One day at a time

/hihi So I did pretty well with my eating yesterday and I hope to stick to that today! Its kind of annoying that one day of perfect eating doesnt get you to your goal weight instantly.

 Sometimes I feel like that I should be rewarded for being so good by dropping at LEAST a pound...unfortunately the reality is that is is days and days of eating well that lead to results! And working out!

My workout plan for today is to do an hour of cardio. I've been doing 45 minute sessions, or 30 minutes + 30 minutes of weights, but I think burning 500 calories every gym session is necessary to shift these last few pounds!

Sadly, I've developed Mouse Elbow over the last few days! Mouse elbow is a term I came across when searching google to find out why my right outer elbow has been hurting! Basically, its a mild form of tennis elbow that comes from using a mouse too much (I work on computers 8 hours a day).

 I'm going to have to change my workout routine to try not to stress it. No dumbbells, just weight machines, and no elliptical, just the treadmill!

Todays Food Journal:

Breakfast:

I decided to try a different Bolthouse farms drink for breakfast, the Mocha Cappuccino. Its my first taste of coffee since I quit a few months ago!

It was ok, but not as filling or tasty as my usual Mango Protein drink despite having just as much protein in it. I prefer the mango drink because it contains actually fruit as well!

Lunch

A tasty home made salad I brought into work :) Kalamatas, spinach, tomatoes, vegetarian 'beef' tips

Snack

Raspberry Chobani yogurt swirled with a cup of fresh raspberries...mmmm!! The BEST way to eat your antioxidants!

Dinner:

Spinach/tofu/potato pie!

A handful of kettle chips (my man was eating them in front of me and I find it hard to resist not having any!!)

Workout:

I hour of cardio DONE- I did the Arc. Its kind of like an elliptical but a different leg motion and without the arms- I did 500 calories in just under an hour actually, I left the gym ten minute earlier than I thought I would :)

Tracking my eating....

When I began this blog I wrote down all my meals and it helped me to see where I was doing well and where the calories were adding up.

Ive almost reached my goal of 125 pounds (from 143 pounds!) but not tracking my eating daily is leading to too many 'treats!'.

I need to be eating more like this (minus the fish!)

Its time to get back to it! I just had a weekend of awful eating- funnily enough it was mainly from attending our health food stores annual birthday bash! They gave away free samples of wine, cheese, fresh bread and hummus, mozzarella balls with pesto, pie....you get the picture!

I also need to shake up my work outs! I started last night, instead of going to the gym Ty and I went on a 45 minute walk and then a 20 minute run with our dogs in the evening. It was fun! I probably need to shift away from the elliptical/strength circuit for a week or two and try different machines! We also went kayaking on the lake and climbing the biggest tree in Florida!

Certainly a big tree..

Trying to hug it lol

Is it a bird, is it a plane?

Like many of you I was also touched by the events of September 11th and my heart goes out to all those affected by the tragedy! I was living India at the time, and my dad was flying back from America. He was flying through New York and the first we heard about the tragedy was when an American family friend called us in the middle of the night to tell us the news.

We didn't hear from my dad for a few hours after that,and those hours stretched long into the night!! Our family was relieved to finally hear from him, and that he was ok, but I can only imagine the pain felt by other families as they realized their loved ones where on those planes or in the World Trade Towers.

Breakfast:

Half a large Bolthouse Farm Mango Protein Smoothie (16oz)

Lunch:

A whole wheat pita bread stuffed with Mexican grilled fajita mixed veggies, hummus and spinach. Ty made if for me for lunch :D

Snack:

Chobani Yogurt

Dinner:

I'm planning on a quick Amy's organic soup as I will be rushing from work to class!

Not the most exciting/healthy option but I had a busy weekend and didnt get around to cooking ahead for the week!  I'm hoping to bake a spinach pie later in the evening for tomorrow's lunch, based on this recipe:

Spinach Pie
(serves 8)
10 ounce box frozen spinach
1 1/2 cups onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 Tbs oil
3 cups crumbled tofu (soft or silken tofu is best)
1 Tb lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
1 pre-made pie crust

Cook spinach according to package directions. Saute onion and garlic in oil in a large pot over medium heat for 3 minutes. Add spinach, tofu, lemon juice, and seasoning. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Meanwhile, continue cooking spinach/tofu mixture for 5 minutes. Mix well. Pour into pie crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes until crust is brown.

Total calories per serving: 180
Fat: 11 grams
Protein: 7 grams
Iron: 2 mg
Calcium: 87

Workout:

Today is technically a rest day! I can't go to the gym on Mondays and Fridays because I have college classes right after work!

Lose weight with Vegetarian Chilli, Wild Herb and Mushroom Texmati Rice

/hihi!! My swelling from my wisdom teeth removal is finally going down! Yay! I've enjoyed my time off work though, its been relaxing!

 I discovered a wealth of health and beauty info on YouTube (a zillion years after everyone else, I know I know lol) and used some tips to do my own French Manicure, check it out:

DIY French Manicure

Last night I went to the gym for the first time since my surgery. I went late at night because my face is still swollen and I'm self conscious. It felt great though! My sore neck and back melted away- they were probably a result of too much bed rest! I went again today, and did an hour of cardio and twenty minutes of strength training! I was famished afterwards and had this for lunch:

Two bean mexican chilli with wild herb and mushroom brown rice and gucamole, with a cranberry seltzer water on the side. It only took me five minutes to put together! (those strawberries are my salt and pepper shakers, I discoverd a lovely Himalayan pink salt at my local store the other day!)

I call this my weight loss chilli because I've lost even more weight while eating it over the past few days! I have a big protien/fruit/spinach smoothie for breakfast, and a cup of chilli+ a cup of rice+ half an avacado+ hummus + seltzer water+ cranberry juice for lunch and then am so full I only need a yogurt and some fruit for dinner! Its so hearty and filling :)

How to make the Chilli (adapted/modified from Cooking Light,  Vegan)

Ingredients

2 Red Bell Peppers (I didnt have any on hand so I replaced them with two yellow squash for color)
3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon red pepper
1 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon chilli flakes
half a teaspoon salt
4 garlic gloves, thinly sliced
2 cups organic vegetable broth
1 and a half cups peeled butternut squash ( replaced this with several purple organic potatoes)
1 (28) ounce can no-salt added tomatoes
1 (15) ounce can pinto beans rinsed and drained
1 (15) ounce can red beans rinsed and drained
half a cup thinly sliced green onions
2 cups TVP chunks (textured vegetable protein, available in health food stores, ads meat like chunks to the chilli)

1 cup TVP crumbles

Directions:

1. Preheat broiler

2. Soak all the TVP (chunks and crumbles) in a bowl of hot water. If the TVP absorbs all the water, add some more after 10 minutes.

3. Cut bell peppers (or squash) into pieces. Broil the peppers. If using squash skip this step, it will boil in step three.

Yellow squash and purple potatoes

4. Heat a Dutch oven (heavy pot) over medium-low heat. Add oil to pan, swirl to coat. Add onion, cook 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Stir in cumin and add next five ingredients, cook two minutes, stirring frequently.. Add drained TVP. Add bell peppers/squash, broth, squash/or potatoes and tomatoes, bring to a simmer. Cook 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.Add beans, simmer 25 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with green onions. 

Yields 6 Servings (serving size: about 1 and a half cups)
Calories - about three hundred a serving - high protien


This chilli is delightfully earthy and tasty, my man raved about it! Its not too spicy either which I like :)

My rice wasnt any magical recipe, it was this magical product:

The herbs that come with it smell SOOOOOOOOO good, if you make this rice your house will smell GREAT! 


Tip: I made the chilli in a big batch and froze half of it, and I made the rice in a batch to and tupperwared it. So today when I got back from the gym all I had to do was warm up the rice and chilli, melt some spinach into the chilli and make my fresh gucamole. I only used half an avocado as they are high in fat, I covered the other half in lemon juice and put it in a ziplock bag for lunch tomorrow!

Mmm Seltzer Water! Is it better than diet soda for health? What do you guys think?

Wait, chocolate isn't part of this diet?

I'm still doing the four day diet by Dr. Ian Smith.

http://www.amazon.com/Day-Diet-Ian-K-Smith/dp/0312373589

 I really want to do ALL the modules even though I think that the Transition module was honestly the best one for weight loss for me! The other modules are a little too high in calories for my needs I think, especially Smooth and the Protein module! Though, saying that, I still havent tried the vigorous module and I've heard that is where the weight just DROPS off!

 The BEST thing is that I've been doing ALL the working out- my worst week so far I only went FOUR times to the gym (LOL- in the past that would have been my best week!) I'm getting SO much leaner and stronger, its amazing me!! And my body aches virtually every day, but its a good ache :D

I've been slipping a little though- a few drinks with friends at social happenings, cheese (my friends said 'come on, you have been so GOOD' and it was too hard to NOT try different types of cheeses while playing Apples to Apples!! Cheese is my weakness! Greek yogurt and cheese are the reason I will never be able to be a vegan) and I got this awesome Endangered species Dark Chocolate at my local organic store, it is 70% dark, proceeds help wildlife and it has a mint filling...mmmm....but no, not on the diet! Not even under the 'snacks' section!

Something else that has been killing me with the eating plan is the limited flexibility to be able to try new recipes! Just before I started it I brought TWO new cookbooks, and some of my favorite bloggers have also been posting drool inducing recipes I cant wait to try! But I can't! When Dr. Smith says "two servings of vegetables' he really means just that. Boiled or baked. Limited seasoning (I do lemon juice, pepper, salt, chili, braggs, and onions to add a little flavor) I feel guilty if I use marinara sauce at all, and forget about any fancy recipes involving lots of ingredients! Its not on the meal list....oh well...

I'm also not sure I will be able to stick to it 100% this coming Thursday onwards, as I'm getting my wisdom teeth removed and will only be eating SOFT food!

I do like the fact that I can sub in all my vegetarian protein:

Dr. Ian Smith says: On my diet, The 4 Day Diet, vegetarians are having great success, because they can make the substitutions they need to make. The program is very flexible for all types of eating styles whether you’re a vegetarian, vegan, diabetic, etc. If you want non-animal protein, you can load up on legumes and beans and things like chickpeas and lentils. If you eat eggs, egg whites are full of protein also.

Here is a cool sample menu plan I found online at http://www.3fatchicks.com/free-sample-menu-plan-for-the-4-day-diet/

The 4 Day Diet was created by Dr. Ian Smith. This diet is designed with 7 different modules, each lasting 4 days. Each module is unique and designed with specific goals. The 7 modules are: Induction, Transition, Protein Stretch, Smooth, Push, Pace and Vigorous. Below are free sample meal plans for each phase of the diet.

Induction

Breakfast:

• 6 oz plain yogurt
• 1 to 2 tsp psyllium husk
• 1 serving of fruit
• 1 cup of coffee with one packet of sugar and 1 tsp of milk or cream

AM Snack:

• 1 pear

Lunch:

• 2 cups leafy green vegetables
• ½ cup brown rice
• 1 apple
• ½ cup blueberries

PM Snack:

• Small side salad with 2 cups of lettuce and 3 tbsp fat free dressing

Dinner:

• 1 cup cooked beans (lentils or chickpeas)
• 1 cups steamed vegetables
• 1 cup brown rice
• 1 orange

Transition

Breakfast:

• 1 cup of coffee with 1 tsp milk and 1 packet sugar
• 6oz yogurt
• 1 tbsp low fat granola
• ½ cup berries

AM Snack:

• ½ cup low fat cottage cheese

Lunch:

• ½ cup cooked black eyed peas
• 1 cup berries
• 1 cup raw carrots

PM Snack:

• 1 fat free pudding snack

Dinner:

• 4 oz grilled fish
• 2 cups green salad
• 3 tbsp fat free dressing

Protein Stretch

Breakfast:

• 2 egg whites scrambled with a strip of turkey bacon

AM Snack:

• 1 hardboiled egg

Lunch:

• 2 slices whole wheat bread
• 4 oz lean roast beef
• 1 tbsp low fat mayonnaise
• ½ banana
• 1 cup bell peppers and cherry tomatoes

PM Snack:

• Small protein shake (200 calories or less)

Dinner:

• 1 cup navy beans
• 1 cup brown rice, cooked
• 1 cup steamed vegetables

Smooth

Breakfast:

• 1 serving cereal
• 1 cup fat free or skim milk

AM Snack:

• 2 oz cheese
• 3 to 5 whole wheat crackers

Lunch:

• 2 cups green salad
• 3 tbsp fat free dressing
• 1 cup cooked lentils
• ½ cup strawberries

PM Snack:

• 1 apple
• 2 tbsp peanut butter

Dinner:

• 2 medium slices of pizza (no meat)
• 1 cup green salad
• 1 cup steamed vegetables

Push

Breakfast:

• 6 oz plain fat free yogurt
• 1 smashed banana
• 1 tbsp wheat germ
• ½ tbsp peanut butter

AM Snack:

• 2 cups baby carrots

Lunch:

• 2 cups green salad
• 3 tbsp fat free dressing
• 1 cup raw carrots
• 1 pear

PM Snack:

• ½ large banana

Dinner:

• 5 oz skinless, boneless chicken breast
• 2 cups steamed vegetables
• 1 cup freshly squeezed lemonade with 1 tsp sugar

Pace

Breakfast:

• 2 whole wheat frozen pancakes
• 2 tbsp low calorie syrup

AM Snack:

• 1 apple

Lunch:

• 1 cup vegetable or chicken noodle soup
• 2 cups green salad
• 1 cup green tea
• 1 apple

PM Snack:

• 1 pear

Dinner:

• 5 oz grilled fish
• 2 servings of steamed vegetables

Vigorous

Breakfast:

• 6 oz fat free yogurt
• 1 tsp psyllium husk
• 1 apple
• 1 cup of coffee with one packet of sugar and 1 tsp of milk or cream

AM Snack:

• 2 oz lean roast beef

Lunch:

• 2 cups green salad
• ½ cucumber, sliced
• 1 cup steamed vegetables
• 1 orange

PM Snack:

• 1 reduced fat cheese stick

Dinner:

• 1 cup green salad
• 1 cup steamed vegetables
• 1 ½ cup broth based soup
• 1 pear

The meal plans above are designed for each module of the 4 Day Diet. For several modules, Dr. Smith provides strict meal plans that remain the same for each day, yet with other modules, the meal plans vary from day to day. In addition to following the meal plan, be sure to add the recommended exercises to your daily routine. Within 28 days, you should start to have healthier eating habits and see some change in your weight and body fat.

Happy July 4th! And an update on my progress on the Four Day Diet

/hihi How was your Independence Day?

I took a day off on Monday from my diet (I've had one cheat day per module it seems LOL...oh well, I've still been going to the gym at least 5 days a week and have lost 4 pounds!)

We went to a pool party, then had a BBQ with friends and watched fireworks:



A very cute cat has usurped my friends chair!!




Decked out in my red white and blue!




the men cooking for us- how it should be





obviously a vegetarian cookout LOL





YUM





I love fireworks- the sound, the color, the randomness!



watching fireworks late into the night in sweltering hot Florida!

 I finished the four days of the Protein module on Dr. Ian Smith's 'Four Day Diet' ( for info on the diet see http://finallyfit4summer.blogspot.com/2011/06/detox-time.html) 

Things I liked about the Protein module:

There was a LOT of allowed food and I didnt even eat everything on the list! I felt REALLY full the entire time! I think he plans the diet like that, so you aren't in 'starvation mode' as some modules have a LOT of food!

I had lots of energy for working out + loved the post workout protein shakes! And discovered a yummy mango protein smoothie mmm....

 I substituted all the animal protein for low fat vegetarian protein (soy sausages, scrambles, unfried burger patties)

The main thing I DIDN'T like? Not losing anymore weight! But I'm doing the PUSH module next, so that should do the trick! And my muscles are all charged up with protein now :)

I started the Push Module yesterday. I skipped out on 'Smooth' which was next in the book, deciding to save it for when I feel I need it (Smooth allows you to eat pizza etc for a few days in moderation if you want)

I went to Wards, our local, organic store and loaded up on veggies and things I'd need for the next four days in the 'PUSH' module:


my veggies! Less than $30 too!

  I found purple organic sweet potatoes! How cool is that! (One of the 'snacks' you can have is a small sweet potato!)  I got crisp organic apples, they are the best! All the other apples look way to huge and shiny, not natural!  I only get as much fruit as I know I'm going to eat so it doesn't rot- 2 apples, 2 pears, an orange..the only thing not entirely on the list is the Baklava...I swear I will just nibble on a little piece daily!!

Day Three of my Detox (aka. The Four Day Diet)

Day three was my turning point. I finally didnt feel weird and actually woke up full of energy and waaay before my alarm clock! I think the first two days were really rough as all my toxins made their way out my body and I got used to eating a really clean diet! I THOUGHT I ate pretty healthy, but I don't usually eat that much fresh food (fruits for breakfast, vegetables for snacks? Um..NO!)

When I attempted to do this two years ago I don't think I even followed it as well as I am now- sure I made salads. But I loosely interpreted "Garden Salad" and chucked all sorts of stuff into my 'salad'....croutons and creamy dressings DO make a difference in calories and the 'cleanliness' of the food (I hope that makes sense!)

This doesn't count as a "Salad" either!

There is something about fresh, un-microwaved food that makes you feel great :D

I prepped most of my food for the day the night before, I like how easy it is to just look at the foods allowed for the day and follow that, it takes out all the thinking/calorie counting and makes it foolproof! What I ate:

Breakfast:

A cup of fresh raspberries (SOO plump and juicy!) mixed with a 6oz Stonyfield pomegranate yogurt (Dr. Ian recommends you eat yogurts with fruit on the bottom, this one was great!) and one banana.

And a glass of lemon juice (water, 1tbsp raw honey, fresh squeezed lemon wedge)

I prepped my fruit salad  the night before and put it in a Tupperware, which turned out to be convenient as I couldn't scarf it all down before work for breakfast, so I just took the rest with me! I had it as a mid-morning snack, during a break at work. I sat outside in the sunshine, eating raspberries and reading this brilliant book:

Lunch:

Another small garden salad, this time I added mushrooms and used a sesame Asian ginger sauce for dressing to reduce my boredom with garden salads!

 

I also included my allowance of chickpeas/beans in this salad because it looked to small to keep me going through a work day without them!

Dinner:

Dinner? On a cleanse? ha ha... Actually, I was allowed to make CABBAGE SOUP tonight! WOWWW don't all get jealous at once now....

 

It actually tasted pretty darn good! I got home, feeling kinda hungry and pretty ready for dinner.. and discovered that it was going to take FIFTY minutes to make the soup according to Dr. Ian Smith's recipe, so I modified it by doing it in a pressure cooker (THANK God, or I may have just started eating the cutting board....)

 The soup has potatoes, carrots, onions and ham in it...I substituted the ham with two of these Gardein Chicken Scallopini made with soy and quinoa and kamut...

they are only 90 calories each and I stock up on them when they are BOGO!

The recipe makes a TON of soup by the way....my man had some too, he actually liked it! And I have a ton of cabbage soup in my fridge if anyone is interested...

I was allowed one cup...

Plus 2 cups of spinach....I skipped out on the spinach and had another half a cup of soup instead I was so over cooking by that point and still had to get to the gym

The Gym:

I did my 40 minutes of cardio....I definitely notice a decrease in my strength and energy on the harder cardio compared to my usual carb fueled self....but it felt great in the end!

Day three done...my stomach is REALLY flat and unbloated, I think its the lack of diet soda and sugar in my life :D

Day Two of the Detox (aka the Four Day Diet)

/hihi!

Today is the first day of summer! Yay :D I love sunshine, BBQs, and being by the water!Even more so after living in England for a bit, I even appreciate Floridas crazy hot summers  after living through the British winter LOL

In the Bahamas in 2010

 And I reached my goal that I first set when starting this blog, of being 130 pounds by the summer time! Now I'm only 10 pounds away from my final goal for the YEAR which is to be 120  pounds! Can't wait!

Day Two of my Detox (aka Dr. Ian Smith's "Four Day Diet")  started out great. I had my tofu scramble for breakfast and it was delicious!!

Basically I cooked crumbled tofu with nutritional yeast, chilli, a little torn spinach, tomatoes and mushrooms (less than half a cup of veggies in total)

I also had a Naked Berry juice for my fruit intake for the day, which contains: 3.25 apples, 1 banana, 27 blueberries, 1 blackberry, 38 mg vitamin b3, 11 mcg vitamin b12, 114 mg vitamin c, 19 mg vitamin b, 4 mg vitamin b6, 13g fiber, 57iu vitamin e.

 (I was trying to load more of my eating towards the beginning of the day- this backfired later though when I was hungry after work and wanted to snack on fruit but had consumed my quota for the day already!)

For lunch I had a garden salad (3 cups) and a cup of brown rice

Dinner was a cup of cooked down spinach with lemon juice (not a dinner I looked forward to haha!) /wahaha

I dragged myself to the gym...well, I went with my man so his enthusiasm gave me energy :D He has been great and really supportive lately! His music player died but he still went and did a 50 minute work out without any music (something I couldn't do!!  My music is the only thing that gets me through work outs!) Having him with me always helps :D

My rock --- >

He is also a vegetarian by the way, (and in his line of work where he hangs out with firefighters all day thast pretty brave!) and very strong even though he hadn't been working out for about a year!

He benched my entire weight + yesterday! =D>

There are a lot of great athletes who are vegetarian-  Bill Pearl and Clarence Bass were vegetarians and a couple other legendary bodybuilders were as well. Robert Dos Remedios, is vegetarian and is a lean 240 pounds and in incredible shape. Jon Hinds is a vegan, in his mid 40’s and is jacked and strong as could be. The greatest tight end in NFL history, Tony Gonzalez is also a vegetarian and obviously it hasn’t hurt him in the least.

I tried my hardest and did my 40 minutes cardio - 25 on the elliptical, 15 running - it was SOOOO hard though! /sweat

My legs felt like lead, my body ached from the previous days work out, I didn't have as much energy as usual.....but I felt a lot better at the end. My sore neck and back disappeared :D

My man and I traded back and calf/foot muscle massages afterwards too and that was great, my body needed it!!  One of my favorite parts of being in a relationship is having someone to trade massages with whenever I need one! /XD

The major downside to living with a man though? Man food. Delicious smelling, cheesy, fattening man food smells wafting through the house at all hours of the day...I had to watch him wolf down his yummy dinner of eggplant, tofu and cheddar smothered tortillas while I munched on spinach LOL

I had to fight the urge to ask for a bite....ahhh!!

When he washed it all down with a new type of blonde pale ale he found at our local organic store I was soooo tempted to cheat but I didnt, having this blog helps me stay accountable! And I REALLY want to lose weight and detox!

I felt fine going to bed that night though, wasn't too hungry. And I woke up half an hour before my alarm on Day Three, FULL of energy :D (weird huh!?!)

I've also been reading comments from people who have done the 4 Day Diet - this one is inspiring:

 went on this diet a year ago…lost 17 pounds in just over a month…I did the first month of modules and then another three modules…at that point I felt I had control of it and I have kept the weight off. I found myself craving salads with beans and rice (instead of things like icecream). He is right, just focus on the four days until you learn portion control. I needed a refresher and this diet (I prefer to think of it as healthy eating) did it for me. I have a bit of arthritis and found when I cut back on meat and focused on fruits and veggies and water (like he states in diet) that my joints didn’t ache as much. It is successful…on vacation I put on three pounds but that quickly disappeared again when I just “focused and remembered” what was good for me. I would now like to take off another 15 pounds and am going to go through it again.