Thursday, 2/28/13

I had a bad food day. A very bad food day. The office ordered pizza, and it smelled & looked SO good, so I had a slice. Which probably wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't had a crap ton of cottage cheese too. Together they had 680 calories, 32g of fat, 12g of sugar & 47g of carbs! Omg. Lesson learned. That put me at 1,927 calories for the day, which is almost 450 MORE than I should be having. Wow. Perspective. Next time, I won't deprive myself if I've been doing really well (and I HAVE been doing really well!), but something else will have to go instead. Cottage cheese OR pizza. I didn't take a pic of the pizza (or the string cheese I just ate after work), but here's everything else I ate today:

Breakfast: 3 Egg Omelet with peppers, onions, tomatoes & salsa

 Lunch: Zucchini Boats (another recipe from Pinterest, which can be found here)

Dinner: Leftovers from last night (grilled chicken breast w/ Italian salad dressing marinade) and green beans, and a slice of Little Ceaser's 3-Meat Pizza. (No pics)

Snacks: Almonds, cottage cheese, cucumber slices, string cheese stick

Tomorrow will be better!

Wednesday, 2/27/13

Breakfast: Ants on a log!

Yes, the raisins have sugar, yes the peanut butter has sugar, but dammit, I wanted them! Also had a cup of green tea.

Lunch: Zucchini Cups

Recipe found on on Pinterest (again!), originally posted here: http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2009/09/recipe-for-meat-tomato-and-mozzarella.html

(There were actually 7 cups, but I ate four before I remembered to take a picture)

I also mixed the leftover meat/sauce with the zucchini guts and parm cheese, then baked with shredded cheese on top.

Dinner: Italian Chicken (chicken and Italian salad dressing), Spinach, Brussels Sprouts, Broccoli

Another Great Idea From Pinterest

I saw this idea on Pinterest months ago and loved it, and a couple of days ago, I finally did it. Credit goes to Jon for putting the stickers on- mine looked like the bunny trail at Windham :)

 $5 at Dollar Tree! (There are approximately 100 stones in each bag, in case you've ever wondered!)

Not Sure What Direction to Take This Blog...

Okay, I'm already sick of documenting all of my meals. I might give this up, but I'm not sure. If I'm not blogging my meals, what do I have to write about? Also, it's difficult to take pictures at work because I use my cell phone to do so, and cell phones aren't allowed in the jail. Any ideas?

Results!

WOW! Since I started my low-carb, low-sugar, processed-food-free lifestyle, I've lost 11 pounds! Craziness, considering I've only been doing it a little over a week! The last 9 days have been great- I was warned about the sugar and carb cravings, but for whatever reason, I haven't been plagued by those *yet* (and hopefully I won't be). The Girl Scout cookies I bought two weeks ago laid in my garbage can next to my desk all week, and I wasn't even tempted. I haven't missed bread at all. Occasionally I think about pasta or chocolate, but even those desires are miniscule and fleeting. I think because I am not depriving myself, I don't feel like I'm "on a diet", and therefore I don't feel like I'm missing out. Plus, I have tons of energy, and by tracking my food on MFP & blogging, I'm staying accountable. I hope this time I can keep it up!

Monday, 2/25/13

Breakfast: Omelet (3 eggs, spinach, diced ham, tomatoes, bell pepper, onion, mushroom & salsa) w/ green tean

Lunch: The rest of my leftovers from La Tolteca this weekend: Chicken & shrimp fajitas (I didn't use the salsa in the picture as I liked the taste without it)

Dinner: Pot Roast with onions, carrots & celery

Water count for the day: 10 cups

Sunday, 3/24/13

Breakfast: Ham & Egg Cups with Veggie Saute

I found the recipe for these egg cups on Pinterest (the actual recipe can be found here: http://thesimpledelights.com/?p=246). I didn't have green onions, so I just did hap, egg, salt & pepper. I sauted spinach, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, green & red bell pepper and my last slice of ham, which I topped with salsa. Sabre's Medium Homestyle Salsa is amazing- I use it almost every day! I also had a mug of Green Tea (Lipton Superfruit Gren Tea with Acai, Drgonfruit and melon).

Lunch: Japan Express Hibachi Chicken with Veggies

The veggies were mostly cabbage, but there were pieces of broccoli and carrot mixed in. I ate all of the chicken, and probably a third of the veggies. The rest I brought home for lunch tomorrow. Jon ordered ahead and also asked for two drinks, but when we got there we found that all they had was soda and sweet tea, so I opted for a tall cup of water.

Dinner: Baked Spaghetti Squash with Meat Sauce & Parmesan

This is my own invention. In limiting carbs, I'm not eating pasta, so the other day I tried substituting spaghetti squash for the pasta. I didn't really like it, and the squash made everything watery. I had leftovers, and since I didn't want to throw them out, I mixed the meat sauce (a jar of Ragu with cooked hamburger mixed in) and the squash together, added Parmesan, and sprinkled in some pepper. Then, to combat the liquid, I baked it. This concoction turned out better, and I may try it again in the future.

Total water count for the day: 7 glasses

Week 1 Introduction

Hello! My name is Kelly- I'm a 30 year old woman living in Southern MD, and I'm starting this blog as a way of tracking my journey of weight loss from 290 to *hopefully* 135-145.

History- I have been a heavy girl my entire life. This is NOT my first attempt at dieting. I've been dieting since middle school. I've never been very good at sticking to it, and the most I've ever lost at a time is 15 pounds. I'm hoping this time will be different! My size 24 clothes are becoming too tight, and when I look in th mirror, I am so disgusted by my appearance that I don't want to even leave the bed, much less the house.

Motivation- I've been dating a great guy, and I'm hoping to one day start a family with him. Jon is much more health-conscious than I am, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle is important to him, and I want to have that in common.

Other motivating factors for me are:
- To be able to rock a bathing suit at the beach
- To be too small to shop at the "fat store"
- To no longer be self-conscious when I am out in public
- To have more energy
- To look great when I FINALLY walk down the aisle
- To prove to myself that I can do it
- To just feel better about myself in general

Another factor is health- diabetes runs rampant in my family (my maternal grandfather, my mother, both sisters), and I don't want a life of insulin injections.

I'm hoping to stick to it this time by utilizing this blog to keep me on track. I'm hoping to log in daily, post photos of what I eat each day, and share how I am feeling and struggling.

Diet- I'd also like to say, thank god for Pinterest (http://pinterest.com/cobygirl517/)! Honestly, I don't know how people did this before that site was born. I have found tons of recipe ideas and information to give me the knowledge I need to be successful. I'm pinning them on a board I've labeled "Paleo" (http://pinterest.com/cobygirl517/paleo/). This is technically my third week, but I cheated so much on week one that I decided to start over last week. I lost 7 lbs my first week! I'm following my own version of a mixed Paleo/South Beach diet- no processed foods, limited carbs (I'm trying to stay under 100g a day), no sugar, and high fat/high protein. I'm allowing myself dairy, but in limited amounts, as it high in calories. Basically, I'm eating a lot of veggies, meat and eggs, as well as tuna, cheese, butter, nuts, berries, avocado, and limited fruit. And I drink green tea and water. A LOT of water.

Keeping on track- I'm tracking my food on MyFitnessPal (http://www.myfitnesspal.com/cobygirl517). I'll also be tracking my workouts there, but I haven't really started a fitness regimen yet. I'm tracking calories, carbs, sugar, fiber, protein and fat, although I'm really only interested in calories, sugar, and carbs right now.

Hunger- I thought I would be starving, and have huge sugar and carb cravings, but thankfully, that hasn't happened yet. I tend to get pretty hungry right before bed, which sucks, because by that time I've usually met my calorie and carb allotments for the day, so having a snack is out of the question, so I just drink some water and go to sleep.

Sleep- I've never really had problems with insomnia, and I normally sleep straight through the night, so I haven't noticed any changes there other than sometimes I wake up early to pee, due to the extra water I'm drinking. I'm trying to drink 64 oz a day, but I usually get 32-48.

Energy- The reason I chose a paleo diet is because I've heard from multiple people that not only did they lose weight following this type of diet, but they've never looked or felt better. Well, I can tell you, I have never felt better, either! Even after one week, I have more energy. I usually feel two hours earlier than actual time. Last night I looked at the clock expecting it to read 11 or midnight, and it was 2 am! From my research, I deduce this is because I'm not going through the sugar roller-coaster of peaks and dips, and my blood sugar should be maintaining a steady level.

Grains- While I haven't been eating grains of any type (pasta, cereal, bread, oatmeal, pastries, dough, etc.), I haven't decided if I'm going to allow them back in after I've reached my goal weight or not. I've read a lot that claims humans were never meant to digest these types of carbs, and they are causing our bloating and sugar high issues, and for these reasons I'm eliminating them for now. I'm not gluten intolerant, so I don't HAVE to eliminate these foods, but I want to wait a few months before I evaluate how I personally feel about this issue. I'm trying to follow a "caveman" diet, which is about 40% meat/eggs/fish, 40% veggies, and 10% nuts/berries/dairy/good fats, and I'm seeing successful results, so I may never go back to grains. Maybe very infrequently... I'll have to wait and see.

Dairy- The reason I saw I'm doing a paleo/south beach mix diet is because a true paleo diet eliminates dairy. However, I LOVE dairy, and I haven't read enough research to convince me to give it up. Still, I've been concerned with GMO's in mass-produced milk for a while, and yesterday I noticed the label on our carton of whole milk, which stated 8 oz contained 150 calories, 12 g of sugar, and 13 carbs. So when I went grocery shopping last night, I picked up a carton of Silk unsweetended vanilla-flavored Almond Milk to try- I had a sample when I got home, and I rather like the taste, and at 0g sugar, 0g carbs, and 30 calories, I've decided to make the switch. I'm not giving up my plain greek yogurt, cream cheese, or cheese. I'm just limiting them because of the high calorie count.

I think that sums up my first week quite well! I'm going to have my aunt measure my arms, hips, waist, legs, neck and chest so I can track inches as well as pounds. I've been weighing myself almost every day, and I KNOW that's not a good idea, so I'm going to try to only do so on Mondays. As for the measurements, that's a slower process and, honestly, a pain in the rear, so I'm probably only going to do that once a month or so. I also had Jon take "before" pics, but I'm in my underwear, and I just don't think I can bear to post those images online. I'll probably have him take new pics of me in spandex (oy) that I would feel better about posting. Also, I didn't take any pics of food this past week, so I'm starting that today.

Thanks for joining me on my journey!

-Kelly