are the same ones that make it cheaper to buy a 2 liter of soda than a bottle of juice. They are the ones that sell sugar, sugar, and more sugar to our kids. You think that dinosaur on the macaroni box is targeting adults?

Here's what they should be saying:

Eat less, but keep eating our neon orange processed macaroni. Watch your calories, but keep buying our high fructose corn syrup and aspartame laden sodas. Don't be fat kids, but make sure to save room for a candy bar later.

Anyways, if you're as pissed off as I am now, feel free to send them an email at info@healthyweightcommit.org telling them that if they really want to enact change, they should start with their own products.

Day 1... Again

Well, my first 83 days of P90X are up. I’ll have pictures and a full program recap ready tomorrow. This week was supposed to be recovery, but since I didn’t get many workouts in last week, I went ahead and started a second round of the program today (if by start, you mean laying on the couch with a splitting headache.) I guess I’ll do Chest & Back in the morning and Plyo tomorrow evening to keep on schedule.

I started the Couch 2 5k running program this morning. I LOVE this program. Seriously, this is probably my 3rd or 4th time using it to get back into running without getting injured. I’m running the Richmond Half Marathon in November and I’m going to use C25k before I dive into my 16 week training program. I’m not completely sure how running is going to fit until the crazy rotating schedule that Jason is working, but I’m taking it a week at a time. This week, I’m up at 5:30 to get a run in before he leaves for work. Next week, I’ll probably be doing my run right before bed. Who knows after that? (Well, technically, I do, but I’d have to look around for his schedule.)

I also nixed the Weight Watchers thing. I guess the program works or it wouldn’t be so popular, but I’m not a count out every single grape kind of girl. I’m really going to focus on “intuitive eating” again — you know, eat when you are hungry, everything in moderation sort of approach. That’s how I used to eat all the time without even thinking about it. I’m not sure what happened to derail that, but it seems like the past few years have been calories in, calories out. I did resort to McDs tonight since Jason was at work and I didn’t think to plan ahead. Doing great on my first day, right?

Back to the Drawing Board

Ugh, my first weight gain since I’ve had Harper. I needed to lose 1.6 lbs this week to keep up with my birthday goal; instead, I’m up 0.8. Yeah, yeah… it’s not even a pound. But it really sucks that I’m at the point where the weight isn’t just falling off anymore. I’m breastfeeding! Aren’t breastfeeding moms supposed to burn like a kajillion calories a day and wake up looking like Heidi Klum ready to don tiny lingerie and strut down a runway?

I guess not.

Well, I really didn’t want it to come to this, but I guess I’m going to go back to tracking calories. Sadly, the 5th anniversary of my 24th birthday is only 5 weeks away and I have 10.4 lbs left to lose. I’m not going to throw the towel in yet since 2 lbs a week is still doable, but I really need to reign in the eating. Weight loss is 80% nutrition and I have to admit, I’ve been enjoying the freedom of eating whatever crap I wanted and still see the numbers going down.

I’m off to Nutrition Data to see how much I can eat today.

Chemical of the Week - Aspartame

I’ve been working on this post for weeks because if there is anything I’m passionate about it’s chemistry (and why we shouldn’t eat things found on a lab bench.) I want to do a new chemical that’s commonly found in food each week, but I’ve decided to start with aspartame because it is everywhere. It’s also one of the most dangerous food additives currently being used and if I could just stop one person (including myself) from eating the crap, I’ll have done my job.

What is it?
Aspartame is a chemical sweetener invented in 1965, also known as N-(L-α-Aspartyl)-L-phenylalanine, 1-methyl ester. While aspartame isn’t calorie free, it’s 200 times sweeter than sugar so smaller quantities are used to get the same sweetness.

History

Aspartame was denied by the FDA 8 times before it got approval. In fact, when it was finally approved, the FDA revoked it’s approval and determined that the company’s safety data on aspartame had been manipulated. The US Attorneys Office began proceedings against the head of the company, G.D. Searle. However, while the investigation was underway, the lead attorney left the case and took a job with Searle’s law firm. Sketchy, right? In 1980, the FDA set up a review board which found that aspartame had not been shown to be safe for use as a food additive. A year later, a new FDA commissioner was appointed and overrulled the review board allowing aspartame to be used in food. Want to take a guess who he started working for after he left the FDA? Yep, he started working for Searle’s public relations firm. Congress began to prosecute Searle for giving the government false information, but the attorneys assigned to the case chose not to proceed. Not to sound repetitive, but they also landed jobs with Searle’s law firm.

In 1996, the FDA approved aspartame without restrictions and without public notice.

Health Benefits
Although aspartame supporters argue that the chemical is useful in the management of diabetes, studies show otherwise. Not eating sugar is really what helps manage diabetes, not eating chemically sweetened products made from aspartame. Heroin doesn’t cause lung cancer, but is it really a good replacement for cigarettes?

Health Hazards
Numerous studies have shown a link between aspartame and brain tumors. There are more than 90 different side effects from aspartame consumption ranging from headaches and dizziness to memory loss and seizures. Aspartame is directly linked to weight gain and causes formaldehyde accumulation in the body. (Thing of high school biology.) More than 75% of complaints to the FDA are aspartame related. Aspartame has also been linked to birth defects. Sadly, the FDA must not be informed of any of these studies. Their official position is:

Since it was first approved for use in the United States, the safety of aspartame has been questioned by some. To date, however, the agency has not been presented with scientific information that would support a change in our conclusions about the safety of aspartame. Those conclusions are based on a detailed review of a large body of information, including more than 100 toxicological and clinical studies regarding the sweetener’s safety.

Good luck trying to track down any of those 100 studies, though. Their website turned up very little information of aspartame. And, um, what about the hundreds of studies I found after a quick search on Google Scholar?

The Bottom Line
Aspartame is obviously bad stuff. If you are wondering why the FDA would approve something so dangerous, remember that it’s a $1 billion industry.

Whether or not you believe the hype on either side of the debate, the important fact is that aspartame is NOT food. Aspartame is a chemical. Apples don’t have aspartame. Eggs don’t have aspartame. Spinach doesn’t have aspartame. Sodas do have aspartame. Processed foods do have aspartame. Candies do have aspartame. I don’t think you need a scientific study (or goverment organization) telling you which diet is healthier.

I swear it's my last one.

Note:  This blog post is not all-inclusive.  It's a truncated review that points out what I find important.  Please do your own research if you feel mine is lacking!

Recipe Find

Lately, I’ve been hearing about Green Monsters. I must admit, I’m not a huge smoothie person, but I was curious. So, I got out the blender and gave the original Green Monster a go. It wasn’t bad. It definitely wasn’t good, but it wasn’t repulsive. Of course, the recipe made like 4 cups and I wasn’t about to chug it, so down the sink it went.

This morning, I decided to tweak the recipe and give it another go.

YUM!!!

It made enough to for two cups and I had no problem drinking it all. You seriously can’t even taste the spinach in it. Plus, the health benefits are amazing. Spinach really is a superfood and since I’m not a fan of green leafies, it’s great to hide it in a drink. Anyways, here is the version I made this morning.


Strawberry Green Monster

2 cups raw spinach
1 banana
1/2 cup strawberries
1/2 cup milk
1 cup ice

194 calories, 0g fat, 7 g protein, 42 g carbs, 6 g fiber

Vit A 119%
Vit C 102%
Vit D 13%
Vit E 7%
Vit K 363%
Thiamin 11%
Riboflavin 25%
Vit B6 34%
Folic Acid 41%
Vit B12 11%
Pantothenic Acid 9%
Calcium 22%
Iron 12%
Magnesium 27%
Phosphorus 17%
Potassium 33%
Sodium 4%
Zinc 3%
Copper 9%
Manganese 47%
Selenium 7%

You could easily add in some protein powder, different fruits, and some flax or other seeds for a dose of healthy fats.  It's like having a salad for breakfast!

Q & A

Question: Your blog is called KUrunner. Why aren’t you talking about running?

Sadly, I haven’t been able to do much running since I became pregnant. At first, I was too sick. Later on, I was too big. There are tons of women who can run while incubating a baby; I just don’t happen to be one of them.

Now that the bun is out of the oven, I’m trying to ease back into running. However, finding time to run with a newborn who is nursing every hour or so has been difficult. I also need to buy a couple of new sports bras because of aforementioned newborn. Let’s see… I also need a new pair of shoes, a new Nike+ sensor, and a few hours to make a new running mix for my iPod. (I’m sorry, but if I have to hear SexyBack one more time, I’m going to shave off those pretty little locks of his.) Plus, running with an extra 30+ lbs on your bones is killer on your joints.

Question: You are doing P90X. Are you following the whole program?

No. So far, I’ve followed the exercise program, but P90X also has a nutrition plan. For the first month it’s very low carb, and bad things happen if I don’t get enough carbs. Sure, I’m not going to get the same results as if I used their meal plan, but my husband’s not going to get stabbed with a butter knife. That’s a win in my book.

I’m also going to add running back into my routine. I’ll still be doing the same P90X workouts but with a couple of added cardio sessions.

Edit: I’m also not doing AbRipperX. I just had a baby; my abs are ripped enough, thanks. (I’ll be starting it during month 2.)

Question: So, what sort of diet do you follow?

Diet? What’s that? I haven’t done a “diet” in almost 10 years and that was Slim-Fast. Yes, I lost some weight, but it wasn’t anything I could follow for the long term. I’ve tried South Beach a couple of times but I’ve never made it more than a few days because, again, carbs keep me sane.

Basically, I eat real food. If something is made from chemicals, I don’t eat it. Real food: eggs, milk, wheat, etc. Fake food: HFCS, aspartame, red dye #3, etc. I do have a sweet tooth and I tend to eat out bit too much, but it’s a work in progress.

Question: What’s up with your picture page? Are you taking before & afters of your P90X experience?

My old computer crashed. While I have bought a shiney new computer, I have yet to install my old hard drive into it. All of my weight-related pictures are on it. (At least I hope so. Man, it would suck if my old hard drive crapped out. Let this be a lesson about backing up your files.)

Yes, I have before pictures of both myself and the husband. However, they are incredibly embarrassing and I don’t want to make them public until I have some awesome after pictures to share. Plus, I just had a baby. Nobody looks good right after having a baby. You know all those celebrities on the tabloids? Airbrushed!