Goals For This Week

1. Drink water.

2. Plan meals.

3. Stick to planned meals.

4. Shop once.

5. Weigh in only on Sunday.

Annnnnd go!

P.S. Grocery store gave me a gallon of free ice cream. Sigh.

P.P.S. I made these Chocolate Protein Brownies minus the Stevia and water. Yum.

Day 28: 5 Tips For Choosing Protein Powders

Hurray and huzzah!

Let's talk a bit about protein powder. I wasn't a big fan of including protein powder meal replacements in my plan because I believe eating whole food is usually better for you. However, there are a few points to consider when selecting a product that can make it work for you. P.S. I am not a nutritionist, I just play one on the internet.

1. Use
What are you trying to achieve? Do you want a meal replacement or a meal additive? For a meal replacement, you'll need to have a protein and carb component, but an additive (as in, you're making protein bars, muffins, ice cream, whatever) can (and probably should) be straight up protein.

2. Goals
Are you trying to cut weight? Put weight on? Where do you lack in your daily macros? If you find you're often over on carbs, make sure your supplement doesn't have too high of a carb count. If you find you can never hit your protein levels, look for products that will help you achieve your numbers. Is your diet low in carb? High in protein? Balanced? I recommend breaking out a day's worth of food on a tracker program like MyFitnessPal.com so you can see which products will work best with your eating habits.

3. Preferences
I am very sensitive to consistency. A powder that doesn't dissolve well is not for me. Also, consider what you're mixing it with; if you plan to mix with milk, the taste may be masked somewhat, but in water, all you're going to taste is the powder flavour. I hate the taste of artificial sweeteners, so I look for products that don't use aspartame, sorbitol, or sugar alcohols (or that are at least low in them).

4. Sensitivities
I'm lactose-intolerant (or sensitive, or something), so I look for powders that are low in lactose. Based on trial and error, I know I have trouble with whey protein unless it's an isolate or isolate-blend.

5. Don't Switch Unless You Have To
I learned this one this week. I switched flavours (not even brands) and hated the new one. Once you find a brand and flavour that works for you, only switch if something changes, or you get so sick of it you can't stomach having it anymore. Ideally, your supplement provider will let you test out the flavours in store before you buy (like Reflex does) or have a good return policy (like GNC does).

If you're curious, I currently use the BSN Syntha-6 powder as a meal replacement in the Chocolate Milkshake flavour and GNC Whey Iso-Burst in French Vanilla for making protein bars/ice cream (apparently this product is no longer on their site?).

Day 18: Does Living Clean Mean No Social Life?

Yesterday we went to a dinner party at our friends' new house. This is one of the hardest parts about living clean: socializing. It was a BYOM (Bring Your Own Meat) barbecue, so I could control that. I offered to bring salad, so I could control that. But when you're actually there and the lovely hosts have out snack food and keep offering you wine, beer, whatever you like, it's hard. Really hard. And these are people who get being on a clean living streak - she was until very recently a national level athlete. But even the people who get it can't make it easy you on. It takes a lot of dedication and, to be honest, deciding on an acceptable level of cheating.

We went and I did not have a drink. I ate the food I had brought with me, in the portions I had planned, but I did have probably five tortilla chips with the guacamole the hostess made. Not exactly on script, but I did manage to avoid dessert.

Just have to keep on truckin'

Day 15: Protein-y Recipes

First, a quick weight update!

Starting Weight - 152.4lbs
Day 6 - 148.1 (-4.3lbs)
Day 13 - 147.7 (-0.4lbs)

Blech, the dreaded weight loss plateau. Trying not to think about it too much.

I tried this recipe today: Protein Packed Super Fudgy Brownies. I modified it to leave the icing out and subbed vanilla protein powder for the sugar. They turned out fluffy and cake-like, but not very chocolatey. I think it needs chocolate protein powder and maybe a bit of Stevia (although I hate using sweeteners).

Tomorrow I am going to try Protein Ice Cream because it sounds AMAZING. The quest continues to find high protein, low carb, lactose-free recipes.

Day 4: Food And More Food

Food is a constant challenge for me. I like to have guidelines! with numbers! so I know if I get a gold star or not for the day. I am always worried that I'll try really hard and stick to the rules, then not have it work for me. Today I read this, which was really interesting. For me, it means my nutrition should break down like this:

Protein: 150-175grams

Carbs: Weight Day - 150 grams
           Cardio Day - 75-112 grams

Fat: Weight Day - 37.5-45 grams
       Cardio Day - 45-60 grams

Which is a lot more protein and a lot less carbs than I have now. Modifications, yay!

Day 3: With A New Recipe!

Today is a lower body weight day. It's going to suck in an awesome way (if that makes sense).

I discovered/tried out a new recipe today, and it was delicious! A modification of this Canadian Living recipe.


Ingredients:

3 tbsp (45 mL) lemon juice
1 tbsp (15 mL) olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt
1/4 tsp (1 mL) pepper
1 can (19 oz/540 mL) Blue Menu Bean Medley, drained and rinsed
1 can (6 oz/170 g) tuna, drained and broken into large chunks
2/3 cup (150 mL) diced cucumber
2/3 cup (150 mL) thawed corn

Yum! Makes four servings so each serving is 184 cals, 29 grams of carbs, 4 grams of fat, 9 grams of protein, 1 gram of sugar.

Day 2: Ow

Well you sure can tell when you haven't been in the gym for a while. I am soooorrreeeee.

The food is still good, cravings aren't too bad although I had a wicked sugar/caffeine withdrawal headache last night. I'm still struggling to find a balance between my caloric needs and balancing carbs and protein. I still look at carbs as bad and protein as good (which, of course, isn't strictly accurate). How do you hit enough calories without blowing the other two out of the water? Especially protein. I've been told to hit 75 grams per day for my weight. I'm at about 100 grams per day. Frustrating!

Today is a cardio day, so T and I are off to a spin class in a few hours.

You May Call Me "Master of Salad"

It's ok to be jealous.

No-Carb/Low-Carb Meals That I Actually Like

I'm going to keep a running list here. Add yours in the comments!

1. Tuna salad with cucumber slices as "scoops".
2. Taco-less Taco salad - lettuce with taco seasoned beef, chopped tomatoes, sour cream (or sub shredded cheese).
3. Bunless hamburger - Hamburger (or bison or turkey or chicken etc.) patty plus all the non-carb fixins' (tomato, cheese, mayo, avocado, pickles, onion, etc.)
4. Guacamole or hummus with cut up peppers, cucumber, or carrots to dip.
5. Raw pumpkin or sunflower seeds. Delicious and snackerish.
6. http://www.marksdailyapple.com/buttery-catfish-in-a-creamy-shallot-sauce/
7. http://www.hivehealthmedia.com/paleoprimal-recipe-coconut-almond-chicken/

Crickets

So apparently this blogging thing doesn't just happen on its own while I'm elsewhere. Huh.

I am currently in a Second Cup, and not worried about burglars because I am homeless(ish) for the next two weeks. Try robbing me now, burglars.

I'm not really homeless, but I am living out of a suitcase/my dear friend's spare bedroom. And I'm almost unemployed. My (voluntary) last day is two Thursdays from now (oh HAI stress!).

I have two weeks where my life is basically upside down and Tom is not even in the province. So obviously, time to lose ten pounds. I have weddings to attend! My food lately has been horrific and workouts minimal. It sucks; I feel shitty and my weight is back up to 151 which makes me cry. Yes, I know I'm not supposed to watch the scale, but I also feel bad, so I know it isn't just about the number.

Two weeks for a primal/low carb diet and hopefully some real exercise. I say hopefully because I am totally displaced. I don't have a bike, but I do have an exercise room down the hall, so hopefully I'll get on that. I think if this shock to the system can get me back down to 145, I'll be happy.

Wish me luck!

*Yawn* *Stretch* How Was Your Week?

Ahhhh…that was a great week off.

I took the past week to "reboot" my training initiative after the tri. Instead, I focused on things like relaxing, and committing to a real plan-ahead-big-girl meal plan. Not in the sense of restricting foods – just a challenge to be a bit more organized and mindful of what we're eating and when. It's as much a money-saving plan as anything; when I don't plan meals, I don't buy all the ingredients I'll need, and then we just go out for food. Delicious, but pricey.

Alternatively, I buy a bunch of food that doesn't really translate to whole meals as well as it could. It's like buying all separate pieces for a wardrobe without ever considering what you could wear that shirt with. You'll still have clothes on, but it could be much more efficiently executed.

I find that having a meal plan helps me relax, because even if I don't make that EXACT MEAL on that EXACT DAY, I know I have two weeks' (in my case) worth of meals that I can swap around based on what I feel like eating that day. I also find it de-stressing to know that I won't be wasting as much food as I normally do (forgotten roasts that end up freezer burned, veggies that end up rotting in the fridge because I didn't realize they were there).

As for what I'm eating, I'm trying to cultivate a healthier approach to food in general. I've found that adding in "good" fats has really helped me to find that balance. I'm fuller longer, and I can be more sensible in my other choices because I'm not crashing. It's one great takeaway from the great no-carb fest.

Some of the foods I used to avoid like the plague because they were fatty and now I eat and love GUILT FREE:

Nuts – I don't eat these often, mostly because I was raised in a NUTSAREEVILKILLTHEM household. Also, sometimes they make my mouth itchy.

Seeds – Raw pumpkin seeds are AWESOME.

Cheese – I eat this in moderation mostly because sometimes dairy makes my stomach swell until I look eight months pregnant. Not pretty.

Cream – That's right; 18% cream in my coffee every morning. I can hear the shocked whispers. You'll get fat! Use skim milk! Scary fake creamers! ANYTHING BUT FATTY FATTY CREAM!

Here's the thing. Cream has less milk sugar than skim milk. When I use cream, I'm fuller, longer. And when I use cream, it's enough flavour that I don't need to add sugar to my coffee. And less sugar is good in my book.

Whole eggs instead of just always the whites – I still eat egg whites some mornings, but if I want a whole egg, I go for it.

Olive oil and balsamic vinegar as salad dressing – it's delicious. And filling. And it makes my coat glossy.

The other take-aways from the big bad diet have been that veggies are delicious and every meal doesn't need a carb to be complete. If you hate "diets," consider challenging yourself to have a veggie at every meal. You'll be surprised how it fills you up and helps you avoid making less healthy decisions.

Making an omelette in the morning? Toss in some chopped peppers and tomatoes. Throw together a green salad for lunch (they make them premade in plastic containers now, how hard is that?), and make sure you have a seasonal veg with dinner (seasonal means cheaper, generally better tasting, and it will ensure that you don't just eat carrots with every meal!).

Hopefully, we can think about food more in yum, this makes me feel good way, rather than a guilt-induced panic over the piece of bread you had earlier (oh…is that just me?).

Setting a new training plan from now until I go home for a visit. Details to follow!

P.S. I made this recipe yesterday and it was delicious. Slow cookers are AWESOME.

Day Four: Oh God, The Bacon

I am very, very sick of meat and cheese (except for old cheddar straight out of the fridge – I could never be sick of you). I find it mentally very difficult to accept a diet where I can't eat yogurt or fruit, but I can eat chicken wings with blue cheese dip. Sure, it sounds great, but really it just hurts my stomach. I have made the awesome discovery of Jello that has no sugar, no fat, and 5 calories per serving. What is in it then?! Colour me confused. But it tastes like cherry, so BACK OFF.

I can't even look at the leftover zucchini lasagna without feeling nauseated. The thought of eating my cream cheese and celery makes my stomach churn. Must continue quest to find non-cheese, non-fatty meat carb-free food. I did find chocolate that was 99% dark, with only ONE measly gram of sugar, but I'm resisting so far. If anyone knows some sort of carb-free chocolate substitute, I will love you forever and give you my celery and cream cheese. Do they make chocolate tofu?

FOOD FOR TODAY:

Breakfast - Egg white omelette with cinnamon

Snack – Celery and cream cheese

Lunch – Salad with cheddar cheese, grilled chicken, and bacon (mmmm) with Jello cup

Snack – Turkey/chicken "pepperoni" sticks

Dinner – Steak and roasted acorn squash "mashed potatoes"

EXERCISE:

1.5km swim (maybe one mile, if I'm not lazy)

Day Three: No Carbs Make E3 Something Something

Yesterday after posting, the day was filled with exhaustion. I could barely see straight; everything seemed to swim a little. I went and did my run, but it was slow and every step felt so heavy. Today, I hit a new low for confusion. I got to work and my stomach was killing me, burning. I couldn't figure it out until I realized I had made breakfast and left it at home, uneaten. Hoo boy. The upside here is that I got Tim Horton's ham breakfast sandwiches (HAMUARY!) and tossed the delicious English muffin they came on (SAD).

From everything I've read, this gets better by about day five. Here's hoping! I weighed myself this morning and I am down five pounds from Monday morning, a lot of which is water weight since I haven't rehydrated adequately since yesterday's run.

FOOD FOR TODAY:

Breakfast - Egg white omelette with cinnamon Tim Horton's Ham Breakfast Sandwich (2) sans English muffin

Snack – Celery and cream cheese

Lunch – Leftover Zucchini Lasagna

Snack – Cashews

Dinner – Chicken wings and carrots

EXERCISE:

Rest Day (Massage!)

The Primal Diet

As requested, here is an explanation of the Paleo PRIMAL Diet. 

Seriously, don't call it Paleo.  It makes you sound like one of those people who uses "whom" at every opportunity to show they know grammar.  Well done, you passed 5th grade English. 

Or who corrects people when they say "expresso" instead of "espresso".  Maybe they need it to GO, jackass.

Okay, now that that's out of the way:

The Primal Diet

The premise of this diet is pretty simple: we should conform our eating habits as closely as possible to what "Grok", our caveman ancestor, would have eaten.  It's fairly intuitive why: we evolved for hundreds of thousands of years as a cave-dwelling, hunter-gatherer and only a few millenia as a mom's-basement-dwelling, Easy-Mac eater. 

Like Kraft Dinner wasn't easy enough?  Stop it you're helping stupid people escape natural selection.

In a nutshell, this is a low carb diet.  Carbohydrates, especially processed grains like wheat, were simply not available to Grok.  Try as he might, he would never have been able to forage more than a tiny fraction of the carbohydrates we typically eat today.

The science seems to back this up, as the primal diet aligns very closely with the low GI diet.  Basically, by avoiding carbs (especially refined carbs and other starches) we avoid a lot of the blood sugar highs and lows that plague so many people.

Under the primal diet, most of your energy comes from fats (about 50%) with about 25% from protein and 25% from carbs (mostly vegetables).  The good news is, you can eat all the fat you want. 

You read that correctly.  OM NOM NOM!

While it sounds counter-intuitive, fat does not actually make you fat.

Say it with me: FAT DOES NOT MAKE YOU FAT. 

Fat, like carbs and protein, is just another form of energy for your body.  What makes you fat is an excess of energy.  This is when there is too much glucose in your bloodstream, which sparks higher insulin production.  Insulin is used to store the excess glucose in your muscles and adipose tissue (also known as your love handles).

So, if you want to avoid becoming fat, you need to do two things: avoid excessive calorie intake, and keep your blood sugar levels (and thereby insulin production) stable.

The primal diet does both of these things marvelously.  For one, eating primal foods (like nuts and meat) promotes powerful satiety.  You feel full much faster, making it difficult to overeat.  Also, stop watching Keeping up with Kardashians while you eat.

Second, because protein and fats metabolize much slower than carbs, they do not cause a spike in blood sugar.  No spike in blood sugar means no spike in insulin, which means no fat storage.  And my favourite part: keeping your blood sugar levels from spiking means you don't feel dizzy after eating, and you don't experience a crash followed by excessive hunger even though you just ate two hours ago!

Take it from me: I used to eat every three hours to fight my ravenous hunger.  If I hadn't eat for 4 or 5 I would feel tired and cranky, and, to quote E3, veritably "stabby".  Now I will notice 6 or 7 hours have gone by and I haven't even thought about food.  I never get ravenously hungry and I have no crashes that aren't bike-related!

Some Primal Diet slogans for your amusement: 
* Grok On! 
* Just call me Optimus Primal
* I'm Grok-Orthodox       <----- my favourite

Day 2: Mood – Stabby

So yesterday morning's excitement about being on a new program wore off by about 2pm. I ate far too much cheese because a) it's delicious and b) it's an approved non-carb snack. Tom and I spent the evening alternating between snapping at each other and laughing hysterically at things that weren't THAT funny. Luckily more laughter than snapping; I watched Tom wander aimlessly around the apartment for 15 minutes looking for his shorts, eventually resorting to looking in the linen closet and shouting "I can't think without carbs!". Awesome.

My stomach is angry and the sudden shift into dairy (which I normally avoid for the most part), so hopefully today I can look up some more no-carb options sans cheese. Tom and I are already planning a pancake breakfast for once this horrible experiment is done.

FOOD FOR TODAY:

Breakfast - Egg white omelette with cinnamon

Snack – Celery and cream cheese

Lunch – Leftover Zucchini Lasagna

Snack – Cashews

Dinner – Sashimi

EXERCISE:

10km run (indoors) (hopefully)

It's Okay, I Don't Like Carbs Anyway *SOB*

It's Day One of our 14-Day No Carb Challenge.

Overall, I'm a firm believer in "everything in moderation" when it comes to food. However, Tom and I can't really deny that when we cut refined carbs (breads, sugars, pasta, etc.) we feel better and lose weight. To that end, we are trying a two-week carbohydrate intolerance test, as set out by Phil Maffetone.

To be clear, this is not a diet per se. The site tells you NOT to pursue this meal plan beyond the two week period. It is designed to see how you feel when you completely eliminate carbs (and that includes "good" food, like yogurt and fruit for example). If you feel better after the two weeks, you can slowly reintroduce servings of carbohydrates until you feel poorly again, resulting in a sustainable level of carbs that your body can handle.

FOOD WE CAN'T HAVE:

·         Breads, pastas, sugars, and other refined carbs

·         Fruit

·         Yogurt and skim dairy products

·         Potatoes

·         Corn

·         Rice

·         Beans

FOOD WE CAN HAVE:

·         Eggs

·         Cheese

·         Heavy cream

·         Unprocessed meat

·         Squash, lettuce, carrots, broccoli

·         Nuts, seeds

·         Oils, vinegar, mayo, salsa, mustard

·         Coffee (yay!) and tea

The idea is that by eating full-fat dairy, nuts, cheese, and oils, you'll be fuller longer, and won't crave carbs (we'll see about THAT).

FOOD FOR TODAY:

Breakfast – Two egg omelette with mushrooms

Snack – Celery and cream cheese

Lunch – Grilled chicken salad with oil and vinegar dressing

Snack – Cashews and almonds

Dinner – Low-Carb Lasagna

EDITED BECAUSE I FORGOT - EXERCISE:

26km bike (stationary)

Diet Dinner Party

This is cross-posted over at In It To Gym It.
*********************************

This biggest challenge I find with the Body For Life program (or any diet for that matter) is working around Odd Days. On a typical working day, it’s no problem to eat everything I should and avoid everything I shouldn’t (or at least, it’s easier). But on the weekends or when friends want to get together, suddenly it seems ridiculously hard to keep up with your meal plan. TEW and I try to plan our cheat days to coincide with social events to avoid this problem, but it doesn’t always happen. While most restaurants frown on the whole “bringing-your-own-BFL-approved-food-in” thing, if you’re hanging out at a friend’s house, we try to offer to bring food (or suggest making it a potluck). Will it be a bit of a pain? Yes. Will you be tempted by the tasty things your host or fellow guests provide? Undoubtedly. But it can make the evening less about what you can’t have and more about having fun.

Food to Bring:

Appetizers:

• Veggie platters
• Vietnamese-Style Fresh Spring Rolls with Salmon. I love this recipe – I usually make half with salmon, half with shrimp. They are even gluten and lactose free!

Side dishes:

• Whole wheat buns (what dinner party doesn’t need buns?)
• Roasted green bean “fries”

Main dishes:

• Turkey chili – just watch your portion size, and bring low-fat cheese if you’re going to top it
• Pre-made grilled chicken burritos – these look really good although I would personally probably drop either the sour cream, cheese, or both
• Healthy Shepherd’s Pie – it honestly tastes really good – I like it more than the traditional recipe!

Desserts:

• Fruit platters (just avoid the dip yourself if you’re buying one pre-made)
• Protein pudding

What are your food tricks of the trade?

ZOMG That's Healthy!

Sometime over the past year, my most favouritest recipe site Recipezaar.com was bought out or possibly won over a foolish ultimate frisbee bet. All I know is that now it is called food.com and is a giant pain in the ass to navigate and is constantly giving me HTTP errors when I am trying to do something so offensive as save recipes to my profile (the nerve I have!). To that end, I'm starting a segment called "ZOMG That's Healthy! Recipes" (name inspired by my Lil' Sister).

Recipe The First: Tom's Tasty Breakfast Pancake

3/4 cup Quaker oats

1/2 cup egg whites

1/2 cup milk (or milk alternative)

Cinnamon (to taste)

Nutmeg (to taste)

A sprinkle of brown sugar (if you want to be a little bad)

*You'll probably want to play with the quantities to get it right for you and how much pancake you want to eat in the morning (does that sound dirty?)*


1. Combine ingredients in a bowl the night before (probably at 1:30am because you're busy playing video games).

2. Put bowl in fridge. Go to sleep. Snore and steal all blankets.

3. Stumble out of bed after alarm goes off for the third time. Dump contents of bowl in small frying pan and set on medium heat. Wander off until you smell burning, or until you can use a spatula under the edges of pancake and it doesn't call apart. Flip. Cooking time will depend on how big your pancake is (I can hear LiLu saying "TWSS").

4. Eat. Don't be hungry again for at least an hour if you're Tom, never be hungry again if you're me (hooray!).