Fresh Start: Week 4

Continuing with my focus to eat MORE protein, LESS carbs, and gain muscle while losing fat. Over the first three weeks I lost 4″ and 1.5 pounds.  Here’s to week 4!

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DAY 22: Tuesday 7/14
CALORIES CONSUMED: 1,658   EXERCISE:  – 451    NET:   1,207
FITBIT STEP COUNT: 15,258
CARBS TO PROTEIN:   92 / 142

Coffee w/Half & Half and Torani Sugar-free flavoring
Breakfast: 1 egg + 2 egg whites, 1/4 cup oatmeal
AM Snack: Medifast Mashed Potatoes topped with cheese & greek yogurt
Lunch: Protein Power pancakes with cream cheese and raspberries
EXERCISE:  100 mix of hamstring curls w/stability ball and glute bridge lifts, then 10-minutes of ab work
PM Snack: Medifast Pudding w/greek yogurt & TVP crunch
Dinner: Caprese salad: mozzarella, tomato, basil, EVOO, balsamic vinegar + tofu for added protein
PM Snack: Zone Perfect bar

I feel like I am stuffing myself eating this much. I cannot stress enough how HARD it is to eat.  I mean, I’m hungry when it’s time to eat, but it’s hard for me to get through a whole meal.  If I were to eat at a restaurant right now, I’d be boxing up 2/3 of my meal!  But this “hard” work is worth it- I keep losing inches and firming up.

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DAY 23: Wednesday 7/15
CALORIES CONSUMED: 1,846  EXERCISE:  -1,105  NET:  741
FITBIT STEP COUNT: 23,216
CARBS TO PROTEIN: 131/ 140

Coffee w/Half & Half and Torani Sugar-free flavoring
Pre-run snack: 1/3 banana
EXERCISE: 2.5 mile run
Breakfast: 1 egg + 2 egg whites, 1/4 cup oatmeal w 1/3 banana mashed in
AM Snack: String Cheese & Zone Perfect Fudge Graham Bar
Lunch: 1 Protein Power pancake with cream cheese and raspberries, dallop of greek yogurt
PM Snack:  EAS Chocolate Shake mixed w/greek yogurt & water, hard boiled egg
Dinner: Salsa Chicken Salad on multi-grain organic tortilla chips with shredded cheese, tomato, pico de gallo, avocado, greek yogurt, olives (basically, nachos!)
PM Snack: Plums….fresh golden plums.  I ate 4 because I couldn’t stop!

Had I not eaten those plums, my carbs to protein ratio would have been 108 / 140.  And that’s with eating those multi-grain chips for dinner, too!

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DAY 24:  Thursday 7/16
CALORIES CONSUMED:  1,441  EXERCISE:  – 1,075   NET:    366  (OH NO!!!)
FITBIT STEP COUNT: 21,457
CARBS TO PROTEIN: 117 / 142

Coffee w/Half & Half and Torani Sugar-free flavoring
EXERCISE: 2.5 mile run
Breakfast: 1 egg + 2 egg whites, 1/4 cup oatmeal + raspberries
AM Snack: Premier Protein Bar
Lunch: 2 hard boiled eggs (one full, one white only) + Medifast Ready to drink Mocha
PM Snack: (oops)
Dinner: Soft taco filled with shredded chicken, pico de gallo, guacamole and cabbage
EXERCISE: Wendy’s 1-hour Circuit Class
PM Snack: post-workout smoothie: greek yogurt, spinach, protein powder, berries, skim milk

I was not hungry today! I wasn’t hungry after my workout either….but I knew I had to have something ‘big’ or I’d really be in trouble.  That smoothie packs 331 calories, 46 grams of protein, 30 carbs- 23 of which are sugar- but natural sugars from the fruit and milk, and only 3 grams of fat.  Super good!!!

On a positive note, my trainer said she could see my abs starting to show! Yay!

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DAY 25:  Friday 7/17
CALORIES CONSUMED:  1,885       EXERCISE:  -881        NET:  1,004
FITBIT STEP COUNT:  18,514
CARBS TO PROTEIN:  141 / 148

Coffee w/Half & Half and Torani Sugar-free flavoring
EXERCISE: 1.8 mile run (ugh, I gave up, it just wasn’t working for me)
Breakfast: 1 egg + 2 egg whites, 1/4 cup oatmeal + raspberries + greek yogurt
AM Snack: Nature Valley peanut butter granola bar (it’s what I had in my car, bad planning), 2 hardboiled egg whites,
Lunch: smoothie: greek yogurt, spinach, protein powder, berries, skim milk, oatmeal
PM Snack: Zone Perfect Peanut Butter bar + hardboiled egg
Dinner: giant taco salad with shredded chicken, guacamole, salsa, romaine hearts and greek yogurt (instead of sour cream)
PM Snack: Monster Sugar-free, peanut butter on whole wheat (slice), string cheese

Today was a grab’n’go kind of day- I was in and out running errands and doing a bazillion things.  It was party prep night, too.

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DAY 26:  Saturday 7/18
CALORIES CONSUMED:  2,528      EXERCISE:  -563       NET:   1,965
FITBIT STEP COUNT: 16,031
CARBS TO PROTEIN: 197 / 121  

It’s our annual Summer BBQ Day- ultimate cheat day after 4 amazing weeks of weight loss.

Coffee w/Half & Half and Torani Sugar-free flavoring
Breakfast: 1 egg + 2 egg whites
AM Snack: Zone Perfect PB Bar
Lunch: breakfast burrito: chicken, eggs, cheese, salsa, bacon + Medifast Mocha
PM Snack: Pure Protein bar
Dinner: hamburger patty with melted cheddar cheese, topped with blue cheese dressing, feta crumbles, bacon crumbles, frank’s red hot sauce and a dallop of guacamole, a small handful of chips and a bite of a danish
Drinks: about 6 lemonade+vodka mixed drinks (over a 7 hour period!)

I have to say- with the exception of the vodka infused lemonades, I think I did very well eating wise!!  No over indulgences with food calories or eating high-carb foods…. just sugar/alcohol drinks!!

ALCOHOL CALORIES:  875
FOOD CALORIES:  1,653
CARBS TO PROTEIN RATIO (WITHOUT ALCOHOL):    71/121

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DAY 27:  Sunday 7/19
CALORIES CONSUMED:  1,778     EXERCISE:  – 211      NET:    1,567
FITBIT STEP COUNT:  10,166
CARBS TO PROTEIN: 84 / 109

Coffee w/Half & Half and Torani Sugar-free flavoring
Breakfast: 1 egg + 2 egg whites
Lunch: hamburger patty with melted cheddar cheese, topped with blue cheese dressing, feta crumbles, bacon crumbles, frank’s red hot sauce, handful of chips, Just Chill fruit drink
PM Snack: 2 plums
Dinner: um, same hamburger as lunch, but with a bun this time!  I was HANGRY.

My Fitbit battery died around 7pm so I put it on the charger, but probably didn’t get much more steps beyond that because I was in bed by 8pm!

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DAY 28:  Monday 7/20
CALORIES CONSUMED:  2,053     EXERCISE:  -648    NET:  1,405
FITBIT STEP COUNT:  20,948
CARBS TO PROTEIN: 89 / 105

Coffee w/Half & Half and Torani Sugar-free flavoring
Breakfast: 1 egg + 2 egg whites
AM Snack: Pure Protein bar (quick and easy, poor planning on my part)
Lunch: ground beef patty topped with feta, blue cheese and Frank’s Red Hot sauce (last patty left over from the party- yay!  They are GONE finally!)
PM Snack: chocolate avocado mousse (added protein powder this time to boost it a bit!)
Dinner: Tofu French Toast (basically, Tofu sticks fried in a skillet with coconut oil, topped with cinnamon and Walden Farms sugar-free syrup- it was so good!).  I also had a few bites of the family dinner- about 1/3 cup of Jambalaya Rice and 6 asparagus spears.  Strange combination, I know.
PM Snack:  another chocolate avocado mousse.

I’ve been soooo hungry today!!

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WEEK FOUR PROGRESS:  

Weight Loss This week:    1.2 pounds !!
Overall Weight Loss:         2.6 pounds
Inches Lost this week:      1/2″
Overall Inches Lost:         4 3/4″

Body Fat Percentage (Calipers):  19%

Inches Lost utilizes the following measurements: natural waist, belly button line, hips, upper thigh

Calipers measure skin fold at back of arm, halfway between armpit and elbow- I have a mole for a marker, skin fold at waist- direct line with belly button, just above/inside hip bone (at natural indentation), and skin fold at thigh, halfway between knee and groin- I have a mole there that I use each time.  Using the same points each time SHOULD be accurate.  Same time of day as well… around lunchtime.

Fresh Start: Week 3

I’m one of those people who HAS to hold myself accountable in order to make progress.  So I’m continuing this journaling until I reach my goals.

As I mentioned before, I’m no longer doing a specific Medifast program, I’m just following the BeSlim approach- making healthy food choices and eating smaller meals every 2-3 hours.  If I feel hungry, I eat, but eat smart.  If I’m eating properly, I won’t feel hungry between meals, but with my added workouts, sometimes that’s not long after eating!

Here we go for Week 3:

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DAY 15: Tuesday 7/7/15
CALORIES CONSUMED: 1,627     EXERCISE:  -288    NET:  1,339
FITBIT STEP COUNT:  13,112
Carbs vs Protein:  190 / 109

Coffee with Half & Half and Torani Sugar-Free Syrup
Breakfast: 2 eggs, Medifast Cereal with whole milk
AM Snack: Special K bar
Lunch:  Stir-fry (teriyaki elk, cabbage, broccoli salad, mushrooms, brown rice)
PM Snack: Greek Yogurt and rhubarb crisp, baby-bel cheese
Dinner: Greek Yogurt and Rhubarb Crisp (bad, I know, but it was soooo good!!)
PM Snack (at class): Medifast Crunch Bar

I started Real Estate school last week.  Thankfully the majority of the lessons are online, and I can use my Treadmill desk while I participate in the course.  But on Tuesday nights, I have a live class to attend, and it’s 3-hours long. That’s 3 hours of sitting!  Plus driving to and from, so 4 hours of sitting.

Further complicating my progress- it’s on the night that I do my circuit class, so that’s one major workout that I’m going to be missing out on every week.  Additionally, I have my daycare job during the daytime, so getting my 10K step minimum is going to be a challenge…..obtaining my 15K ‘average’ will be an even bigger challenge.

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DAY 16: Wednesday 7/8/15
CALORIES CONSUMED:  1,965    EXERCISE:  – 1,251    NET:   714
FITBIT STEP COUNT: 21,434
Carbs vs Protein:  183 / 123

Coffee with Half & Half and Torani Sugar-Free Syrup
EXERCISE:  2.1 mile run
Breakfast: 2 eggs, slice of whole wheat toast w/butter
EXERCISE: 1-hour fitness class with Gwen
AM Snack: Pure Protein Bar
Lunch: tri-tip sandwich- whole wheat bread, mayo, horseradish, cheese, lettuce, tomato and 4oz coca-cola
PM Snack: rhubarb crisp with greek yogurt, mixed nuts
PM Snack: chocolate protein shake (cuz I wanted something sweet and needed to bump up my net calories!)

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DAY 17: Thursday 7/9/15
CALORIES CONSUMED: 1,805     EXERCISE:  – 785    NET: 1,020
FITBIT STEP COUNT: 18,240
Carbs vs Protein:  123 / 126

Coffee with Half & Half and Torani Sugar-Free Syrup
EXERCISE:  2.3 mile run
Breakfast: 1 egg, bowl of Medifast Cereal w/whole milk
AM Snack: none (wasn’t hungry!)
Lunch: last piece of tri-tip (finally!), peanut butter on whole wheat bread
UM, not hungry for 3 hours???  What?????
PM Snack: Caprese Salad: tomato, basil, mozzarella, mixed nuts
Dinner: Soft Tacos: carne asada, cabbage, tomato, salsa
PM Snack: chocolate protein shake- needed to bump up calories and get more protein!

I’m finding it harder to eat- I’m not hungry- not sure if it’s because I’m just super busy and not thinking about it, or if my body simply isn’t hungry- which I’m not sure if that’s a bad thing or a good thing? Does that mean my body is utilizing it’s fat stores to fuel itself so it’s not needing more food….or does that mean it’s storing the food I’m eating so it doesn’t need more food?  I guess time will tell. I’ve had really low NET calories the past few days, which I don’t like.

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DAY 18: Friday 7/10/15
CALORIES CONSUMED: 1,751     EXERCISE:  – 754   NET: 997
FITBIT STEP COUNT: 13,770
Carbs vs Protein:  167 / 117

I started a “new” plan today per the recommendation of my trainer, Wendy.  She’s been telling me for a few weeks now that I need to eat more protein, that I need to strive for 1.5-2 times my body weight…..so that would be 200-260 grams of protein every day.  I’m only consuming an average of 100-120 per day, so I need to DOUBLE that, without increasing my fat or carbs.  That’s going to be a challenge because my favorite protein foods are nuts, greek yogurt, cheese, avocado, eggs, all of which either have high fat or a decent amount of carbs.  Actually, she wants me to keep my carbs below 100.   I’m supposed to stay away from fruit for a couple weeks because fruits are high carb……except berries. So, I’m going to start posting my protein and carb counts daily as well….

Coffee with Half & Half and Torani Sugar-Free Syrup
Breakfast: 2 egg whites, 1 egg
EXERCISE:  Circuit Class with Gwen, followed with a 15-minute run
AM Snack: Dutch Bros White Mocha (yep, I was bad)
Lunch: Pure Protein Bar (meal replacement) and slice of cheese
PM Snack: Medifast Crunch Bar
Dinner: Bowl w/ elk steak, black beans, rice & avocado
PM Snack: Medifast “fudge” (Hot cocoa mix w/peanut butter and greek yogurt, chilled), 3 strawberries

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DAY 19: Saturday 7/11/15
CALORIES CONSUMED:  1.501    EXERCISE:  – 289    NET:  1,212
FITBIT STEP COUNT: 12,138
Carbs vs Protein:  98 / 137 (better!!)

Coffee with Half & Half and Torani Sugar-Free Syrup
Breakfast: 2 egg whites, 1 egg
AM Snack: 1/2 Pure Protein Bar (during CPR class)
Lunch: other 1/2 Pure Protein Bar, slice of cheese
PM Snack: Medifast Pudding mixed w/ 1/2 cup greek yogurt
PM Snack: can of tuna (blah)
Dinner: Yumm bowl (chicken, black beans, pico de gallo, avocado, yumm sauce)
1″ slice of birthday cake….er, graduation cake.  Our neighbor brought it over and I just could not help myself- and it was sooooo good.  But that super sweet sugar after-taste is killing me.  Gah.  Yuck.  Although it tasted delicious at the time, that slime coating in my mouth reminds me that this is not the path to 6-pack abs.  Ha!

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DAY 20: Sunday 7/12/15
CALORIES CONSUMED:  1,625    EXERCISE:  – 268    NET: 1,357
FITBIT STEP COUNT:  12,003
Carbs vs Protein:  65 / 115

Coffee with Half & Half and Torani Sugar-Free
Breakfast: 2 egg whites, 1 egg
AM Snack: Zone Perfect graham bar & slice of cheddar cheese
Lunch: Costco Food Court: turkey provolone sandwich, removed top of bread
Dinner: 3 egg-white omelet with pico de gallo, spinach and cheddar cheese
PM Snack: Raspberries

I was not hungry hardly at all yesterday or today. It’s hard for me to eat enough calories (and I’ve indulged in some high calorie foods!) and even harder to eat enough protein.  Nowhere near the amount my trainer wants me to eat.  So hard!!

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DAY 21: Monday 7/13/15
CALORIES CONSUMED:  1,679   EXERCISE:  -600     NET:  1,079
FITBIT STEP COUNT:  18,346
Carbs vs Protein:   118 / 148

Coffee with Half & Half and Torani Sugar-Free
Breakfast: 2 egg whites, 1 egg
AM Snack: EAS Whey Protein shake with 1/3 banana & 1/2 c almond milk
Lunch: stir fry: chicken thighs, cabbage, broccoli, small amount of yakisoba noodles.  To kick up the protein levels for this meal I also had 2/3 cup greek yogurt with several raspberries.
EXERCISE:  Natalie Jill Fit – Muffin Top Crushing & Bridge Tricep Dip Kicks
PM Snack: Frozen banana blended w/greek yogurt, side of string cheese & 2 hard boiled egg whites
Dinner: Yumm bowl- brown rice, black beans, Yumm sauce, chopped tomato, avocado, pico de gallo, topped with 1/2 a chicken breast.

I ate SO MUCH this day.  It was so hard!!

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WEEK THREE PROGRESS:  

Weight Loss This week:    .8 pounds
Overall Weight Loss:       1.4 pounds
Inches Lost this week:     1 3/8″
Overall Inches Lost:         4 1/4″

Body Fat Percentage (Calipers):  19%

Inches Lost utilizes the following measurements: natural waist, belly button line, hips, upper thigh

Calipers measure skin fold at back of arm, halfway between armpit and elbow- I have a mole for a marker, skin fold at waist- direct line with belly button, just above/inside hip bone (at natural indentation), and skin fold at thigh, halfway between knee and groin- I have a mole there that I use each time.  Using the same points each time SHOULD be accurate.  Same time of day as well… around lunchtime.

Fresh Start: Week 2

At this point, I decided I’m not really following the 4-2-1 plan, but rather just making healthy food choices and eating 6-7 times a day.  I’m still trying to incorporate Medifast Meals as snacks, because I need to USE them since I HAVE them, but I use them more as a base- and add to it in order to ensure I’m eating enough calories.   I have to consume a minimum of 1200 calories on this plan.  It’s not a “diet- eat less” plan, it’s choosing to eat the right things at the right time and eating enough.

I’m definitely taking a more serious approach with my eating and fitness….I no longer have a weight LOSS goal, I have an inches lost and fat loss goal.  My goal is 6-pack abs and a firmer backside!

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DAY 8: Tuesday 06/30/15 
CALORIES CONSUMED:  2,120    EXERCISE:  – 829    NET:  1,291
FITBIT STEP COUNT: 15,735

Coffee with Half & Half and Torani Sugar-Free Syrup
Breakfast: Berry Crunch Cereal w/Almond Milk (didn’t drink milk left in bowl)
AM Snack: 1/2 Avocado, 1 T peanut butter
Lunch: Caprese Salad, nectarines, iced latte (homemade) w/ half almond milk,  half skim.
PM Snack: Medifast Pudding
Pre-workout Snack: Protein Bar (2 hours before), 1/2 Banana, PB on slice of whole grain toast (1 hour before)
EXERCISE:  Gwen’s Fitness Class (1 hour)
Post-workout Snack: smoothie with greek yogurt, 1/2 banana, mixed berries, spinach, ground oatmeal, 1/2 scoop protein powder, skim milk

Wow I ate a lot this day!!

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DAY 9: Wednesday 07/01/15 
CALORIES CONSUMED:   1,609   EXERCISE:  – 690    NET:    919
FITBIT STEP COUNT: 16,367

Coffee with Half & Half and Torani Sugar-Free Syrup
EXERCISE: 2.1 mile run with my 12 year old daughter!!
Breakfast: 2 fried eggs, 1 slice of whole wheat toast w/ butter
EXERCISE: Natalie Jill Fit 100 Glute Bridge Lifts
AM Snack:  Baby-bel Cheese
Lunch: Tri-tip steak, banana
BODY FAT BODPOD MEASUREMENT: 21% (no eating or drinking for 2 hours prior)
PM Snack: PB&J sandwich on whole wheat bread
Dinner: Spaghetti- but instead of noodles I used ‘cucumber noodles’ and brown rice
PM Snack: Banana

I’ve decided I’m kicking up my fitness level and activities….I’m going for six-pack abs and a cheeky-worthy derriere!

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DAY 10: Thursday 07/02/15 
CALORIES CONSUMED:  1,735      EXERCISE:  – 1041       NET:  694
FITBIT STEP COUNT: 24,517

Coffee with Half & Half and Torani Sugar-Free Syrup
EXERCISE: 2.1 mile run (record pace!)
Breakfast: 2 fried eggs, 1 slice of whole wheat toast w/ butter
AM Snack:  Medifast Mashed Potatoes w/sprinkling of shredded cheese & greek yogurt
EXERCISE: Natalie Jill Fit Butt Lift Workout (100 per leg: Donkey Kick Ladder)
Lunch: Bowl with brown rice, black beans, salmon and Yumm Sauce, another coffee
PM Snack: Medifast Pudding
Dinner: Salmon and romaine salad
Pre-Workout Snack: Zone Perfect Bar
EXERCISE: Wendy’s circuit class- 1 hour
Post-Workout Snack: Baby-Bel, Corona (had a friend over)

Gosh I hope I ate enough!!

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DAY 11: Friday 7/3/15
CALORIES CONSUMED:  1,627       EXERCISE:  – 990       NET: 637
FITBIT STEP COUNT:  22,754

Coffee with Half & Half and Torani Sugar-Free Syrup
Breakfast: 2 fried eggs
AM Snack: Medifast Mashed Potatoes with shredded cheese and greek yogurt
EXERCISE: 3-mile walk with hubs!
Lunch: DQ Mini Blizzard- salted caramel truffle (I already had 16,000 steps in by then!)
PM Snack: Mixed Nuts, Banana
EXERCISE:  Natalie Jill Fit 100 Hamstring Curls with a Stability Ball
Dinner: Tri-tip steak slices, Asparagus, Multigrain Sea Salt chips with Organic Salsa
PM Snack: Greek yogurt with cocoa powder and a sprinkling of chocolate chips, Dove Square

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DAY 12: Saturday 7/4/15
CALORIES CONSUMED:   2,459      EXERCISE:  -894    NET:  1,565
FITBIT STEP COUNT:  17,214

Considering it’s the 4th of July…. I think I did pretty well!

Coffee with Half & Half and Torani Sugar-Free Syrup
EXERCISE: 2-mile run with hubs!
Breakfast: 2-egg omelet with shredded cheese, salsa, avocado, 1/4 mango
AM Snack: Zone Perfect Bar
Lunch: Buffalo Chicken dip with celery and multigrain chips
EXERCISE: 1-mile walk with hubs!
PM Snack: Medifast Ready to Drink Mocha
EXERCISE:  Natalie Jill Fit 100 Glute Bridge Lifts with Stability Ball
Dinner: 4th of July!  BBQ Burgers (mine was topped with avocado, blue cheese, Frank’s red hot sauce and I used lettuce for the top bun.  Bottom bun was whole wheat).
PM Snack: 4th of July! 2″ Ghiradelli Brownie topped with a 1/2 cup of tillamook ice cream
ALCOHOL:  2 Coronas
Yay for keeping the holiday healthy!!  Relatively….

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DAY 13: Sunday 7/5/15
CALORIES CONSUMED:  1,615       EXERCISE:  – 220     NET:  1,395
FITBIT STEP COUNT:  12,184

Coffee with Half & Half and Torani Sugar-Free Syrup
Breakfast: 2 eggs
AM Snack: baby-bel cheese, 1 bite of brownie (bad, bad!!)
EXERCISE: 2.5 mile walk with hubs
Lunch: Tri-Tip sandwich: open faced, whole wheat, horseradish mayo, tomato, cheddar cheese, lettuce top
PM Snack: 1 oz of mixed nuts, diet Dr Pepper
Dinner: 2 thin slices of tri-tip, greek yogurt parfait (greek yogurt, blueberries, pumpkin flax granola)
PM Snack:  Dessert- the last of our brownies (we each got 1/2 a brownie- a teeny portion, and 1/2 cup of ice cream)

Desserts are my weakness.

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DAY 14: Monday 7/6/15
CALORIES CONSUMED:  1,384         EXERCISE:  – 356   NET:  1,028
FITBIT STEP COUNT:  12,119

Coffee with Half & Half and Torani Sugar-Free Syrup
Breakfast: 2 eggs
AM Snack:  MF Crunch Bar
Lunch: Smoothie- mango, banana, berry, greek yogurt, protein powder, skim milk
PM Snack:  Banana Ice-Cream Parfait (frozen bananas- blended, topped with greek yogurt and whipped cream)
Dinner:  Stir-fry with elk, broccoli salad mix, cabbage, mushrooms, brown rice
PM Snack: mixed nuts

WEEK TWO PROGRESS:  

Weight Loss This week:    .6 pounds
Overall Weight Loss:         .8 pounds
Inches Lost this week:      1.125
Overall Inches Lost:          2.875

Body Fat Percentage (Calipers):  20%

Inches Lost utilizes the following measurements: natural waist, belly button line, hips, upper thigh

Calipers measure skin fold at back of arm, halfway between armpit and elbow- I have a mole for a marker, skin fold at waist- direct line with belly button, just above/inside hip bone (at natural indentation), and skin fold at thigh, halfway between knee and groin- I have a mole there that I use each time.  Using the same points each time SHOULD be accurate.

A Fresh Start: Week 1

I use LoseIt.com to track all my meals- calories, fat, protein, sugar, carbs, etc.  EVERY BITE that goes into my mouth.  The “Exercise” number is an automated number linked to my FitBit and MapMyRun accounts.  “Net” is the number of calories consumed minus the bonus for exercise.

While my primary goal is the 4-2-1 plan (4 Medifast, 2 meals and 1 snack), it’s more that I’m trying to eat every 2-3 hours, fueling my body with healthy food options, cutting out sugar, simple carbs, sweets, soda and empty calories.

Here’s how Week 1 went…..

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DAY ONE:  Tuesday 6/23/15
CALORIES CONSUMED: 1,388   EXERCISE: -458    NET: 930

Coffee with Half & Half and Torani Sugar-Free Syrup
Breakfast: Medifast Mixed Berry Cereal with Almond Milk (didn’t drink the almond milk left in the bowl, though)
AM Snack: Medifast Hot Cocoa (mixed with 3T cold water and 1 T Peanut Butter, chilled until it was a slab of Fudge!!)
Snack: Baby-bel cheese
Lunch: Non-fat, Plain Greek Yogurt with 1/2 cup of pumpkin flax granola and a 1/2 cup of blueberries
PM Snack: Half of a Premier Protein Bar (going to workout at 6:30)
Pre-workout Snack: Slice of whole wheat toast w/2T Peanut Butter
EXERCISE:  6:30pm – full hour of HIIT Fitness Class- WHEW!
Post-workout Snack: Other half of the Protein bar, 1/2 avocado

Comments: Fitness class always screws up my Tuesdays because I can’t eat an actual dinner.  Also, I shouldn’t be netting less than 1200 calories.  I’ll eat more tomorrow!!

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DAY TWO: Wednesday 6/24/15
CALORIES CONSUMED: 1,871   EXERCISE:  -710     NET: 1161

Coffee with Half & Half and Torani Sugar-Free Syrup
Pre-workout snack: 1/2 Medifast Pudding
EXERCISE:  6:45am- 2.1 mile run
Breakfast: 2 eggs & Medifast Mixed Berries Cereal with Almond Milk (didn’t drink the almond milk left in the bowl)
AM Snack: Medifast Mashed Potatoes w/sprinkling of shredded cheese and 2T Greek Yogurt mixed in
Lunch: Ready-to-Drink Medifast Mocha
PM Snack: Other 1/2 Medifast Pudding, mixed nuts
EXERCISE:  4:00pm Natalie Jill Fit Butt Lift Workout (100 Bridge Glute Lifts & 60 Jumping Jacks)
Dinner: Homemade Yumm! Bowl: brown rice, black beans, Yumm sauce, greek yogurt, salsa, chopped avocado, tomato, black olives and cilantro
PM Snack: 1/2 scoop of Whey Protein powder mixed with almond milk & skim milk & frozen mixed berries

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DAY THREE: Thursday 6/25/15
CALORIES CONSUMED:  1,456      EXERCISE:  -849     NET:    607   (NOT GOOD!!!)

Coffee with Half & Half and Torani Sugar-Free Syrup
Breakfast:  2 eggs & a banana
AM Snack: Medifast Soft Serve Mango
Snack: Baby-bel Cheese
Lunch: Ready-to-Drink Medifast Mocha
PM Snack: Medifast Garlic Mashed Potatoes w/shredded cheese and greek yogurt mixed in
EXERCISE:  Natalie Jill Fit Butt Lift Workout (100 per leg: Donkey Kick Ladder & 3 minutes of jumprope= 11 minutes total)
Here’s where it gets bad….
Dinner: Medifast Crunch Bar on our way to Costco…where I get a Mocha Freeze from the Food Court
Then come home and started setting up our garage sale….. I had 1 beer.
PM Snack: Medifast Pudding w/banana and whipped cream (at 9pm!!!)

I’m really hoping that I don’t screw myself over by having such a low net.  Today’s total was only half of what I’m supposed to net BARE MINIMUM.  Ugh.

——————————————

DAY FOUR:  Friday 06/26/15- Garage Sale Day (from 7am to 9pm!)
CALORIES CONSUMED: 2,065      EXERCISE:  -631     NET:  1,434

Breakast: 2 eggs, Coffee with Half & Half and Torani Sugar-Free Syrup
AM Snack: Baby-bel Cheese
Lunch: Homemade Yumm! Bowl!
PM Snack: Medifast Crunch Bar, Cherries
Dinner: Chicken Taco Salad: romaine, chicken breast, black beans, salsa, avocado, tomato, sour cream
PM Snack: Nectarine
ALCOHOL: 3 Seagram’s Escapes (yikes these have the same calories and sugar as soda!)

We were so busy all day that I couldn’t find any time to eat- nor was I hungry because it was go-go-go.  Sadly, no exercise today either.

——————————–

DAY FIVE: Saturday 06/27/15- Final Garage Sale Day- Not on track/plan AT ALL.
CALORIES CONSUMED:  2,396     EXERCISE:  -623     NET:  1,773

Breakfast: 2 eggs, Coffee with Half & Half and Torani Sugar-Free Syrup
AM Snack: Medifast Crunch Bar
Lunch: Caprese- fresh mozzarella, basil, tomato, olive oil & balsamic vinegar
PM Snack: Polish Dog w/ ketchup & mustard
Dinner: Grilled Tri-tip steak/roast (not eaten as a meal, sadly)
PM Snack: Late night- Small Salted Caramel Truffle Blizzard from DQ
ALCOHOL:  2 Seagram’s Escapes

Once again, so busy there was no time to eat regularly, or eat quality meals.  We actually went to Dairy Queen at 9pm to get Blizzards as our “treat” for working so hard for so long in the 95-degree weather!

————————————

DAY SIX: Sunday 6/28/15
CALORIES CONSUMED:  1,278     EXERCISE:  -577     NET:  701

Another busy day of not fueling my body properly.  So glad the weekend is over!

Coffee with Half & Half and Torani Sugar-Free Syrup
Breakfast: 2 eggs omelet with chopped chicken, avocado, cheese, salsa, bacon bits
Snack: Baby-Bel Cheese, Nectarine and Mango (half of each)
Lunch: Crunch Bar
PM Snack: none
Dinner: Grilled chicken, grilled asparagus, artisan romaine heart w/ Italian dressing
ALCOHOL:  1 Seagram’s Escapes, 1 Corona
Evening walk with hubs….1.0 miles

So that’s 3 days in a row without exercising…..gah!!  I am choosing healthy foods (except for that Polish Dog and the Blizzard), but also a lot of empty calories (alcohol) and not eating regularly, nor enough.

—————————————-

DAY SEVEN: Monday 06/29/15 – Back on Track
CALORIES CONSUMED: 1,647    EXERCISE:  – 482    NET:  1,165

So happy to get back on track!!

Breakfast:  2 eggs, Coffee with Half & Half and Torani Sugar-Free Syrup
AM Snack: Berry Crunch Cereal w/Almond Milk (didn’t drink milk left in bowl)
Snack: Mixed Nuts
Lunch: Chicken Breast, 1/2 slice Garlic toast, mango, asparagus
PM Snack: Pudding w/ half a banana and some whipped cream
PM Snack: Ready-to-Drink Mocha
EXERCISE: Natalie Jill Fit Butt Lift Workout (100 hamstring curls with stability ball w/1 minute high knees = 7 minutes)
Dinner: Grilled Salmon, Brown Rice, Avocado, Asparagus
PM Snack: Mango soft serve mixed with EmergenC
Evening walk with hubs….1.5 miles

—————————————-

WEEK ONE WEIGH IN:  

Weight Loss:    0.20
Inches Lost:     1.75
Body Fat Percentage (BodPod):  21%

–

3 Years Later- Round 2

It’s not Round 2 of going back onto a full-blown Medifast Meal plan…..but it is Round 2 of re-focusing on my eating habits.

Kind of like… “Help!  I’ve fallen!  And I can’t get up!”  Because I have fallen off the wagon and it’s going to take some work to get back up to the top.

I have reverted to my old eating habits.  Slowly….ever so slowly that I didn’t even realize it as it was happening.  But I’m back to consuming bagels and breads almost daily, simple carbs and sweets, snacking on whatever I’m feeding the daycare kiddos (licking the serving spoons again), eating ice cream (those darn Salted Caramel Truffle Blizzards from DQ!), hitting up Starbucks on a weekly basis (Caramel Ribbon Crunch Frappucinos….oh my!), and even (gasp!) indulging in soda a few times a week (good ol’ fashioned Coca Cola).

I felt like I could get away with each indulgence because I am in the best shape of my life.

I’ve been doing HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) workouts, some pretty intense cardio workouts, and I go through phases where I run 10 miles a week (or sometimes a few weeks go by without a single run), I wear my FitBit every day and typically average 15,000 steps a day.  I’m active….much more active than I’ve ever been in my life!

I’ve built a stronger body, more muscle, more endurance.

My clothes began to get tighter, but I assured myself it was just muscle gain.  Or water retention from muscle repair- because oh man was I working out those muscles!  More muscle means you burn more calories, so I started using it as an excuse to be able to eat more.

Recently, after a couple back-to-back weekend trips (where I’ve eaten a lot more calories than normal and indulging in unhealthy foods and alcohol), I stepped on the scale to see I had gone up a few pounds.  My clothes were also TOO tight.  My loose pants were no longer loose…and my tight pants, well, they were too tight.  I had a bulge around my belly and a mini-muffin stop starting to form.  Nothing like my “before” pictures, thank goodness, but I was certainly on the track to get that old body back!  You CANNOT out exercise a bad diet.

I needed to turn this ship around NOW.

I debated going back on the 5&1 for a couple weeks as a re-start….but I can’t do that plan because of my workouts.  I’m not going to give up my workouts.

I debated trying the Beach Body program that my friends have had success on, but frankly it looks like A LOT of work to pre-fill portions of food into the correct color cups and then eat the correct amount every day…. I mean, that involves a lot of meal planning in advance, for EVERY meal.

I could follow a written diet plan, but that is simply something I cannot personally do. I don’t know about you, but if today is Monday and Wednesday says my lunch is whole grain toast with avocado and goat cheese with a side of strawberries…..and Wednesday lunch time rolls around and that doesn’t sound appealing at all…. what do you do?

So I decided to just really really REALLY monitor what I was eating and make healthy choices.  But, I feared that wouldn’t be enough.  Then I saw this:

Medifast 4 & 2 & 1 Plan

From the Medifast Website:

THE 4 & 2 & 1 PLAN IS FOR PEOPLE:
With less than 15 pounds to lose
Who exercise 45+ minutes a day
Who choose to include whole grains, low-fat dairy and fruit in their meal plans

I do have quite a few Medifast meals left.  Currently, all I ever eat are the bars (for a healthy snack option- probably 3 per week when we’re on the go). Or sometimes when I’m craving a sweet chilled coffee drink I’ll have the Ready-to-eat MF Mocha.   Other than that….nada.

Yet I have packages of Mashed Potatoes, Hot Cocoa, Eggs, Cereal and Pudding.  So maybe it’s time to start utilizing those.  Do the 4 & 2 & 1 plan.

Something like this:

7:00am – MF Meal (cereal)
9:00am – MF Meal (pudding or hot cocoa)
11:00am – Healthy Lunch
2:00pm – MF Meal (mocha)
5:00pm – Healthy Dinner
7:00pm – MF Meal (potatoes) or Protein Whey Shake
9:00pm – Healthy Snack (fruit or something)

That’s do-able.  Totally do-able.  My estimates have me at 1,100 calories consumed daily on that plan.   Based on my previous tracking of calories, I maintain my current weight when I eat about 1,300 calories per day, so this should result in slow and steady weight loss.

But it’s not necessarily how many calories you consume…..it’s more WHAT those calories are made up of.  You can eat more calories if you are choosing high protein, healthy fats and complex carbs.

And if history proves to be true again- just by cutting out the simple carbs, refined sugar, sodas & alcoholic beverages and candy….I should drop that muffin top in a hurry.

At least that’s what I’m hoping.  And that’s why I’m blogging this.  To show you that you can turn that ship around when it gets off course.  We aren’t all perfect.  Sometimes we need a refresher.  It can be done.

So here it is all out in the raw…

Today is Monday June 23rd.  Day One of “GETTING BACK ON TRACK”:

	Current	Before TSFL	After TSFL
Weight	131.4	133	124
Waist (upper)	29.25	29.75	27
Waist (belly button)	33	34.5	29
Hips (widest)	37.25	38	35
Thigh (widest)	21.5	22	20

Keep in mind that I’ve built a lot of muscle, so I might not be able to get back down to those exact measurements or weight.

Realistically, I believe I can hit the following marks if I work really hard:

	Goal
Weight	126
Waist (upper)	28
Waist (belly button)	30
Hips (widest)	36
Thigh (widest)	20

Stay tuned to see how I do on the 4 & 2 & 1 and what the result is after a few weeks on plan and continuing my fitness routines!

UPDATE:

It’s been two weeks since I’ve re-focused.  You can follow along with my weekly journals to see what I actually ate, or what exercise I did.  In just two weeks I have made a difference and look forward to continuing on this path.   Here’s my progress thus far:

	Start	End Wk 1	End Wk 2
Weight	131.4	131.2	130.6
Measurements
Waist (upper)	29.25	28.75	28.5
Waist (belly button)	33	32	31.5
Hips (widest)	37.25	37	36.75
Thigh (widest)	21.5	21.5	21.375

Overall inches lost in just 2 weeks:   2.875 inches
Weight Loss:  0.8 pounds

I’m definitely taking a more serious approach with my eating and fitness….I no longer have a weight LOSS goal, I have an inches lost and fat loss goal.  My goal is 6-pack abs and a firmer backside!

At this point, I decided I’m not really following the 4-2-1 plan, but rather just making healthy food choices and eating 6-7 times a day.  I’m still trying to incorporate Medifast Meals as snacks, because I need to USE them since I HAVE them, but I use them more as a base- and add to it in order to ensure I’m eating enough calories.   I have to consume a minimum of 1200 calories on this plan.  It’s not a “eat less” plan, it’s choosing to eat the right things at the right time and eating enough.

I did a BodPod analysis to determine my body fat (done during the middle of week 2) and the result was 21% body fat.  I also purchased Calipers to measure myself and was able to confirm the same.  My goal is to get my body back to 18% body fat.

Ideas For Those “Not-So-Good” Medifast Meals

I made a goal for myself this week…. to use up my “not-so-good” Medifast meals.   And before I dive into what exactly those are…please keep in mind that everyone’s tastebuds are different….some things that I might like, you might hate, and vice-versa.

My absolute favorites that I keep on hand all the time:

Puddings– all flavors.  Love them as a “dessert” treat. Especially with some whipped cream and a sprinkling of dark chocolate chips or sliced bananas or strawberries!
Hot Cocoa– also a great “dessert” treat when I’m craving something sweet after dinner.
Crunch Bars– most flavors.  I always keep 1 in my purse and 1 in my car for an emergency snack/meal.
Brownies– can you tell I have a sweet tooth?
Mixed Berry Crunch Cereal- simply delicous!  Satisfies cereal cravings for sure!

But I also have a lot of the following:

Soups- chicken & rice, beef vegetable, cream of broccoli,
Soft Serve- mint, coffee, mango
Shakes- vanilla, dark chocolate, cherry pomegranate
Oatmeal- maple
Eggs- original
Pancakes– I actually LIKE these, but just never choose to eat them.

Since I won’t be doing the 5&1 plan again, I really don’t need to have so much ‘variety’ in my Medifast pantry.   I usually only eat 1 or 2 MF meals a day (and not always every day).  I find myself avoiding my non-favorites and only eating my favorite 5’s, so I came up with a plan:

I can’t have any of my favorites until everything else is gone.  Everything.  Gone.  And with the “Stop.Challenge.Choose” 12-week challenge taking place, I’m going to be eating more of my MF meals as I follow a modified plan….not quite a 5 &1, more like a 3&3.

Rather than torturing myself with these unpalatable foods, I decided to use them creatively!

SHAKES & SOFT SERVE:   I’ve learned that shakes and soft-serves can be mixed with coffee and drank as a hot drink (albeit a “thick” hot drink- lol!)  Seriously, though, I add the packet to 12-oz of coffee and it’s just fine.  To make the texture better, I actually mix the packet with about 6-oz of cooled coffee in my Magic Bullet, then pour that into my giant coffee cup, add fresh hot coffee, and maybe microwave it for 20-30 seconds to make sure it’s hot enough.   Even the cherry pomegranate is good mixed with coffee.  You can also make some “ice cream pies” with the soft-serves.  The coffee and chocolate mint flavors make FANTASTIC desserts!  YUM!

SOUPS & CHILI:  If you like chips (potato chips, corn chips, crackers, etc.) then this is a good one!  Make them out of the soup!  They are amazingly delicious and crisp!  The process is simple, really.  Pulverize the soup in a Magic Bullet until it’s a fine powder (sometimes the beans/peas/carrots don’t fully pulverize, but that’s OK).  Pour the powder into a tiny bowl and add 3T of cold water.  Mix into a paste.  Let it sit for a little while to rehydrate some of the dried veggies.  Then, get a cookie sheet out, line it with parchment paper, spritz some olive oil on it, put your “ball” of “dough” in the middle, spritz olive oil on another piece of parchment paper and put that paper on top (oil side down), roll out the “dough” so it’s super thin (think “chip” thin).  Peel off the top parchment paper, put in the oven at 350-degrees for 8-10 minutes, remove, cut into “chips”, separate the chips, put back in the oven for another 4-6 minutes to crisp and brown.  Delicous!  And you can now have “dipping chips” that you can eat guilt free!  Salsa, guacamole, cheese sauce, spinach dip, soft cheeses, you name it!  A great healthy snack!

(I’ve also read that you can not roll the dough so thin….and end up with a “soft shell” of sorts, kind of like a tortilla.  I haven’t tried that yet to confirm.  If you’ve done it, post in the comments!)

OATMEAL & EGGS:  Use those to make muffins, mini-pies, etc!  My favorite is the lemon meringue pie.  YUM.  You can google “medifast oatmeal recipes” and find all kinds of alternate-use recipes.

PANCAKES:  The options are endless there- from pancakes, to muffins, to bread, to donuts!  Mmm….. a great grab and go item!  I like to eat mine as a muffin and top it with fresh raspberries and a dallop of greek yogurt (or whipped cream) as a sweet snack.  I actually like the pancakes, but never choose them as my “snack”.

MANGO SOFT SERVE:  OK, I need help with this one.  I cannot stand it.  At all.  AT. ALL.  Which is weird because I love mangoes.  Does anyone have a creative way to eat this?  I have 7 packets of it!  I did try a “mock cheesecake” recipe with it, and it was so disgusting I spit it out.  And dumped it down the drain.  Please help me!

What have YOU done with those “not-so-good” meals?  I’m always looking for more ideas to share!

(P.S.  I’m still a coach- if you want to join the Stop.Challenge.Choose program, just follow this link and use my name as your coach (Elisa Buckley, Oregon).  It’s FREE and you do NOT need to be following a Medifast or TSFL program to participate!  http://www.stopchallengechoose.com )

STOP. CHALLENGE. CHOOSE.

There’s a 12-week challenge starting tomorrow!   You can sign up on January 1st at http://www.stopchallengechoose.com

You don’t have to be a Take Shape for Life Client….but if you want to be, simply go to my TSFL team page to learn more and sign up!

http://teambuckley.tsfl.com

 

Guilt-Free Cheesecake Dessert!

OK, maybe it’s not guilt-free, and it’s certainly not a 5&1 friendly food item, but for those of you in maintenance, here’s a delicious low-guilt dessert for you!

It’s cheesecake, without so much “cheese” and the sweet graham-cracker crust, well, isn’t a sweet graham cracker crust!

I think the worst part of this dessert is the cranberry sauce topping.  Although my mom confessed to me after I served her a slice that she made it with Splenda instead of sugar, so maybe this is a better dessert than I originally thought!  (The nutrition guideline below assumes it’s the traditional cranberry sauce recipe.)

I was going to make this dessert crust-less, but decided instead to make a crust using Fiber-One cereal, Flax Seeds and I threw in a bit of some pumpkin-flax-granola from Costco.  Sadly, the crust didn’t quite stick together, but that was OK.

Use your own favorite crust recipe and you’ll be fine.  Next time maybe I’ll make it in ramekins without crust for individualized desserts.  And maybe top it with granola before baking for a little bit of crunch?

All I know is this recipe is a keeper. An amazing tasting dessert!  An amazing tasting guilt-free dessert!  

(Printable recipe click here)

SKINNY CRANBERRY SWIRL CHEESECAKE:

The Crust:

1 cup Fiber One cereal
1 T flax seed
1/4 cup Pumpkin Flax Granola (from Costco)

Blend in a food processor until it’s a fine powder, mix with 2 T water (or sugar-free Torani syrup- I used the “gingerbread” flavor for mine) so it sticks together a bit, then press into a 9″ pie plate and set aside.

The Cheesecake Filling:

8 oz low fat cream cheese
1/4 cup Splenda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
2 eggs
1 tablespoon flour

Mix all ingredients together until smooth and pour into pie crust.  Set aside.

Topping:

(I used leftover cranberry sauce from Christmas!  But you can make your own fresh topping- just follow the directions on the package of cranberries (you only need about 3/4 cup of topping total).

Pour the topping loosely over the pie crust, leaving areas without topping so you can “swirl” them together.

 (Actually, ANY fruit topping would do!  Puree some raspberries or strawberries or ????)

Bake in the oven at 350-degrees for 25-minutes.

Let cool.

Refrigerate before serving for best results.

The nutrition facts:

Adding Creamer to your Coffee?

If you know me well enough, you know that I have a huge sweet tooth, I love anything chocolate, it took me a long time to kick my coca-cola and dark chocolate habit. I also love coffee. A lot. If I could have a Starbucks every day, I would. But unless I want to be 20 pounds heavier, I can’t. One Starbucks takes up 1/3 of my daily allotment of calories, not to mention about 3 days worth of my sugar limit!

(Do I count calories? No. Do I count grams of sugar? No. But I know how I was eating (and what I was eating) when I was maintaining 123-125 and I know that I’m eating more than that now- and that has me fluctuating between 125-129. I know I’m not eating right.)

Coffee. Prior to the TSFL program, I was drinking

Eating Yogurt as your “Healthy Snack”?

Do you love yogurt? Do you think you are doing your body a fabulous favor by choosing yogurt as your healthy snack?

Think again.

Even the lowest sugar yogurts still have a lot of sugar in them, and most yogurts are

After TSFL: What Doesn’t Work? What Works?

What doesn’t work?

• Not eating breakfast
• Snacking on Jelly Bellies, Starburst, Skittles, dark chocolate, licorice
• Drinking soda
• Drinking Starbucks several times a week
• Eating pizza and hamburgers every week
• Eating whatever I want- whenever I want
• Eating large portions

What does work?

• Eating a low calorie high protein breakfast (MF meal or yogurt or eggs)
• Being aware of my sugar and simple carb consumption
• Drinking water- a lot of water
• Not drinking soda or snacking on candy
• Being mindful of what I eat and what time I’m eating it
• Spacing out my meals- getting back on the 6am, 9am, noon, 3pm, 6pm schedule

I KNOW that I only need to be eating about 1200 calories, and eating low calorie, high protein, low sugar meals and snacks, and drinking water…. but sometimes it’s easy to fall back to our old ways.  And that’s what happened to

Christmas Confessions….

Preface: Please remember that weight is a relative term. What one person considers overweight, another person considers underweight. Every body is different, everyone’s idea of ideal weight is different. I’ve been in a debate with some friends about what “overweight” or “ideal weight” really means.  In my opinion “ideal weight” is the weight ranges that the medical world feels is appropriate for your height, stature and age…..and also the weight in which you are 100% happy with your body.  If you are 20 pounds overweight and say you are happy with your body and have zero qualms about running around the Great Wolf Lodge in a swimsuit,  and you never feel like there’s something you can’t wear because of your size, then kudos to you.  It’s different for each and every one of us.  You can stand two similarly sized people together and they could be 15 pounds apart in weight- everyone carries their weight differently. We can argue in circles about whether weight charts offer a realistic range, or what does “healthy” weight mean, blah blah blah.  I’ll save that for another topic later. Medical charts show that my weight should be between  124-138 pounds.  For ME personally, MY ideal weight is 124.  Anything above that and I don’t feel as good about myself, I don’t feel as comfortable in my clothes, I don’t feel sexy.  I don’t care what the rest of the world thinks about that target and I’m sorry if this offends you if you are heavier than that and feel like your ideal weight is 150 or 160 and maybe my weighing 124 and complaining about a 5 pound weight gain makes me a “skinny bitch”…..but you know what? I worked hard to get here and I’m not giving it up.  This is MY body and I have to keep it real and be honest with myself. 

Christmas Confessions:

Christmas.  You know, the holiday that seems to be centered around family, presents, and food?

Thanksgiving- another holiday centered around family and food.

Halloween- another holiday centered around food, well candy.

Gee, that’s a good solid 8-9 week span.  There’s an old saying, “It’s not what you eat between Christmas and New Year’s…..it’s what you eat between New Year’s and Christmas that you should worry about!”

You betcha.  Here’s my “Post-Medifast-Weight-Loss” holiday eating reality:

I’ve managed to maintain 124 for nearly a year. Yippee!  And it’s been relatively easy. The only difficulty I had

After TSFL: checking in…..one year after losing the weight

So it’s been a year since I hit my target weight using the TSFL program, and began my transition and maintenance. I’m happy to report that by continuing to follow the basic principles the BeSlim philosophy, I’ve been able to keep that weight off.

I have to admit, if you stray from those principles, the weight DOES come back. I remained strong and true over the Halloween holiday (I have a massively overpowering sweet tooth), but come Christmas time my healthy eating went out the window. I didn’t think I was doing too bad, but looking back I realize I was reverting to my old old ways.

Rather than going back on plan to lose these quickly acquired 4 pounds, I’m just getting back to the BeSlim basics:

B= Breakfast. Eat breakfast EVERY morning and preferably within 30 minutes of waking. Eat something primarily protein based, wholesome and filling.

E= Exercise. I’ll admit, I don’t exercise. But I also don’t sit on the couch and watch TV all evening, nor sit at a desk all day for work. I’m always on the move and physically active. However, I SHOULD still add some type of formal exercise to my daily routine for heart and joint health.

S= Support / Six Small Meals. The true BeSlim acronym has Support for “S”. Meaning with the TSFL program you have the support of your coach and other team members to keep you going. I do belong to a couple groups that keep me inspired and thinking healthy. But more importantly is the Six Small meals (OK, maybe 4 or 5 is more like it). Eaten often and eating well is KEY. Probably one of the most important aspects to keeping the weight off. Food is fuel for your body. Much like you can’t drive your car 2 hours after the tank has gone empty, you shouldn’t be running your body on empty either. Keep it fueled throughout the day, eating small meals every 3 hours.

L= Lean & Low Fat. This is kind of a catch 22 thing. Lean, yes, eat lean proteins. Choose naturally low fat foods. But here’s the catch… if something is normally full fat (like yogurt, or cheese or cream) then I opt to eat that full fat version and not the non-fat or low-fat version. Why? Because they add sugar. I’ve found that sugar consumption is THE main thing that causes weight gain for my body. I can over consume in calories, eating high fat foods and maintain my size, but once I start sneaking in sugar- even if I eat less calories per day, that sugar is what activates the fat stores in my belly. Read the labels. If the calories are close enough, I look at protein and sugar- opting for the higher protein and lower sugar. Those two almost always offset each other.

I= Individual Plan. I guess this goes with the above. Figure out what your body needs to keep it optimally fueled so that it’s not storing those excess calories as fat, and stick to that individualized eating plan. My individual plan for success is to eat often, focus on protein and veggies, stay away from sugar and simple carbs, very rarely eat bread or pasta, and simply be mindful of my choices.

M= Monitoring. Yep- monitoring what you are eating….and what you are weighing. Keep in mind that with this program you are drinking A LOT of water. If you stop drinking that much water your body will start retaining water, causing about 3-5 pounds of water weight gain. My weight will fluctuate about 3 pounds solely related to the amount of water I’m drinking. The more I drink, the less I weigh. The less I drink, the more I weigh. But I still know what target range I need to stay within and I monitor that very closely.

Again, this plan WORKS but you have to make the commitment for life, which is really easy to do when you have the success of being healthy and optimal weight (and toss out all your fat pants so you can never go back!)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie- Medifast Style!

This is a great alternative way to prepare Medifast Foods and have a sweet and savory “dessert” that acts as a meal-replacement!  After the pie is fully prepared and frozen, you could cut it into 1/8’s and individually wrap and re-freeze each serving!  When I make this recipe I like to use a Demarle Texas Muffin pan instead of a pie plate so that I end up with eight individual size “desserts”.  I take one out of the freezer and thaw it for about 30 minutes before eating.  Delicious!  (I also add a dallop of real whipped cream on top of mine).

Here’s the recipe:

Crust:

3 pkts Medifast brownies (3 Medifast meals)
6 TBS water (or ¼ C + 2 TBS)
Directions:
Mix together in a bowl, spread mixture onto bottom and sides of greased 8-9 inch pie plate (or spread between 8 individual texas muffin cups).  Helps if you spray a spatula with PAM and use that to spread the mixture around.  Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes.  Let cool, then set in freezer for 30 minutes.

Filling:
3 pkts Medifast Peanut Butter soft serve (3 Medifast meals)  (or use mocha or mint soft serve)
1½ C finely crushed ice
½ C water
3 TBS low-fat cream cheese (3 Condiments)
Directions:
Finely crush the ice in a blender before adding the remaining ingredients.  When well mixed, spread over crust and return pan to freezer until firm.

Topping:
2 pkts Medifast chocolate pudding (2 Medifast meals)
1 C water
1 TBS cocoa powder (3 Condiments)
Directions:
Mix pudding powder and water in a blender.  After mixed, gently fold in the cocoa powder (do not blend completely).  Carefully spread over the soft serve layer.

Freeze pie until firm. Remove from freezer 20-30 minutes before cutting into 8 pieces and serving.

Makes 8 servings
In each serving:
• 1 Medifast meal
• 3/4 of a Condiment

Lemon Meringue Pie- Medifast Style!

Looking for a creative way to eat the Maple & Brown Sugar Oatmeal?  Do you like Lemon Meringue Pie?

I’ve found that I have an incredible sweet tooth…..and now I can have some of my favorite desserts guilt-free!  First up, it’s best if you have a “giant muffin” tray, especially a silicone type mold, because it makes perfect sized portions and you can freeze your treats and pop them out after freezing for individual serving size.  I use the Demarle Texas Muffin mold, but anything similar will do.

With this particular recipe, it makes four (4) mini Lemon Meringue Pies.  I followed the directions exactly and they came out perfect.  I let them “set” overnight in the fridge as suggested, then popped the whole tray into the freezer.  Once frozen, I popped each mold out individually and wrapped it with a cupcake wrapper and threw the batch into a gallon freezer bag for easy access.  Just take one out about 30 minutes before you want to eat it- and it’s perfect!  Chilled and delicious!  (I will say that the meringue gets a little “rubbery” from being frozen, but was otherwise OK).

Here it is:

MEDIFAST LEMON MERINGUE PIE:

Lemon Filling:.

2 Medifast Vanilla Puddings
2 tsp Jell-O Lemon Sugar-Free powder (gelatin, not pudding mix)
1/2 cup water (room temperature).

Whisk all ingredients well and leave on counter to become room temperature.

Crust:.

2 Medifast Maple & Brown Sugar Oatmeal.
3/4 cup water
1 tsp Almond Extract (I omitted from my recipe and it was fine)
1 T Walden Farms Pancake Syrup (may omit if you don’t have, just use an extra T of water to moisten).

Mix packets of oatmeal with 3/4 cup water and the almond extract. Cook in the microwave on high for approximately 2 minutes 45 seconds (if a high powered microwave). You want the consistency to be really thick but not hard. When it is done, add 1 T of WF pancake syrup (if desired) and stir until well mixed.  It should be super thick.  You may need to add a smidge more water.

Divide the mixture into 4 “blobs” and add a blob to 4 of the muffin trays.  Using a spray of Pam on the back of a spatula, press the “crust” down into the bottom of each cup.  Bake at 375-degrees for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.  Take out and let cool for 5-10 minutes before assembling.

Meringue:.

2 egg whites (room temperature).
2 packets (4 tsp) Artificial Sweetener (of your choice).

With mixer, beat only the egg whites at high speed until meringue starts to get thick. Add the artificial sweetener and continue to beat until peaks form. The meringue is now ready..

Assembly:.

Pour the Lemon Filling into the Crust (may warm filling first in microwave to prevent “weeping” between the meringue and filling when completely done, but not necessary).

Add the meringue, making sure to take it to the very edge of the crust (completely cover the lemon filling as the meringue will “seal” the filling when you put in the oven).

Pop in the oven on Broil (maximum 475-degrees if using Demarle pan) to let the “peaks” of meringue brown to desired consistency (don’t let it burn).

When done, let cool for about 20 minutes, then pop in the refrigerator overnight to allow the pie to “set up” (otherwise, if you don’t let it “set up”, when you try to remove it from the bowl, your filling will ooze out everywhere).

Medifast Lemony DONUT!

Here’s a new spin on the Medifast Pancake mix….

We all know how to make a muffin out of the mix…..Wish you could have a donut?

Well you CAN!

I tried this recipe and it was actually pretty good!  I followed up by plopping my ‘donut’ into the toaster to give it a crunchier outer coating.  It was perfect!

INGREDIENTS:

1 MF Pancake Mix (1 Medifast Meal)
1 pkt Splenda (1 condiment & I didn’t find it necessary)
1/4 tsp. cinnamon (1/2 condiment)
1/8 tsp. baking powder (1/4 condiment)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract (1/4 condiment)
few drops of Lemon Extract
2 tbsp water
5 sprays of cooking spray (1/2 condiment)

DIRECTIONS:

Mix in a bowl then spoon into a small, round dish, and cook in the microwave for 60 seconds. (You can press a hole into the middle about halfway through cooking if you want a more authentic donut look.)

If you have a donut maker, spray it and spoon about a tablespoon of batter in each donut mold. Cook for 2-3 minutes until browned.

The first time I made it I used a small cereal bowl and put a ‘donut hole’ cutter in the middle of the dish before pouring the batter in…even though the cutter was metal, it didn’t seem to affect the microwave?   I ended up with a near perfect donut which I then popped in the toaster to make a crunchier outside- it was delish!

The second time I made it I just poured the batter into a small cereal bowl and microwaved it for 1:15 then sliced in half (like an English muffin) and toasted it that way.  Also delish!

Total: 1 Medifast Meal, 2.5 condiments

Pesto Zucchini “Spaghetti”

I found this recipe the other day on a blog called “mypantrychallenge” and gave it a try- it was so good!  It is approved by the Medifast Nutrition Support as a Lean & Green option.  I made it exactly as described and will defiitely make it again, and double the recipe to make it family sized to feed the kids.  My kids will eat almost anything with pesto on it!

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups zucchini, julienned thinly (mandolin slicers are great for this)

generous pinch of salt

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/2 tsp Mrs Dash onion & herb seasoning

1-1/2 cups broccoli florets

2 tbsp basil pesto

2 tbsp fresh Parmesan cheese, for garnish

Directions:

1. Place zucchini strips in a colander over a bowl or in the sink. Sprinkle zucchini with salt and toss to combine. Let the zucchini sit for 15 minutes while the salt extracts the moisture. Drain excess water, squeezing zucchini, if necessary.

2. Cook chicken on stovetop until cooked all the way through. Cut into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.

3. Return the pan to medium heat. Add the Mrs Dash and broccoli, stirring frequently for about 3-5 minutes or until crisp-tender. Add zucchini and pesto, tossing to combine all ingredients. The mixture only needs to warm up, so 2-3 minutes of cooking should do it.

4. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Nutritional breakdown: Makes 2 servings, each serving is:

1 leaner protein

3 vegetable servings

2-1/4 condiments

1 healthy fat

 

 

It’s Been Four Months!

	Goal to Maintain:	Current:
Weight	122.4	123.4
Waist (narrowest point)	27.25	27.5
Waist (belly button line)	29.25	29.0
Hips:	35.5	35.2
Thighs:	20.2	20.0

 

 

It’s been been four months since I started Transition/Maintenance and sadly I have not been doing well with following the plan…but look!  I’m still maintaining my weight and measurements!!

I do continue to eat 1-2 MF meals each day…..usually kicking off each morning with a pudding or pancake, sometimes I’ll make eggs for breakfast instead and have a pudding or brownie for my late morning snack.  And if there’s an evening where I feel a dessert is a must-have, I opt for a MF cocoa or brownie.  Bars satisfy the “I’m starving because I’m not eating often enough” immediate need for food. I always keep a few boxes of those on hand and throw some into my glovebox so I have them when I’m out and about.  Remember, the key is to eat often, eating low glycemic foods to maintain your glucose levels.  If you haven’t eaten for 3 hours and McDonald’s is your only option- then by all means eating something is better than eating nothing…but that doesn’t mean you get a big mac or an extra value meal.  It means you get a chicken sandwich (the cheap-o one, not the spendy high calorie one) and you remove one of the bun halves and drink it with water, not soda.  That’s my PERSONAL opinion, not a TSFL recommendation!  DO NOT DO THAT IF YOU ARE ON THE 5 & 1.  STOCK BARS IN YOUR CAR!!

I’ve really slacked on the exercise this past month, too, which doesn’t make me happy.  Certainly not on the track of getting to 15% body fat at the moment…I want that lean and mean body below!

Blogging this entry has definitely opened my eyes a bit more again.  It’s time to re-focus and add some exercise and strength training, cut back on the carbs (I’m back to eating sandwiches for lunch most days) and cut back on the sugar (I’ve kicked my Coca-Cola habit, but have been drinking juice, eating my Dark Chocolate, and with Easter this month I had my fair share of jelly-beans!).

Focus on eating healthy- ALWAYS.

Focus on being active.

A 5&1 BLITZ!

I’m doing a 5&1 blitz this week.  Why?  Mostly to re-focus on my eating habits and hopefully reduce my craving for sugar and sweets.  I’ve gotten really off track the past several weeks, thankfully without any weight gain or inch impact, so it’s not that I need to lose any weight, it’s more that I need to return my body to optimal fuel burning and get back on track.  The good news is that since I’m not targeting weight loss, and I need to consume extra calories because I’m continuing my workout, I’m able to eat MORE than the typical 5&1 allowances. Basically, I’m able to add an extra serving of protein.

I have to admit, it’s VERY hard.  I want oatmeal, and bread, and blueberries and bananas.  And one of my daycare kiddos had a birthday today and I couldn’t eat even a bite of cupcake since I’m on the 5&1.  Grrr…..

Today is Day 2.  And I’m super hungry.  Much like I was the first time I did the 5&1.   So today for lunch, along with my MF brownie, I ate 2/3 of a chicken breast that I’d browned in a skillet and drizzled a Ranch Mustard sauce over the top (no carbs, no sugar!).  It hit the spot for sure!  Not quite a cupcake substitute, but I’m not starving like I was earlier.  Geez.

I can tell that today is a body conversion day, I’m a little irritible, tired, hungry.  Here’s to hoping that tomorrow the corner is turned.  Looking back over my notes, I think it was Day 4 that I felt AMAZING…

As for my plan- it really sucks that Easter is this weekend….I LOVE chocolate.  And we have a family tradition of eating Cinnabons.  I was originally only planning on a one week blitz, but maybe I’ll shoot for 2.  We’ll see.  Stay tuned!

Day 3.  I hate to say it, but the TSFL app for Android does not work for me.  First off, the “reminder” alert doesn’t sound unless the app is open….so if I back out of it, no alert = missed meal.  Second, since I’m not keeping a food journal this time around, I think I’m forgetting that I ate, and I’m eating again.  Third, I experimented with a variety of MF foods today and am pretty sure overate those, too.  SO, alas, I need to resume my food journal. This will begin now, from memory, for today:

6:30am:  Parfait (brownie, chocolate pudding, whipped cream topping)
9:30am:  Softbake Cookie
noon: Cauli-mac
2:00pm: a sampling of my sugar-free cream cheese frosting plus a MF pancake seasoned with cinnamon and topped with 2 T of the cream cheese frosting- essentially cinnamon rolls!  Yippee!
6:00pm:  whoopsie- forgot to pack a to-go snack for our afternoon outing.  As soon as we got home I ate a MF meal-  it’s 1/2 a crunch bar melted in the microwave and stirred until it’s a loose bit of ‘granola’ like substance, topped with pudding and another small blob of the sugar-free cream cheese frosting.  Basically, I think in all my sampling and cooking that I might have inadvertently eaten an entire package of cream cheese.  Is that bad?  WHOOPSIE.  And then there’s dinner with the family- I ate 8 shrimp.
8:45pm: the other half of my crunch bar / pudding cup

Calorie count for this disastrous day = 1,600.  And that’s after my 170-calorie-burn workout.  Geez.  Not sure I’ll be in fat burning after this.  I thought for sure that I was at the start of the day because I felt amazing.  Still do, but think my overeating may have messed me up.  I sure hope not.  I’ll know in a couple days.

Day 4.  Well, I feel really good, energetic.  HUNGRY this morning though.  Clear minded, raring to go!
6:30am: cappuccino pancake (1/2 cappuccino 1/2 pancake mixed together and baked into a muffin)
9:00am: the other half of the above
11:15am: a couple slices of pastrami, a 1/2 slice of tillamook cheddar, and a crunch bar
2:30pm: chocolate pudding with a heaping tablespoon of plain greek yogurt
5:00pm: ground elk with a tsp of enchilada sauce on a bed of romaine
7:30pm: a soft bake cookie!  Man I love this program.

Calorie count for today was below 900.  Whew!  And that is even after a 170 calorie workout!  NICE.  I premade two more of those brownie/pudding parfaits for tomorrow.  I cook the brownies at night and let them ‘air chill’ in the fridge uncovered so they develop a bit of firmness and crisp- great texture beneath a heaping pile of chocolate pudding.  I cannot wait for breakfast tomorrow!

Day 5 & 6:  I stuck to the plan and on Friday I had a Starbucks breve cappuccino AND my favorite Carl’s Jr Low Carb Six Dollar burger.  Kept those calories up, the carbs down.  Saturday night we went out to dinner and I ordered Fajitas and only ate ONE tortilla, the rest of the meat I just ate unwrapped.  I did eat all my black beans and the corn stuff, but didn’t eat the rice, and stayed away from the chips and salsa.  So I did OK, not great, but could have done a lot worse!!

Easter Sunday- totally off plan.  Cinnamon rolls and breakfast casserole and fruit!  YUM!

The result of my 5 & 1 Blitz…. my weight dropped 2 pounds during those first couple days, but never went any lower.  Of course I was only on it for 5 days, likely not entering fat burning until Day 4.  Today is Tuesday (I went off plan Saturday night) and although I feel less fat, my measurements are a tad lower, but my weight returned back to the 122 that it was when I started the blitz.  The point of doing the blitz was to sort of ‘shock’ my body, get back into fat burn for a bit, and just feel good.  It wasn’t to lose any additional weight, but it was to hopefully lose a little more fat.

For the next couple weeks I’m going to continue eating the MF foods….about 3 meals a day, the other 2-3 will be Lean and Green modified.  I won’t be in fat burning and will target 1,200 calories a day.

 

 

It’s Been Three Months…

	Goal to Maintain:	Current:
Weight	122.4	123.0
Waist (narrowest point)	27.25	27.25
Waist (belly button line)	29.25	290
Hips:	35.5	35.0
Thighs:	20.2	20.0

 

It’s been three months since I started Transition/Maintenance and for the most part I’ve stuck to eating healthier than I was before the program, but I’ll admit to falling off the wagon somewhat.  Things got particularly bad the first couple weeks in March when Jim’s dad passsed away and we were getting together with family every day, eating whatever people brought us or whatever was “fast” and available.  The only meal I would prepare every day was breakfast- usually a vegetarian omelet.  The rest of the day was spent gobbling Subway Sandwiches, lasagna or spaghetti, pizza (lots of pizza), soda, beer….I was totally off plan.  Wait, we did go out to breakfast a few times.  And I splurged with french toast, or crepes.  Eating frequent meals went out the window, too.  It was breakfast around 8:00 then nothing again until 2:00 with a big dinner around 6:30.  Again- totally off plan.

For the first couple days I was eating a lot- gorging on garlic bread and pasta and drinking soda and beer- and my weight started to creep up.  Then I decided that I needed to get back on track. One slice of garlic bread is OK, I don’t need three.  A beer or soda is OK if it’s just one per day, not several.  A small serving of lasagna or spaghetti is fine, just load up on the veggies, and be sure to eat a good protein source along with that (usually I’d eat a MF bar or drink a MF hot cocoa to ensure I was getting the protein I needed).  And eat often.  Get back on the 5-6 small meals a day.

I did that…..and my weight dropped to where it was before the bingeing and stabilized.  So here I am, three months after transition- spending a couple weeks completely off plan bingeing, and my weight has maintained where I want it….at 123 pounds.  I took measurements this morning- and they are right where they were when I went off the 5&1.

So see?  The plan really works!

Lean & Green: Alfredo Chicken with Mushrooms and Spinach

Approved by Nutrition Services as a Lean and Green option!

Alfredo Chicken with Mushrooms and Spinach

18 oz raw, boneless chicken breasts – should cook to 12 oz (2 lean)
1/3 cup Classico Light Alfredo Sauce (3.5 condiment)
3 cup fresh spinach (3 greens)
1.5 cup fresh chopped white mushrooms (3 greens)
1/8 TSP salt (1/2 condiment)
1/4 TSP garlic powder (1/2 condiment)
1 chopped garlic clove (1 condiment)
1 cup low sodium chicken broth (1/2 condiment)
4 wedges Laughing Cow Garlic & Herb Light Cheese (2 healthy fats)

2 servings: 1 lean, 3 greens, 3 condiments, 1 healthy fat

Directions to cook in a rice cooker: Season the chicken with the salt and garlic powder. Cut the chicken into small pieces. Place the chicken pieces and chicken broth in the rice cooker. Cook on high for about 6-7 minutes or until the chicken is mostly cooked. Add mushrooms and let cook on warm for about 1 minute. Add garlic and add laughing cow cheese. Cook on warm for about 5 minutes or until the LC cheese melts. Add sauce and cook for about 15 minutes, alternating between high and warm. Add spinach and cook until spinach begins to wilt.

(I don’t own a rice cooker….I’ll try to make this sometime to see how it works on the stove top or in an oven and convert the recipe then.  OR, if YOU do it, let me know what adjustments to make!)

Have you had your Body Fat Percentage Checked?

In 1997 I had my body fat tested at Nautilus Gym.  This was back when I was exercising and working out regularly.  This was also before kids, and before gaining 55 pounds with my first pregnancy.

My Body Fat Percentage: 20.2%.   I was 24 years old.

Fast forward 14 years….three pregnancies….never fully losing any of my pregnancy weight. I tried diet and exercise, over and over, and I could not shake “those last 10”.  I didn’t think I was that “fat” but online calculators showed different.

My Body Fat Percentage: 29%.  Ouch.

Here’s a calculator you can check- it’s not completely accurate, but it gives you an idea of where you may be:

http://www.healthyforms.com/helpful-tools/body-fat-percentage.php

In November 2011 I started the Take Shape for Life program (TSFL).  I had a goal of losing those 10 pounds.  Turns out I had more than 10 pounds to lose.  I lost about 15 pounds and have been maintaining my new weight/size for the past 3 months.

Feeling pretty good about myself, even though I’m not exercising, I decided to get my Body Fat Percentage tested again- professionally.  I went to a gym that has the Bod Pod, which is supposed to be extremely accurate.

My Body Fat Percentage = 18%

EIGHTEEN percent!  LOWER than pre-kids!  Holy cow!!  Know what this means?  TSFL works.  It truly does burn the fat and you do not lose muscle on this program.  It WORKS.

So what’s next?  I’ve got a goal of getting down to 15%.  I probably won’t get officially tested again, but I know what I want to look like.  I plan to do another Fat Burn Blitz (going back on the 5 & 1 for a couple weeks) and then start an intensive weight training program with a goal to look like this:

 

(image from here)

I’m GOING FOR IT!

 

 

Food Choices when you are “off” the program….

First off, if you do the program right, you never really go “off” the program.  You will continue to eat 5-6 small meals throughout the day, eat nutritionally balanced meals, choose whole-grain and high protein food items, and stay away from refined sugar and any “junk” foods that got you unhealthy in the first place!

You might not be eating MF replacement meals, but then again, you might!

When another Health Coach told me that she continued to eat MF meals on occasion, I thought she was nuts.  And when I first started the program and didn’t have the “taste” for the foods, I really thought she was nuts!

But here I am, three months into the maintenance piece….and I DO continue to eat MF meals on occasion!

I kick off most mornings with a MF pancake for breakfast, or sometimes a MF Cappuccino.  And in the afternoons or evening, if I have a craving for something sweet and dessert-like, I indulge in a MF pudding or a MF hot chocolate.  Or better yet, a MF brownie!

I mean…. look at this comparison- why wouldn’t you choose a MF replacement?

 

Pudding	Medifast Brand	Handi-Snack
Calories	111	100
Fat	1	1
Carbs	15.1	23
Fiber	4	0.8
Sugar	9.1	17
Protein	14.1	1
Hot Chocolate	Medifast Brand	Swiss Miss
Calories	102	120
Fat	1	2.5
Carbs	14.2	23
Fiber	4.1	1
Sugar	10.2	17
Protein	14.2	1
Brownie	Medifast Brand	Betty Crocker
Calories	110	130
Fat	2	1.5
Carbs	15	27
Fiber	4	1
Sugar	8	19
Protein	11	1

Similar calories- but less sugar, more fiber, waaaaay more protein.  The three things that count heavily when you are searching for something nutritious to eat.  It’s actually HEALTHY. Not to mention each MF item contains 20% of all your daily vitamins and minerals.

When you consume a traditional pudding, or hot cocoa or brownie- what is nutritionally dense about it?  Nothing.  It’s all carbs and sugar.  Last time I checked Betty Crocker’s brownie box- there was ZERO vitamins or minerals in it.

You are in control of your body and you have control over what you choose to use as fuel for your body.  Nutritionally dense food, or “junk”.   After all the hard work and effort you’ve put into getting your health back, I’m confident you will make the right choices.

My favorite veggie snack…

I love cast-iron cooking.  LOVE cast-iron cooking.  I think it just makes everything taste better.

One of my favorite “snacks” this week as an afternoon fueling, or as a side dish to my lunch or dinner…..a simple stir-fry of chopped asparagus, sliced mushrooms, and sliced fennel.  Yep, fennel.  All sauteed for just a couple minutes in a hot cast-iron skillet with just a small amount of olive oil and a light sprinkling of sea salt.  Sooooo yummy.

And so easy!  In fact, one night last week when I was out taking the kids to and from their sports practices, I got hungry and was trying to think of what I could eat when I got home- I wanted something quick and easy.  You know what came to mind?  THIS!

I never thought I’d see the day when sauteed veggies would become my snack of choice!  Ha!

 

Thirteen Weeks…Fourteen Weeks….Fifteen Weeks…

Holding steady!

There are days where I make poor food choices, and there are days that make great food choices.

There are days where I’m lazy and spend much of my day sitting.  There are days where I’m uber active and physical all day.

There are days where I drink several bottles of water, and there are days that I completely ‘forget’ and don’t drink any water at all.

The point is….for every day that I do the “wrong” thing for my body….I make sure to have a couple days where I really focus on taking care of myself and doing the right thing.

As a result, I’m still maintaining my weight and size and still feel amazing!

Medifast Pancake “Muffin”

I’ve tried making the pancakes as….well….pancakes.   They were OK, but awful thin.

I’ve tried making them as waffles.  That was an epic fail that caused a 4-hour soak of my waffle iron to get the batter off.  And yes, I oiled the waffle iron before adding the batter.  No luck.

My most favorite way to eat the pancakes- in muffin form!  And it’s so easy!  It’s my “go-to” breakfast 6 days out of the week.

MEDIFAST PANCAKE MUFFIN:

Ingredients:

• 1 packet of MF pancake mix (chocolate chip, also works with plain- you can also add 1 teaspoon of mini semi-sweet chocolate chips to the plain version if you want a chocolate chip pancake!)
• 2 ounces cold water

Directions:

Use the shaker jar to mix the batter as directed.

Pour into a pyrex measuring glass (I use the 1 cup size)

Microwave on high for 1 minute and 30 seconds

Flip out onto plate.

Drizzle with Walden Farms sugar-free no-calorie syrup.

Enjoy!

 

 

90 Days and Getting Healthier….still!

This is the end of my 13th week…..or 90 days….or 3 solid months on the program.  The bulk of my loss took place that first month, but I’m happy to see that I continue to lose and get thinner, more lean, as time progresses.

	BEFORE	1 MONTH	2 MONTHS	NOW
Weight	133.4	124.2	122.6	122.4
Waist (narrowest point)	29.75	27.5	27	26.75
Waist (belly button line)	34.5	30	29	28.75
Hips	38	36	35.25	34.875
Upper Thigh	22	20.75	20.25	19.875
Total Pounds Lost:		9.2	10.8	11.0
Total Inches Lost:		10	12.75	14

I only stuck to the 5 & 1 portion of the program (Phase 1) for 6 weeks, the past 7 weeks loss is the result of me living my new healthier lifestyle!

Breakfast every day:  High-quality fuel is essential to start your day off right.  I still kick off every morning with a Medifast meal.

Exercise: Exercise increases metabolism and provides strength, flexibility, and mental clarity.  I try to exercise at least 3 days a week.

Support: My Health Coaches provide tools, education, and support.  I truly believe my coaches are what make the difference and keep me going.

Healthy Balanced Meals 5 to 6 times a day: Eating smaller meals throughout the day, controlling portion sizes and eating low carb and low sugar are critical for success.

Tracking: I monitor what I eat and I weigh and measure myself a couple times a week as an effort to maintain my optimal weight….this will give me the opporutnity to catch weight regain before it becomes a challenge.

So does all this mean I eat perfectly all day every day?  No, I’ve forgotten to eat breakfast a few times, and I’ll admit to having three donuts this week in a moment of weakness.  My sweet tooth is still incredibly strong, but I have healthy options to satisfy it (MF brownies, MF pudding, MF cookies, etc.).  And I find myself not very hungry most days, making it hard to remember to eat often!

I’m staying away from carbs and sugar as much as possible and I’m getting leaner, stronger, thinner.  My “no-more-muffin-top” continues to trim itself – hooray!

 

MF Soup Chips

Here’s a great way to satisfy a chip craving….AND use up a packet of soup in a non-soup form!

Click here for the recipe:  MF_Chips

Twelve Week Update

	Goal to Maintain:	Current:
Weight	122.4	121.6
Waist (narrowest point)	27.25	26.75
Waist (belly button line)	29.25	28.9
Hips:	35.5	35
Thighs:	20.2	20

This is my third week of working out and I’m really seeing results!

THIS WEEK:

(Calories is calories IN, not net calories after workouts…workouts generally subtract 250 calories and I managed to get three workouts in this week.)

	Calories	Fat (g)	Carbs (g)	Sugar (g)	Protein (g)
Saturday	1,182	38	112	39	100
Sunday	1,228	53	128	64	61
Monday	1,459	46	159	90	105
Tuesday	1,616	79	125	59	90
Wednesday	1,308	55	128	68	85
Thursday	1,621	80	153	67	73
Friday	1,869	94	155	42	107
Target:	1,514	31	181	64	143

Saturday:  It was a work work work kind of day, so very hard to not skip meals.  I slept in, ate a MF pancake for breakfast at 8:00.  Had a MF bar while I was out and about at 11am.  At 2pm I ate lunch, which was the leftover serving of stroganoff made with tofu noodles and 1/2 a pear (and a handful of Jelly Bellies).  At 6pm I ate dinner- the last bit of elk sirloin and the last twice-baked potato (although I only ate 2/3 of it) and one small slice of pepperoni pizza (Little Caesars 1/2 slice).  At 9pm, just before bed, I ate half a Chobani Greek Yogurt.  Surprisingly my calorie count was below 1,200 even though I felt like I ate so much.  I probably burned at least half that with our home projects- we worked for 9 hours straight- measuring and cutting and installing door jambs for 4 closets, hanging trim around the doors, and installing floor trim in the hallway.  Up, down, up, down, holding stuff up so Jim can nail it, nailing on my own, walking from the far end of the house out to the garage and back again.  Whew!

Sunday: I really wanted the Original Pancake House Apple pancake again…but opted instead to find a low-carb waffle recipe….and I found a DELICOUS recipe that I posted here on the blog to share.  It was GOOD!!!!  And balanced and filling, too!  Less than 4 grams of sugar in two waffles, and equal protein and carbs- perfect!!  Lunch was a MF soft bake that I added coconut, raisins and a few mini chocolate chips to.  MUCH better that way!  Loved the coconut in it! It’s my last packet, though and I don’t plan to order any more of those.  At least not this time around.  Dinner was chicken (grilled on the Traeger), sauteed mushrooms, sauteed cabbage…and we tried something new: baked acorn squash slices!  We followed the recipe here.  Nobody was a fan, including me.  I won’t be making it again.

Monday: 25 minutes on the elliptical again!  Greek yogurt pre-workout, post workout I ate one of the leftover whole-grain waffles from yesterday.  AM snack was a MF cappuccino.  Lunch was sliced turkey breast and romaine lettuce on a whole-grain Orowheat Sandwich Thin with a dill pickle spear.  I also snuck in 1/2 a cranberry orange scone that was in the freezer.  Sticking to my “if I’m going to eat something sweet or fruit, I’d better eat it with something healthy and high in protein!”.  PM snack was a taste test.  I wondered if my leftover whole-grain waffles would make a good bread for a grilled cheese sandwich.  So I took two waffle triangles and grilled them with a slice of cheese between them…..it was a little sweeter than it should have been, but I could always make a batch without sugar. Hmmm…wonder if I could bake it in a loaf pan and slice it into actual bread slices? Another day…. Dinner was on the go (it’s Monday- that means gymnastics and soccer) and I had a serious chocolate craving that would not go away (my mini chocolate chip trick wasn’t cutting it) so I ate a brownie (in the car after we arrived at gymnastics).  That was at 5:30.  At 8:30 I’ll admit to indulging in a Mini blizzard from Dairy Queen.  400 calories.  Fortunately my calorie count for the day could afford it, but still.  Ugh. Darn chocolate craving!!!!!

Tuesday: 1/2 a crunch bar before 25 minutes on the elliptical burning 290 calories!  YAY! My goal is to have a bikini butt for summer.  My actual breakfast was around 9:00- a 2 egg omelet with 1/2 an avocado and 1 tomato (a sprinkling of cheese and bacon bits, too).  Lunch was Cauli-Mac!  I made it for the daycare kids.  They ate it and seemed to like it!  PM snack was MF pudding, and I snuck two Macadamia Nut cookies.  Dinner was Artichoke Chicken Delight- mine was without the pasta- the rest of the fam ate tri-colored pasta mixed in.  I ate mine on a bed of romaine!  Just as delicious.  I also ate half a pear.  OH, and made a decaf coffee to take to the basketball game (with fat-free half and half and sugar-free syrup).

Wednesday: No workout this morning.   I ate a MF pancake for breakfast, AM snack was a MF pudding and the other half of my bar from yesterday.  Lunch was late (2:00!!) and I ate a grilled chicken caesar salad and a small serving of Cauli-Mac.  Afternoon snack was a slice of bread smeared with peanut butter.  Dinner- leftovers for everyone else.  My afternoon snack was at 4:00 so I didn’t end up eating any dinner.  At 8:30 I realized I was below 1,100 calories and really should eat something, so I ate half a banana and a MF brownie and two Ghirardelli chocolate squares.  I simply wasn’t hungry today!  It was a chore to eat!

Thursday: Woke up early, ate a whole banana then hopped on the elliptical to do a Level 6 workout.  Very strength training!!  Afterwards I had a MF pancake for breakfast (6:30am).  Coffee, water, and at 7:45 I was starving!  So I fried 2 eggs, ate those, and had one of the cranberry orange scones from the freezer.  I ate it frozen.  Lunch was supposed to be another caesar salad, but I made the kids waffles and sausage so ended up eating 3 sausage links (not thinking) and the leftover cauli-mac.  No PM snack except for a cookie (bad bad!)  Dinner was strawberry waffles!  Brooke has been asking for them for a while.  I made mine the whole grain way again (baking just 2 for myself) and the rest of the batter (which would make 3 more) I mixed in with the Krusteaz mix that the kids prefer so they are at least 50% healthier than out of the box!  I’m fighting a cold apparently, so I went to bed at 8:15.

Friday: Slept in.  Breakfast wasn’t until 7:15 when I ate a MF pudding.  Morning snack at 9:30- oatmeal with greek yogurt mixed in.  Lunch was a caesar salad with chicken.  PM snack was tea and 2 Lindor truffles.  Dinner was the bomb- PIZZA!  My first “real” pizza since November….Godfathers Large Original Crust All Meat Combo.  OMG I ate three slices.  I could have stopped at two but it was soooooo good.  I feel like I’m going to explode.  Too…full….  Looks like Fridays are my HIGH days for calorie cycling!

How Many Calories Do YOU Need?

I found a great website for determining your recommended daily calorie intake goal….it gives several options for your activity level….and it shows results for maintaining weight, losing fat, and extreme fat loss. It also provides a 7-day zigzag goal for “calorie cycling”. (Calorie cycling provides same amount of calories per week, but ‘tricks’ your body by constantly changing daily calories. This helps to prevent or break plateaus.)

I’m a believer in calorie cycling. I’m a believer that you can blow your diet one day without negative consequence. Like last Friday when Jim and I went out to dinner and I ate 2 pieces of bread, a caesar salad, 2 steak fillet medallions, 2 stuffed mushrooms, 2 stuffed shrimp, and a piece of chocolate mousse cheesecake for dessert! Yeah- diet BLOWN that day.

Anyway, I was looking for a calorie calculator because….I’m still losing weight. I’m no longer on a meal replacement plan, well not the 5 & 1 plan, but sometimes I still DO eat the Medifast meals because frankly I enjoy them!!

I’ve been eating about 1300-1500 calories a day. I’m simply not hungry enough to eat more than that. I’m eating healthier, which means lower calories, too. I’m eating every 3 hours – eating 5 meals a day. I have a good sized lunch and a good sized dinner. My breakfast and snacks are small but balanced and filling- and usually consist of a MF meal.

I do indulge in a piece of chocolate here and there, I’ve had pizza (4 slices in one sitting last week!), I’ve had sandwiches, I’ve been sneaking cookies and scones from the freezer (left over from Christmas). BUT, I’ve also been exercising 4 days a week- burning 250 calories each time…making my net calorie intake closer to 1,100 on those days. Yikes.

I wanted to know if I was eating enough. Am I doing ‘damage’? How much should I be consuming every day? Is my 1,300-1,500 target enough? It feels like it is…I feel GRRRRREAT!

CALORIE-CALCULATOR (click here)

When I plugged in my age, height, weight….this is what it came back with….

1,220 calories a day is my basal metabolic rate….what my body needs just to survive. I need to make sure I’m eating more than that!!

This next calculation is based on my activity level. I really like the bottom portion of the chart- a 7 day zigzag. I’ve read that your calories should fluctuate- have a really high day, and a low day, and try to maintain the rest of the week. I sure did that last Friday when we went out to dinner! That was a really high day for me! Ha!

So it looks like I should probably eat a little more, especially since I’m exercising. Basically, I’ve been averaging the “fat loss” chart. And yes, I’m losing more fat. I’m still getting thinner, leaner, stronger. I feel amazing and like I said, I’m NOT hungry. I don’t know how to incorporate more calories into my meals without going for sugar and ‘junk’. Well, except for this morning….I had a banana, MF pancakes with sugar-free syrup, 2 eggs, 2 sugar-free fat-free lattes and a cranberry orange scone. A 640 calorie breakfast. I was so hungry after this morning’s workout!

And here’s a couple motivational posters I put on my Pinterest page:

You know what? I WILL have the best body I’ve ever had this year!