I said NO to brunch today

I have 2 countdowns taking place right now:

1. Countdown to girlie weekend in Vegas (Dec 3rd to 6th) 

2. Countdown to Group Weigh-In (Dec 13th) 

Time's run out. No room for excuses. The scale doesn't lie and my clothes need to get looser and fast! 

There is no place for major errors and all my slimming down efforts need to be increased and maintained for the next 3 weeks. Treats will be to a minimum and fruits and veggies will be at an all time max.

The prize for the biggest loser (% weight lost) - $900 to go towards my new slimmer me wardrobe which I desperately need! I'm wearing baggy size 12 & 14 clothes when I'm actually a size 10/11, ack!

Goals to achieve/maintain for the next 3 weeks:

1. Increase dietary fiber (ensure I'm eating 25g/day)
2. Get 7.5+ hours of sleep per night (I know this works!)
3. Take a multivitamin each day
4. Drink 9+ glasses of water per day
5. Reduce sodium (minimal sea salt additions)
6. Exercise for 60minutes min, 5+ days a week with lots of cardio, crossfit/boxing classes and hot yoga
7. Increase protein intake (aim for150g/day)
8. Plan, plan, plan and then plan some more. Then, of course, revisit these goals on a daily basis and modify, increase as needed. 

My friend invited me to brunch this morning. I LOVE brunch. I was made for brunching. If I could brunch everyday I totally would. Alas the place they were brunching at was a great Mexican restaurant that I have been to in the past and there are no healthy options there. Everything is fried, greasy, high calorie, high in fat and highly delicious. 

So I said no. December 14th is going to be a smorgasbord of eating. I know rewarding yourself with food is bad, a serious no-no and is heavily frowned upon but the hope is that I can increase my salad intake and decrease the 'other' food intake knowing that I can have one big treat day in the near future.

Oh gawd, wish me luck.

ROLL CALL:

Breakfast

Protein shake:

3/4 cup 1% milk
1 scoop of protein powder (25g of protein)

1/4 cup bananas

1 tbsp peanut butter

1 tbsp Nestle chocolate sauce

Dash of stevia (all natural sweetener)

Snack:   Elevate Me protein bar-Banana Nut bread flavour  (16g protein/9g fiber)

Lunch

1 small turkey breast and brie cheese (1oz) whole wheat panini

1 cup chick pea and red bean salad

1 cup fresh fruit (cantaloupe, red grapes, honeydew melon, watermelon)
Dinner
Garden salad
Rotisserie  chicken

EXERCISE:

15 minutes StairMaster (level 13)

25 minutes treadmill sprints

5 minutes ab work

10 minutes stretching

DRINKS:
8 glasses of water

1 cup Cafe Mocha with 2% milk

1/2 bottle Vitamin water - xxx

Happy Eating!

Brunch photo credit

Dear scale: I love you.... P.S. I still love you

183.5lbs! (Down 4lbs from last Friday)
Thank you scale, thank you!

This award means so much to me! First of all, I would like to thank water, of which I drank 10+ glasses per day this week; protein shakes- which I brought back into the rotation and have certainly contributed to this award; a big thanks to me for forgetting to set the alarm last night so I got an extra 1 hour and 15 minutes of sleep today (and you know what that means!) and I would especially like to thank my friend who stood me up yesterday for dinner (it was a guy dinner too, which I love!) which allowed me to go to spin class instead to get all that annoyance and anger out. Argh!

Thank you and I hope to see all of you (well most except for you - jerky guy friend!!) next Friday @ 181.5lbs!

ROLL CALL 
Breakfast (9:15am):
Smoothie
Scoop of protein - (25g of protein)
1/4 cup of strawberries
1/4 cup of blueberries
1/3 banana
1/2 cup of milk
1 1/4 cup plain, full fat yogurt

Mid morning snack (11:15am):
2 oz Boursin cheese
5 crackers

Lunch (1:15pm):
Pita Salmon wrap

Mid afternoon snack (3:30pm):
1 'Elevate Me' brand protein bar (15g protein)

DRINKS:

10 glasses of water

3 cups of green tea (1 tea bag and mug refilled 3 times)

EXERCISE: None today. Quads are still a little tender from the spin class. Plus I slept in over and hour which threw my whole schedule off. Will do a 1.5 hour boxing class this Sunday to make up for it and 1hr+ in the gym tomorrow morning.

Dinner (7:30pm to ???):
TBD (to be determined) My girlfriends and I are going to the mall and I plan to eat there. Could be good or could be disastrous (Mrs Fields, ManChu Wok,  oh the devilishly delicious possibilities are endless! )

Wish me luck!  I will cruise off my 4lb weight loss till Monday!

***update****

I think if there was a wagon then I not only fell off it but ran like heck in the opposite direction, hopped on a train and kept going. Whoops! Better luck tomorrow. ;)

It began innocently enough at that food whore- Mrs. Fields:

• 2 mini milk chocolate with pecans
• 1 mini pecan fudge brownie

We then did some shopping and circled back to the food court and to U-Grill for dinner:

• 3 cups grilled veggies 
• 3 oz shrimp, beef and teriyaki chicken
  
• A reasonable serving of chow mein noodles

We then proceeded to Old Navy and surprise! It was their customer appreciation night where I indulged in:

• 2 mini chocolate chip cheesecake bites
  
• 1/2 can of grape soda

Full from the Old Navy love, we then shopped the rest of the mall and ended the night at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory where I had:

• A free sample (a sliver really) of the chocolate and caramel covered apple
• 100g of chocolate and pecan covered English toffee (my absolute favourite of all time!)
  

Then on the way home, I needed something salty (too much sweet!) so I picked up:

• A small container of spinach dip
• A crusty french roll

I turned down late night drinks with friends (shopping is so tiring!) and now I'm craving a big dish of good ol' poutine from down the block (For those of you who don't know, it's fries, topped with cheese curds and smothered in gravy - a late night staple). But instead I will write in the blog, chug a few more glasses of water and then make myself go to bed. 


At least this way, in my dreams I can munch on all the poutine my heart desires! The only calorie/fat free way to go. :)

Happy Dreaming Eating!




Trophy Photo credits: www.lumaxart.com/
Poutine Photo Credit: fritwit

Wanna slim down? Get to bed early

ROLL CALL (ie Daily Food Diary)

Breakfast (930am):

1/2 cup of full fat plain yogurt

3/4 cup of sliced strawberries

1/4 cup of Terra Breads granola mix

(I also had a grapefruit to eat but I didn’t feel like eating much)

Lunch (1230pm):

(Brought a garden salad and a chicken breast to work but didn’t feel like having it so went to café @ work instead)

1 Veggie samosa

1 cup - chick pea salad (chick peas, red peppers, vinaigrette dressing, black olives)

Afternoon snack (nibbled between 3pm to 4pm):

1 cup air popped popcorn

4 Ritz type crackers, 1 Tablespoon peanut butter

Dinner (Ate 1/2 @ 530pm & the other 1/2 @ 8pm):

Grilled ham and bocconcini cheese panini on 1/2 whole wheat focaccia

With artichoke hearts, lettuce, tomato and green olives, mustard and 1 tsp of pesto mayo ( I made the sandwich lady take off any extra)

Drinks

6 cups green tea (2 tea bags over the course of the day and refill the portable mug with hot water)

8 glasses of water (still drinking a few more glasses now)

EXERCISE: None today so extra effort should have been made on the eating – Oops. Better luck tomorrow!

SLIMMING DOWN TIP: Get enough sleep!  I couldn't sleep last night and only had 4 hours of rest. I felt listless and tired all day and drank more coffee and tea than usual to perk myself up.
 Don't believe me?? Read the source article from Glamour mag or better yet - try it yourself!