Day 38

I'm weighing in consistently at 135.4!!!! Only 0.4 of a pound until I reach my goal! =D  I've lost 7.6 pounds!! /wahaha

Progress Report:

I'm near my weight loss goal for Spring Break and feel like I will reach it in time :)

Workout:

I've done 12 days of Jillian's 30 day shred. I have done this over the past 27 days, as I started the 30 Day shred on Day 11 of this blog :) I've done at least 4 other days of other types of working out, so I will subtract 4 from 27 - and that means over the past 23 days I've done 12 workouts, which means I did 11 days of not working out, which equates to working out every other day. That is not as bad as I thought!! I felt like I'd done less so that cheers me up :D 


I want to make MORE of an effort though!! Looking over my blog, I noticed my post on sleep. I haven been heeding my own advice about 8 hours much recently, and I want to make that important to me again as I need the energy to work out! Otherwise it is tooo hard!!

So, I've got 18 days of the 30 Day Shred left...and I have 17 full days left before my vacation...I REALLY want to complete the cycle of 30 Day Shredding- so how to do that? I think I will double up my workouts on some days- lets say on the 19th and the 26th- those Saturdays I will do it TWICE (eeek!)


Any tips on getting in daily workouts?? I'm thinking- 8 hours sleep

Breakfast:

Nature's Path Apple Cinnamon Oats

Lunch:

Krishna Lunch! Campus vegetarian group - Mixed Veggies in Sour Cream Sauce with Tofu; New Orleans Rice and Red Bean; Mango Pineapple Halava and Karma Free Tea =) 

Dinner:

Green Goddess Smoothie!

1 banana, 1 cup greek plain yogurt, 1 kiwi, a quater of a mango, strawberries, spianch, almond milk, vanilla essences and a teaspoon of spirolina!

Snack:

I was sooo hungry at about 10pm...I had a veggie burger patty, plain (90 calories) thinking that would make me feel full but I still wanted to eat! I avoided the Hersheys Kisses on the kitchen counter, and made myself a bowl of sauteed fresh spinach with lemon juice, salt and a sprinkling of feta - go me!  

Workout:

Did Level 1 of Jillians Yoga Meltdown- totally kicked me a$$! 
Even harder than the 30 day shred! Will probably do this AFTer I've finished the 30 Day Shred! 

Day 37....only 18 Days until vacation,eeeep!! Oh...and my Cobb house obsession...

Breakfast:

Bruschetta Burger on a deli flat with hummus and coffee= about 300 calories (90 for the burger, 100 for the deli flat, about 40 in hummus and about 70 calories of creamer)

Lunch:

Suneen Avacado and Hummus wholewheat 415 calories

Dinner:

I made a Green Goddess with strawberries, a mango, blueberries, a banana, yogurt, almond milk, spirolina powder and spianch- YUM, and the quickest way to down those nutrients

Have you heard of Cob or Cobb houses? I'm a bit obsessed! I recently heard about them from a friend who is very into sustainable living and discovered that out of all the eco friendly housing options, they are cheap and very cute!

These houses have been around for hundreds of years, especially in Devon, England, where my mothers ancestors are from, many still surviving hundreds of years later!

Traditional Devon Cobb house

Definition: In Old English, cob was a root word that meant lump or rounded mass. Cob houses are made of clay-like lumps of soil, sand, and straw. Unlike adobe and straw bale construction, cob does not use bricks or blocks. Instead, wall surfaces can be sculpted into smooth, sinuous forms. A cob home may have sloping walls, arches and lots of wall niches. 

Cob homes are one of the most durable types of earth architecture. Because the mud mixture is porous, cob can withstand long periods of rain without weakening. A plaster made of lime and sand may be used to windproof the exterior walls from wind damage.
Cob houses are suitable for the desert or for very cold climates.

Cute Hobbit House!!!

 

Gorgeous Cob house!

customizable!

Day 36 Back to the daily grind

So after taking the day off from work for Valentine’s day its back to the office (sigh!)

Breakfast:

My 'Green Goddess', a delicious green morning smoothie full of nutrients and an easy way to get my daily fruits and veggies!

It really tastes like a normal berry/banana smoothie but is sooo good for me - read more about the green monster movement here :)


http://greenmonstermovement.com/

Green Goddess

 The Green Goddess

2 Activia strawberry yogurts

1 banana

A handful of blueberries

1 teaspoon of spirolina powder

2 big handfuls of spinach

Some cranberry juice

Blended- yummy!! And quick. About 300 calories

Lunch:

Leftovers from valentines day- paneer/cauliflower/peas/potatoe ‘subji’ aka/curry and quinoa
About 500 calories

Valentines day food from which I had leftovers

Dinner:

A veggie burger with side salad. Im loving the Boca Bruschetta burgers, very tasty!
About 300 calories

Workout:

I DID it! I had to do two hours of reading after dinner and still have a ton of washing up to do from all my vday cooking, but I prioritized my workout over the dishes! I did Level 2 of Jillians 30 Day Shred, Day 11! 

Go ME! I felt good afterwards, but it was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO hard to do it at 10pm at night, but after work and homework it was the ONLY time I had! :(

Day 32, Day 33, Day 34, Day 35

So on Friday I can't actually remember what I ate, but I know it was healthy as my weight was maintained and my stomach flat ;)


I also did Day 10 of Jillian's 30 Day Shred.....and about a half hour of yoga after that, it felt really nice to do on a Friday evening, I loaded up some YouTube videos for upper and lower back yoga and dimmed the lights, it was really relaxing and made my back feel great!!


Saturday was a hectic day as I made a last minute hair appointment! I had to rush there, so only had a half a deli flat for breakfast and then a green monster after 4pm when I got home! The ombre she did on my hair turned out wonderful though, so it was worth the hunger!! I had a veggie burger and 100 calorie yogurt for dinner and was at an all time low the next morning on the scale. I couldn't work out though, as my stylist forbid it after my blow dry loL! But I did go to the mall and walk around for a few hours, Im sure thats allowed ;)

My Inspiration pic of ombre

Sunday was all about eating healthy, I had a green monster for breakfast and then some Indian food at a friends house for dinner, perfect hearty meal :)

Monday- well, Valentines day cannot count right? We went out for a lovely breakfast, I had two biscuits and a half order of french toast with lots of coffee.

 It was such a perfect sunny morning with my love :D I then made us an awesome dinner (we didn't really do anything for lunch, we were full!!)

We dont really go in for the whole 'commercial' side of valentines day.....my man doesnt really care for cards (or hallmark!) or teddy bears etc, and I dont really want him wasting $$$$ on flowers- instead, he got me some super thoughtful and cute gifts, and I cooked a whole ton of his favorite things, buying all the groceries with my own money too!

I made an Indian themed dinner (its a cuisine I can cook really well having grown up there!) I made a curry/subji of panner (indian cheese, deep fried!) and peas, cauliflower, potatoes in a sour cream and tomato sauce..mmmmmmm

I made a tomato based quinoa to make it red...so I could shape it into a heart on the plate...sooo cute! I wanted red quinoa but the store was out, and I didnt have any beet juice to dye it red with, so tomato was the next best thing :)



I made beer battered potatoes made with IPA, as it is a flavorsome beer, perfect for cooking!


I also made him his moms snickerdoodles as a surprise, with Hershey's kisses in the middle of them, it was really cute to see how excited he got when he saw them! I also made him a big, beautiful strawberry cheesecake!

 The cheesecake was really the most amazing thing, I couldnt believe I actually made it, it came out sooooo good, and my strawberry swirled heart and word "Love" on it baked well too!! I think the condensed milk I put in it, and the touch of vanilla, really made it pop! I'd love to make a mango cheesecake next!! Its so fun.
We also shared a nice bottle of champagne, my treat :)

The pink packages are some of the presents he got ME, the food is my pressie to him :)

Surprisingly, I wasnt thaaaat hungry- a small portion of the subji/quinoa filled me right up and I had to make sure not to eat tooo much so I had room for cheesecake :D

Overall, a pretty healthy weekend, except for valentines day ;) Thankfully, my man got me lots of awesome presents OTHER than candy or chocolate as he knows better lol! Instead, he was very supportive because.......guess what? As part of my presents he got me Jillians YOGA DVD!! /XD

What a PERFECT present!! I will alternate it with my 30 Day Shred!! 

One of my other favorite presents is the book on makeup he got me. He went to Books A Million to find a book on something that interested me....he couldnt find me a book on vegetarian recipes under 300 calories (awww, he remembered me saying I'd love to find a book like that!!) but instead found a book on makeup technique as he knows I love playing around with my warpaint lol! I'm learning a lot too, didnt realize how good an investment makeup brushes are, or that I shouldnt be tugging on the skin under my eye when I apply concealer, but apply it with a brush instead! Oops...lol

PS - I had a WONDERFUL low weight on Saturday and Sunday, but I knew I'd be baking and cooking for my guy on Valentines day and so my weight today wouldnt be that low again, my big hope today is that it goes back to Saturday/Sunday's low as it was only one bad day!!

Day 31....Valentines Day on my mind!

I spent most of my morning at work looking at amazing recipes from various food bloggers in preparation for valentine’s day!  I LOVE celebrating valentines day, a day especially for couples in love :D

 Some people hate the day, but I think its great to commemorate love. Love and romance are almost derided by modern society, which seems to place money, looks and other  superficial values above it these days!  True Love, is amazing, life changing and a challenge at times,  it thoroughly deserves a special day all to itself!

However, I dont have a huuuuge presents budget at the moment! Our spring break Mexico holiday is coming up soon (YAY, so excited, its too long since our last proper vacation!), /XD and our four year anniversary is in March, so I'm saving my cash up for that! 

I still want to give my man something special though, because I know he will surprise me with some cute things (especially after I gave him a book on how to be romantic LOL! I thought that after 4 years together he could use some fresh, cool ideas!! I want to read the book too but he wont let me, he wants all the ideas to be a big surprise/secret!)

I'm excited, in our time together he has always gotten me great gifts, the first thing he ever gave me after only 3 months together was a silver/gold and diamond pendant, and we were in India together too finding something that nice took a lot of effort and searching as finer jewellry is hard to come by, he had to go specifically find a 'western' style store in a nearby 'big' city!  /blush

There are sooo many amazing food ideas online, really mouth watering treats! But maybe browsing the web looking at glossy color photos wasn’t the best idea, it made me SOO hungry! Despite having a healthy breakfast! I absolutely wolfed down lunch!

Breakfast:

180 calories of Apple Spice Oats with one banana chopped into it (100 calories) and coffee (thank GOD lol, without coffee this morning I would have been a sleepy owl all day!) 50 calories

Total= 330 calories

Lunch:

About 600 calories I think…..once again I went to the vegetarian lunch on campus, and got a plate that included salad, rice with beans, potatoes in a pesto type sauce, and tea, all for $4! It was a bargain, and so hot and yummy on a cold, rainy day. I had to wear my new purple rain boots out from my office to get there, as big puddles have pooled around the campus!

Dinner:

I’m going to make another Green Goddess!! I had a massive lunch and am so full, so the Green Goddess will give me some lovely low calorie, not toooo filling nutrients. Much needed too as everyone around me is coughing and sniffling, I saw a report on the news where they said February is the month with the most colds and flus, I’ve already had a bout in December and sure don’t want one again!

I'm thinking spinach, yogurt, fruit and flax seeds blended :)

Workout:

We have friends coming over this evening, but I really hope I can get a gym workout in or at least a 20 minute Jillian Session in, I feel SOOO much better when I do, my muscles are limber and my back doesn’t ache after a days work J

Day 30 of eating right, and day 9 of Jillian's 30 Day Shred

Breakfast

So Laura from http://tailwaggin.wordpress.com/ suggest I try green monsters!

http://greenmonstermovement.com/


Now I'd read about them ages ago, but never had fresh spinach on hand or thought to actually make one! But since I've gotten healthier, I've had bags of fresh spinach in the fridge (great snack wilted and hot with lemon juice and salt, or thrown into hot soups etc, I've been trying to work it into my diet more!) and I've been making fruit smoothies alot (the best way to quickly use up fruit that is starting to get a bit soft, and yogurt thats close to its expiration date lol!) :D

So this morning, I got up early (would not have thought this possilbe- I didnt acutally fall asleep earlier but for some reason I woke up at 5.45am feeling energetic? Maybe this healthy eating is actually working :D!)

Workout

And I did Day 9 of Jillian's 30 Day Shred at Level 2- couldnt put quite as much energy into it as I do at the end of the day, but it felt great and I got it out the way!

And then I made breakfast-

The Green Goddess

2 Activia Peach Yogurts (would have used Greek but finished it yesterday! 70 calories each)

A dash of no sugar added Cranberry juice

1 medium sized banana (100 calories)

3 Strawberries and half a cup of blueberries (about 50 calories) It as all I had left, I've been plowing through my fruit!

2 big handfuls of spinach (about 15 calories)
About 300 calories total, perfect

I blended it, and dubiously took a sip- it was delicious :D

I thought the spinach may make it a bit bitter, but the sweetness of the Activia's was more than enough to make it taste really really good!! I took a picture of my first Green Monster, I'll upload it later :)
 
Lunch

I've made some baked squash and baked sweet potato, not sure of the calorie content but its a small enough container and I wont stuff myself :)

Snack

100 calorie, whole wheat vitatop (cranberry)

Dinner
I used two 100 calorie whole wheat pitas to make 'pizza' - with half a cup of sauce, mushrooms, bell peppers and paremsan cheese plus a few kalamatas :) Yum!!

Day 29

/hihi

PHEW!! My weight is back down to 136.8- I was worried after Super Bowl Sunday's splurge but it seems my body just rebounds, great! :D In the past, it would have stuck!!

Breakfast:

A super smoothie- greek plain yogurt, 1 cup of blueberries, 4 strawberries, 1 banana = YUM
and coffee

approx. 350 calories

Lunch:

Amy's Light and Lean Spinach Lasanga
250 calories

and an Activia Light Strawberry Yogurt- 70 calories

Snack:
Well, I'd brought a bag of carrots to work but there was no ranch in the fridge like I'd thought so I went with the CranBran Vitatop - 100 calories

770 so far for the day

Dinner:

I was so ravenous when I got home I couldnt wait 45 minutes to make soup from scratch, so I boiled up some butternut squash and cut it into some Amy's Lentil Soup (200 calories for the soup), and topped it with fresh corriander and a tablespoon of fat free sour cream (about 350 calories I guess??).

At the same time I roasted some squash and sweet potatoes for lunch tomorrow. :D

I had an intense sugar need, so I baked a handful of blueberries in half a cup of yogurt topped with granola, then chilled it, it came out yummy (not as amazing as the pie I made recently, but waaay less calories as there was no pie crust!)