Week 4: jersey shore without funnel cake :(

My goodness this past week flew by way too fast. I was on vacation in New Jersey ( then fan lives there and I’m too poor for a vacation to a real desirable destination). My boyfriend and I drove down (7-8hr trip) and stayed them whole week.

It is beyond difficult to maintain a healthy diet if you rely on restaurants and travel centers. On the trip there I packed protein (17egg whites), meal replacement bars (cliff builders in peanut butter) and a bag of romaine lettuce (for something crunchy). Now when I say a bag of romaine lettuce please know that I mean I washed 3 large romaine hearts and stuck them in a bag. Classy.

I stuck to my macros for the first 4 days of vacation. My parents (who are the typical concerned, often overbearing parents who had modern American nutrition habits) were very concerned by my eating. The fact that I needed to eat every few hours, the fact that I wouldn’t eat rice, or chips or cakes. When we got there my mom had prepared chili, rice, corn bread and collard greens and asked me in a concerned voice ” you can’t eat chili?” We’ll, I can, but I’m sure she added 80/20 chuck instead of 93/7 turkey as the meat, and I’m sure it was high in sodium.

All in all it was great to be at home with my family. I got to see my grandmother any my cousin. My boyfriend had a good time as well. I was able to secure us a gym to workout for 20$ for the whole week so we got all of our workouts in. The highlight for me was that on chest day I hit 115 on the bench for 1 (I did this at the end of my workout so I wasn’t fresh) my boyfriend spotted me for negatives too so I actually did 1 rep +a forced rep. I love being strong…well stronger than yesterday.

My diet broke down on the 4th of July when I decided not to log calls or macros no just live a little. I avoided junk food (no cake no pop no candy etc) but I did have some BBQ (chicken and ribs) a few plain tortillas with salsa, and fruit. I kept this loose diet until Saturday so basically I had 3 days where I ate over 1300 calories and have no clue what my macros were. Typically I’d feel guilty about all of this but I was still pretty clean and that guilt only brings about negative habits for me so I’m just going to move on.

I was super proud of myself though because on Friday, my boyfriend and I visited Seaside Heights and walked the boardwalk. I have amazing childhood memories of is place. Sadly, fun town is competent destroyed (there was a gaping hold still in the boardwalk in that area…thankfully they ha e taken the roller coaster out of the ocean). The rest of the boardwalk has been rebuilt though for the most part. Shout out to Michele Obama for nailing in that crucial board (:~p ). One of the best things about the boardwalk is the junkfood. Funnel cake, salt water taffy, candy apples, gargantuan slices of pizza, Italian hot dogs. I had none of this. I watched as my boyfriend ate a slice of pizza. I brought 3 candy apples for my mom, dad and brother. I practiced self control. I felt good.

On Saturday we drove back to Cleveland and I subsisted on protein bars and chicken. On Sunday I got in my bonus leg workout and meal prepped. I decided that since the week was off a little, I’d skip progress pics but I did take measurements:

Weight: 138
Neck: 14
Waist: 27.8
Hips: 38.9
Body fat %: 27%

I plan to hit this week hard. I am going to do mostly running and spinning classes for my cardio and try and get at least 2 miles of running in everyday and 60 total minutes of cardio. I also have quite a bit of work to do for school this week. I’m in the process of wrapping up my phd research and prepping for my public dissertation defense. This means I have to finalize my dissertation document, make sure that I have everything ready for returning to the clinical portion of my training and somehow box up and archive 5 years of research notes, data, protocols and reagents in the lab. It’s a busy time, but exciting also…and it’s certainly much more pleasant to do it in a body that I’m growing to love. 🙂

Till next time, eat clean, train mean!

Week 3 – when working out means you’re aggressive

What a week. I rounded Sunday out down another pound and sore all over. Honestly, it feels like a truck hit me then backed up and ran over me again for good measure. Getting in and out of cars feels like a chore and I’m finally starting to get moody/feel fatigued from the low calories that I’m consuming. Even with that I was able to meet all of my goals for this week in terms of exercise and meals. I’m still seeing progress which, I suppose is a good thing – especially since this week had me out of town traveling for the holidays.

The most inventive food thing I did with my diet was create clean chicken and clack bean tacos that fit my macros. I didn’t make a recipe or take pics though because I still need to tweak the recipe a bit. It was a little too high in sodium which made my legs swell a bit. I suspect it was the canned beans ( I used reduced sodium and rinsed them significantly, but when you haven’t had added salt or processed & canned food for a while and then indulge…I guess sensitivity ensues). I think I might try the recipe again but in the crockpot so the chicken gets nice and shredded -like. Ok clearly I’m a fat kid because that was a lot of talk about food.

On to the workouts…

So apparently it’s not “normal” for women to mean mug in the gym. Apparently being the only girl in the free weight room AND actually working out instead of engaging in mindless banter or getting coached up by other gym patrons means that you are…well a BEAST. If you didn’t know this…no worries, I just learned it this week. I do power lifting movements (squats, deadlifts, cleans) at the campus gym and do cardio and accessory movements literally next door at the private gym that’s on campus. When I walked into the campus gym on Wednesday, a kid @ said “didn’t I just see you at @ Veale (the campus gm). Then he followed it up with an accusatory “what do you work out twice?!” …so what I do? What’s it to ya?

Then when my bf comes home he tells me that Russ, the smoothie man @ the gym said “I bet your girl beats yo ass at home don’t she?” He qualifies this statement by saying that he got the impression because I walk in the gm, I don’t talk to anyone and I lift weights. While his logic is impeccable, I must say I was a tad offended by the notion that a girl who weight lifts and doesn’t waste time trying to chat it up *must* be an abusive relationship partner…Russ gets a big fat W-T-F on that one.

I was back to week 1 workouts and even though I’m tired down to my bones, I am able to lift more and more weight or increase reps each week. Being strong and workout at the same time is a little mind blowing but that’s how it is. I’m also seeing more of a pump and sneak peaking some vascularity when I do certain moves…c’mon veins and leanness!

On to the numbers:

This week again wasn’t dramatic. I lost 1.1 pounds, an inch, and another percent of body fat. I take new progress pics next week to round out the month. I also have another session with Dave, who was pleased as punch with my last progress pics.

Weight: 138.3
Hips: 38.8
Waist:27.5
Neck: 14
BF%: 26%

Til next week.

Sweet potato and oatmeal “cake”

One thing about being on a diet is that you start to crave the crap you can’t have. My diet right now is pretty sparse on starchy carbs and fat. I can get over the lack of fat pretty easily just by adding flavor to my foods. You see a lot of fitness nuts going gaga over Mrs. Dash seasonings…and believe me, when you can’t have salt or oil a little Mrs. Dash extra spicy and garlic herb goes a long way. The starchy thing however is another story. The carbs in my diet pretty much come from veggies (asparagus, green beans, broccoli) and brown rice, sweet potato, oatmeal and grits. There’s NO white flour anywhere in my meal plan even all of the “flourless cake/cookie/pancake” recipes that you find on gluten-free websites are so full of sugar (from white sugar, agave nectar, maple syrup) that they are out for my current diet situation.

So last night I was sitting up and thinking about when I make sweet potato pie (the full monty with butter, sugar and delicious buttery flour-y crust) I usually will have made a little too much pie filling and will bake it off in a pyrex dish. Even though it lacks flour (I don’t use flour in my sweet potato pie filling) it still rises and has a soft cake or spoon bread like consistency. In a word: Delicious.

So I thought, sweet potatoes are in the meal plan, so are eggs, cinnamon, and nutmeg…that’s almost like sweet potato pie filling…(well not at all…but desperate times call for suspension of reality). So I whipped up a quick “spoon bread” or soft cake using all legal meal plan ingredients just so that I can have a little taste of comfort food. I ate a serving of this for breakfast this morning along side 2 egg whites. Felt like cheating but it wasn’t.

Again, I’m not a chef…I’m just sharing the results of a culinary experiment 🙂

What you will need:

1 orange fleshed sweet potato (pick one with pointy ends – these are usually sweeter – that’s about 300g or so)

2 packets of PureVia sweetener

1/4 cup of Bob’s Redmill gluten-free oats

1 pinch of cinnamon (or to taste)

1 pinch of ground nutmeg (or to taste)

non-stick lo-calorie baking spray or well seasoned cast iron skillet

4 egg whites

1 whole egg

Fork

2 Medium sized bowls

Small pyrex dish or well seasoned cast iron skillet

Directions:

1 – Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2 – Microwave sweet potato for 6 minutes turning every 2 minutes until soft on all sides

3- Mash sweet potato with fork in medium sized bowl

4- Add nutmeg, cinnamon, and truvia sweetener and mix well. Taste here to make sure you have your desired level of spice and sweetness.

5- In a separate bowl, whip 4 egg whites and 1 whole egg until fluffy (like you’re scrambling eggs). You can use the same fork that you mashed your tater with, save yourself some dishes)

6- Add egg mixture to sweet potato and mix until smooth.

7- Add 1/4 cup of oatmeal and mix well (The batter should be smooth and wet like cake batter – not dough-y).

8- Lightly coat a pyrex dish with non-stick baking spray and add sweet potato mix to dish. Spread evenly

9- bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees or until set.

Serves 3. Nutrition facts: Calories/serving: 174 :: Carbs: 29 (5g of fiber):: Fat: 3 :: Protein: 10

 

Because of the consistency of the batter, I’m thinking I might also be able to make these into pancakes for the morning time. I’ve been meaning to try out walden farms 0 calorie syrups and I think this might be just the vehicle for that…more to come on that 🙂

Egg white frittata

I eat 6 egg whites for breakfast every day….every damn day!

I have never been a really big fan of eggs. The breakfast food I gravitate towards is typically sweet, and fatty (like pancakes and bacon). Anyway, on my new meal plan sweet and fatty is out and high protein is in – hey, these things are generally bad for you in high quantities anyway so I’m not complaining too much. Yea…so the breakfast scene is me in the morning after cardio scrambling up egg whites…every damn day. You can see how this could get boring…and boring is not really a sustainable thing on a diet.

Before I started my meal plan I tweeted about how I was not too thrilled about having to eat this many egg whites every morning. A twitter follower replied with the suggestion that I make meringues. While I haven’t made any meringues yet (but I am actively looking for a sugar, fat free recipe) I did take this person’s advice and look into ways to spice up the egg white sittuation.

Enter today’s frittata. It’s actually the first frittata I’ve ever made and I’m not a chef (so take that into account when following my recipe or instructions).

What you’ll need:
Small pan ( I used my one serving cast iron skillet)
Non stick low calorie cooking spray
Spatula
6 egg whites ( or equivalent amount of liquid egg white substitute)
30grams of onion
1 clove of garlic
Garlic-herb mrs dash (about 2 shakes)
4oz of cooked and drained ground turkey meat
1tsp of ground fennel seed (or more or less for taste)
1 pinch of salt (more or less for taste)
45 grams of frozen asparagus cuts (thawed – can use any other veggie)

Cooking instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
1- spray your small pan with non stick cooking spray. If your cast iron pan is well seasoned you may be able too skip this step.

2- sauté onion, garlic, asparagus over medium heat until onions are translucent.

3- add ground turkey and sauté until heated through. Reduce to low heat.

4- crack eggs and isolate the whites (toss the yolks or save them for another purpose).

5- gently whisk egg whites with seasonings (salt, fennel seed, mrs dash) until it begins to froth and add whisked mixture to cast iron skillet on top of other ingredients

6- stir mix once on low heat and cook for about 2-3 minutes on stove top until sides start to set ( do not continue to stir or you will have scrambled egg whites)

7- when sides have set, place skillet in oven and bake for 5-7 minutes until top is set.

8- when the top is set (no longer liquid) remove the frittata from the oven and allow it to cool on the I stove top away from direct heat for about 5 minutes then remove it from the pan and eat!

The frittata should have a fluffy texture (similar to an omelette) and should have some crunchy crusty bits on the underside and sides.

If you follow the recipe I’ve written out recipe the macronutrient breakdown is approximately:

Carbs: 7 grams
Protein: 44 grams
Fats: 8 grams
Calories: 294 cal

The awesome thing about a frittata is that you can add whatever ingredients you want. For example frittatas often have cheese, various veggies, tomatoes, sausages, or bacon. I kept my frittata low fat and low carb by limiting the additions to a lean meat and veggies. You can do whatever you wish that fits your tastes and your nutrition goals.

I’d love to hear how you are spicing up your egg white breakfasts, or if you have a recipe for a low carb meringues.

Enjoy!

Turkey Meatloaf without the breadcrumbs

Lately I’ve been eating gluten free. To avoid having to eat odd tasting subs of gluten filled goodies (like cookies), I have simply been avoiding junk food, pizza and the like all together. This plan works out sufficiently well…cookies and cake and bread don’t necessarily fit into my plan to lose 20lbs and meet my goal weight anyway….so yea, gluten avoidance strategies are generally good…that is until I have  craving for something with non-obvious gluten/wheat components like meatloaf.

Enter creativity.

I spent the better part of my afternoon – while waiting for western blots to incubate in the lab – perusing the interwebs for meatloaf recipes. The requirements were simple: delicious, low fat and gluten free. Easy enough…well I didn’t really find anything I liked. I ended up reading about the science behind good meatloaf here and was rather disappointed. I’m not eating bacon and breadcrumbs are not an option as filler. Looking to gain some inspiration from looking at actual food, I went to the grocery store with a 20$ limit. I purchased:

2lbs of ground turkey (95% lean) / a few ounces of barley / 1 tube of tomato paste / a small yellow onion / celery / 8oz of mushrooms / a red pepper / pam cooking spray (olive oil) /black strap molasses

When I got home, it was inventing time. Molasses as it turns out actually has a pretty alcohol-y and bitter flavor…not delicious like “mole-asses” cookies we make on Mole day (October 23rd for the non-chemists). I whipped about a tablespoon of the molasses with soy sauce, white vinegar and a squirt of tomato paste to make a Worcestershire substitute (the best thing about this is the lack of preservatives which I’m told hide gluten…and in general are chemically non-goodness). I minced the onion, mushrooms, pepper and the celery and sauteed in a bit of olive oil until translucent. I added the worcestershire substitute to this mix, added the barley and simmered until the barley was al-dente (since it will cook again in the oven). I turned this off and let it cool on the stove.

In a large bowl, I combined the ground turkey, seasonings (salt, pepper, dried thyme, dried mustard, chilli flakes) and 1 cup of Bob’s redmill oatmeal that I pulsed a bit in the food processor (this is what I decided would sub as breadcrumbs). When the veggies were cool (so as to not pre-cook the ground turkey mix), I added it into the ground turkey. Then, remembering that my tried and true meatloaf recipe (which is delicious and non-GF) contains eggs, I added 3 egg whites and 1 yolk to the mixture.

I patted the mix into a 9×13 pyrex dish and baked it covered at 375F, for 35 minutes and uncovered for 5 minutes so it would carmelize a bit on top.

Contrary to the scientific meatloaf guide (see above link), I left this bad boy unglazed and un-baconed and it still was actually pretty good. The oats cooked in really nice and gave it a very familiar meat-loafy texture. As you can see in the pics below, I didn’t actually dice the veggies. This made for a very interesting meatloaf appearance….rustic, is being nice.

Myfitnesspal calculated the nutritional value out to be as follows:

Shady Brook Farms – Lean Ground Turkey 95/5, 32 oz.	1,280	0	64	176
Vegetable – Yellow Onion, 1 cup (160 grams)	64	15	1	2
Red Bell Pepper – Red Bell Pepper, 2 Cup	92	18	0	2
Vegetables – Celery – 1 Large Stalk, 3 stalks	15	2	0	0
Great Value – Sliced Mushrooms, 1 container (1 cup (115g) ea.)	60	8	0	4
Tomato Paste – 100% Natural -, 2 Tbsp	25	6	0	1
Plantation – Blackstrap – Unsulphured Molasses (With Correct Potassium Info), 1 Tbsp. (21g)	42	11	0	0
Gia Russa – White Wine Vinegar, 4 tbsp	20	0	0	0
Egg – Large, Raw, 1 egg (58g)	70	0	5	6
Eggs – White only, raw, 2 large	34	0	0	7
Generic – Ground Cumin, 1 Tablespoon	22	3	1	1
Spices – Thyme, dried, 2 tsp, leaves	6	1	0	0
Barley – Pearled, cooked, 0.5 cup	97	22	0	2
Wild rice – Cooked, 0.5 cup	83	17	0	3
Bob’s Redmill – Gf Oatmeal, 1.5 Cup cooked	510	0	0	0

Total:	2420	103	71	204
Per Serving:	269	11	8	23

I’d eat this again.

Gluten Free Check-in – Day #3

I’m just keeping track of my gluten free eating trial.

 

Here’s what I ate today:

Breakfast: Bob’s redmill oats (certified gluten free), fruit smoothie (strawberries, kiwi, banana, green apple, pinaple, h20 blended in my GNC blender), multi-vitamins

Lunch: Leftovers from last night’s dinner (mustard chicken, roasted veggies, smashed red potatoes with skin)

Snack: Pistachios

Snack: Rest of fruit smoothie (I left it in the freezer when I left for work, and when i came home I had an icecream substitute :))

Dinner: wasn’t hungry so I ate a handful of pistachios and an apple.

 

Gluten free eating turns out to be pretty simple as long as you avoid bread. I haven’t noticed any difference in my skin yet, but my mood is better. This could be the diet modification or simply the fact that I have identified something in life to completely control again, who knows and who cares 🙂

 

Gluten Free Trial – Day 1

My skin was clear during my bread free diet trial. I didn’t lose weight, but my skin was clear.

I enjoyed not having smooth landscaping on the old visage. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to try eating gluten free for a while (a slightly more strict diet trial) to see if I can once again look like a dermatology success story.

Today was day one. I’ve read that in the beginning it’s easier to just focus on eating whole foods and avoid breads all together. So that’s exactly what I did

My meals were as follows:

Breakfast: 2 bananas

Lunch: A ‘naked’ Salad (garbanzo beans, lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, no dressing)

Snack: almonds (raw)

Dinner: Mustard chicken & brown rice – used coleman’s mustard powder and other gluten-less seasonings.

Snack: Strawberries and almonds

There’s not really much to blog about on this one. I’ve been breadless before and this isn’t much different. It’s only day one, so I haven’t craved bread or candy yet. The fruit really curbs that craving for candy, which is why I started my day with bananas (that and it’s easy to walk to work eating a banana). I suspect the real challenge will come when I try to make/eat gluten-free bread/muffins/cookies. That’ll come in week 2.

Bread free check in – Days 1-14 of 30

I cut out bread (i.e. anything made from wheat) and refined sugar (candy, pop, cake etc…), but I did not make a pledge to go completely sugar free so that I could still eat fruit. I find that the fruit is really helping to curb the cravings for bread and it’s entirely possible that I’m eating more fruit than I need to, but for now it’s working out well (except for day . I’d like to reduce my dependency on the fruit smoothies to curb my sugar cravings at some point, but a little extra fiber and antioxidants is certainly not all bad.

On day 4, I became very aware of the emotional attachment I have with bread, rice, carbs. After an argument I found myself going into whole foods and grabbing spicy tuna sushi and a bag of crinkle cut salt and pepper chips. By the time I made it home (a less than 10 minute drive), I’d already consumed the all of the sushi and the chips in an attempt to get that carb fix a slice of pizza or a roll would offer. Rice and potato chips didn’t do it for me, so still feeling angry and overwhelmed, I found myself eating some of my boyfriends stash of tortilla chips. The positives are that I didn’t go for the chocolate pecan cookies in whole foods and I did not consume the WHOLE bag of tortilla chips…so…small victories.

On day 6 I ate at a pizza restaurant…which was an incredibly tortuous test of will power. It just so happens that this is the best pizza restaurant in Cleveland (not saying much if you are or have ever been a NY or NJ dweller, but still…I’m not eating bread and relatively decent pizza was around). I ordered a caprese salad with grilled chicken breast because if I can’t eat bread, I’m eating cheese dammit! The salad was good and I didn’t give in at the restaurant. Not sure how I will do with the leftover 1/2 pie that is currently sitting in my refrigerator (the boyfriend ordered a large despite being the only on that was consuming pizza…boys).

Happy to report that I am not finding that I have less energy for my workouts, which is great. On Day 5 I ran my first 16 miler ever and had as much energy as one would expect  for the first run of this length. I have also lost a few more inches and lbs since cutting the bread out of my diet (see latest weigh in).

Days 5-11 were pretty uneventful.

I did have one cheat meal which was brought on by social awkwardness more than craving. On day 12, I had lunch with a prominent cancer researcher and director of a major cancer center. The lunches were catered by Jimmy Johns (sandwiches) and I tried to figure out a way to graciously and inconspicuously decline the meal or eat only the meat and sprouts from the sandwich…but as we were given no utensils and I was hungry, I ended up just eating the sandwich. I didn’t feel terrible about it, though I did notice that after not eating bread for a week, consuming just that one meal of bread caused a bit of mucus production in the back of my throat – which is an indication that I am likely mildly allergic to wheat. Even on day 9, I still felt rather congested but I was back on the bread-less grind.

On day 14 I started my 30 day Bikram challenge. The clean eating is supposed to make for a more gentle acclimation to the heat…I hope so 🙂 I am thinking about extending the no-bread deal until the end of the Bikram challenge or perhaps indefinitely for 6 days/week (I really want some pasta).

Bread and Sugar Free ’til March

Day 1 of 30

I read a blog post while cruising through the internet (can’t seem to find it, or else I’d post a link)…anyway, the blogger was discussing a 30 day stint in which they went bread and sugar free. During this time period, the author’s cravings for sugar went away, or so she thought…she found herself walking by a favorite bakery, seeing her drug of choice and going for it. After having been at least two weeks on the bread/sugar-free regimen, she mentioned that the confection did not taste as good and she was only able to get half way through it. She too it home and put it in her trash. A few hours later, she found herself DIGGING THROUGH HER TRASH, grabbing the discarded confection and eating it.

Woah there! But if I really think about it and am honest with myself, I have also gone to some significant lengths to get chocolate/cake/cookies/panera that I really didn’t need or want also. A few weeks ago, I scarfed down a terrible Panera bread facsimile of pain au chocolate…man was it gross, they put chocolate sprinkles on it..WHY? Anyway, the point is, just to get a sugar fix I’ve eaten things I didn’t really want or like..I’ve driven to walgreens at midnight just to get a candy bar. I’ve fantasized over ridiculous things like wheat thins or pizza. Fantasies such as these are not fueled by hunger…as a matter of fact, I could eat a full meal and still want to stop at walgreens and get a Rolo on the way home. What the heck is wrong with me?

Well, though I haven’t been diagnosed…I suspect I’m a sugar addict…or at the very least, a sugar abuser. What to do? I’ve been reading all over the interwebs about people who have successfully eliminated sugar and bread from their diet for 30 days and then slowly reintroduce healthier versions like spelt bread, rye bread and natural sweeteners (agave, honey). Always down for short-term challenges and manipulations, I thought I would try it.

For any one who cares, the rules of the game are simple:

_____________________________________________________________________________________

For 30 days, don’t consume
– bread/wheat of any kind (incl, crackers, bread, biscuits, muffins, pizza, pie crusts, pasta, pancakes…etc)

– sugar that is not in fresh fruit (incl. candy, maple syrup, honey, sugar in the raw, refined sugar, pop soda, store bought juices)

For 30 days, do consume

– at least 64oz of water a day

– cleansing tea nightly during the first week (I use Smooth move, which is a Senna based tea)

– daily multivitamins (multi, biotin, 100mg of vitamin C – these are the vitamins I already take, I’m not changing them)

_________________________________________________________________________________

As I will be replacing my refined carbs with complex and fibrous carbs in fruit and veggies, I anticipate a bit of a rebellion in my colon…the Smooth move should help with this. I know I could prepare almond flour versions of the bread/wheat products that I love…but for this first 30 day stint, I’m going try it without the subbies. Eating an almond flour muffin might make cravings worse.

I am starting this about a week before I begin my 30 day bikram challenge and am hoping that the cleansing effects of both practices leaves my insides all shiny and new – like. I guess we shall soon see 🙂