Okay, seriously...WHO DOES THIS?!?!? Have you ever had a coach tell you at 2 weeks out that you get a REST day? Complete and total rest day - no weights, no cardio!!! Well, my coach emailed me that and guess what? I misread the email!! AARGH!!!!! Are you kidding? I got up and was at the gym at 6am, on the stepmill for 45 minutes. I came home and reread the email and just about screamed!! Can you believe it? I'm slowly...very slowly...getting over it!! Ugh!
On the flip side, it must have started my day out right because I'm basically done with my chores around the house and I'm off to get my groceries. I already broiled up some tilapia. I have more to broil and later shrimp as well. And more kabocha to roast. Speaking of kabocha...OH MY! I have a new "dessert" that I eat often - ridiculously easy and incredibly delicious!
I sent my coach my weight and photos yesterday and guess what? I dropped 3 pounds last week! So now guess what? MORE food!!! Woohoo! I have a lot of food on my menu plan and more fats (in the form of nuts and nut butters...mmmmmmm) this week. Steak of course is hanging in there! WAHOO!! Love my steak. Yummy!
But today is still the old plan so I have had some yumminess today:
Meal 1) Julian Cinnamon Almond Bread with NuttZo and egg whites with tomatoes and Bac'Uns (BLT breakfast pizza minus the L!)
2) Zucchini Loaf
3) Delicious Roasted Squash Guts Soup with Tilapia (just made this up and LOVE it!)
That's it for now and I'll be onto Meal 4 very soon which will be a steak omelet! :-)
Hope you're all having a fantastic weekend. I'm off to the store to do some damage in the produce, meat and seafood departments!!
“I think we all wish we could erase some dark times in our lives. But all of life's experiences, bad and good, make you who you are. Erasing any of life's experiences would be a great mistake.” ~Luis Miguel
Yep, just 3 small weeks. I'm almost there! After the week I had, I can say that it won't be soon enough. Wow! This week the cardio kicked my little (or maybe not so little) behind. I have never had a problem with doing any kind of cardio - kind of the Energizer bunny - but this week...BIG PROBLEM!!! Let's see. Monday went off without a hitch then Tuesday AM was all right and then it started going downhill - Tuesday night was hard. Wednesday morning was even worse. Wednesday night was so-so. Thursday AM - could someone please shoot me? Thursday night was still hard. Friday morning was a just as hard. Friday night was slightly better. And here we are this morning - back to normal really! WOOHOO!!!!! Thank goodness for that!!!!
My meals have been right on through it all though. I don't know what my issue was. I guess my body was trying to grasp what the heck I'm doing to it. Yeah, I would be wondering too!!! LOL!!! I had a bad GI problem Thursday night so didn't sleep well and tummy bugging me all day long...UGH! I'll give you yesterday's meals since I know what those were and haven't fully decided for today yet. Be forewarned. There was a lot of kabocha going on yesterday.
Meal 1) Egg whites, side of rhubarb oatmeal
2) Zucchini loaf
snack of kabocha
3) Tilapia with brown and wild rice mixed, side of kimchee
snack of kabocha
4) Chicken w/ sesame oil and cucumber salad (still working on this recipe but hope to post it this weekend)
snack of kabocha
5) Tilapia
snack of kabocha and 4 saltines - my stomach was still unsettled :-(
6) Decaf coffee protein shake with kabocha
7) Egg whites with tomatoes and Garlic Gold Parmesan
I think I have a kabocha disorder!!
So today I slept in a little bit, took progress pics and headed to the gym a little late. I was smart though and took my zucchini loaf with me so I could eat that as soon as I left the gym. And I did. Now I'm home and getting ready to do some cleaning before heading back to the gym for round 2. I've made it a plan to take a rest and some well -deserved time off tonight so I have a lot to get done before that. Off I go!!!
Have a great, great, super fantastic weekend and I'll be back tomorrow or Monday!!!
"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." ~Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
"You're a winner. The tests of life are not meant to break you, but to make you." ~Norman Vincent Peale
WOW!!! I can't believe it's already 5 weeks out! Where does the time go? Oh, wait, I know this answer:
8 hours - work (yes, employment)
2 hours or so - eating
80 minutes -treadmill or stepmill
45-60 minutes - training
15-30 minutes - stretching
1-2 hours - cooking
7-8 hours - sleeping
1 hour - showering and dressing
30 minutes - blogging
LOL! I just added all those minutes/hours up and they total 24.3 hours!!!!!! Last time I checked a day only has 24 hours, right?!? OMG!!!! I'm SOOOOO cracking up right now! Well, clearly my calculations are a little off since I didn't even put drive time in there and I DO live in L.A. so that would add time. Well, at least I know where the time goes now!!
I was up and at 'em this morning bright and early - weighed myself and took my photos to send to Gina. She called me almost right after she got them and was very excited about where I am and how I'm looking so that's great. She said I am exactly where I should be. My weight probably won't go down much more but my body composition will continue to shift a little. 5 weeks is still a lot of time. So exciting!! LOVE my coach! She's the best! Cheers Gina!!
To my coach - CHEERS!!
This weekend will be filled with lots of fun things like cooking and cleaning and laundry. Hmmm...that sounds a lot like last weekend. But tomorrow I get to take a little break from it all. I'm trying to get a lot done today so tomorrow I can relax and do something fun - maybe take in a movie or go get a foot massage or something like that - you know, decompress!
Meals 1 and 2 are down already!
1) Bruschetta topped egg white pancake and a side of oats with stewed rhubarb
2) CHOCOLATE PROTEIN CAKEwith a side of Peanutty Oats - Cooked oats mixed with PB2 and extra water...yummy!
Meals to eat still:
3) Fish, rice, veggies
4) Possibly a peanut shake OR Lem-O-Barbatcha Shake and rice cake with NuttZo!
5) Fish & coleslaw omelet
6) Shrimp salad with Spicy Rice Vinegar Dressing: 1 t chili garlic sauce, 2 t yuzu rice vinegar, 2 drops stevia, pinch of dry mustard, water - fat free and DELICIOUS! Spicy!
7) Egg white veggie omelet
We'll see how many of those meals go exactly as planned
AM fasted cardio - DONE! Hams & Glutes later as well as more cardio and hopefully skate or bike sprints!! We'll see after all my cleaning and laundry but that's the plan!!!
Well, I guess I better get started then - my chores so lovingly await me!! Have a great day and be happy!
My second favorite household chore is ironing. My first being hitting my head on the top bunk bed until I faint. ~Erma Bombeck
The trouble with living alone is that it's always your turn to do the dishes. ~Author Unknown (but I'm pretty sure it was me - LOL!)
Hello, me again! So, here is my update from the past couple of days...
Wednesday I actually left work early. My visor had broken on my car and it was going to cost me $60 to replace. I talked to my guy at the dealership and he said to bring it in and maybe we could work something out. So after I left work I headed to the gym to finish up my cardio for the day (off day from training). Then I headed over to the dealership. He DID get me a deal, indeed! $16 instead of $60! Of course I did that right away. Then it was off to REI to pick up some inserts for my water bottle. Then it was to the grocery store. Then home finally around 5 or so. I ended up cooking from about 5 till 10. WHAT?!? How does that happen? I think I was a little inefficient about my time though. I know I could have done that better if I hadn't gotten so carried away with my zucchini chips! LOL! But you know how I love those. I made the following: 6 batches of zucchini loaves, dried rhubarb (recipe coming soon), Turkey Meatloaf, 2 batches of zucchini chips, Spicy Couscous Summer Salad, Spicy Shrimp, broiled tilapia, 2 Chocolate Protein Cakes, as well as dinner - Shrimp with diced spicy tomatoes. Yep, very busy in the kitchen indeed and enough food to last till tomorrow so yeah!
Thursday morning I was up at 4:30 so I could be at the gym by 5 at the latest. I got there and they opened up about 4:55am and in I went for my 30 minutes of cardio (treadmill 4.4 @ 12% incline). Then it was home for a quick shower and eat Meal 1 and then out the door at 6:24 to head to San Diego. Drive time? About 2 hours! Not bad actually and thankfully because coming home? Not QUITE the same story. Met up with Gina and practiced posing. Still have a problem with my back pose but it's improving. My new friend Nikee had her appointment with Gina right after me. It was great to see her again. She had 2 suits with her so I tried one of them on. It looked great - color and all and got me more excited for the competition. I'm contacting the owner to see if I can "rent" it. I should find out this week if I can or not. Keep your fingers crossed. It would be perfect for me! Gina's going to change up my training and mealplan again so I will see what that looks like tomorrow. So exciting! We also discussed my mental state a little which seems to be a problem. More on that later but to sum it up I really have an issue with being as "small" as I am right now. Not very comfortable with that.
From there it was off to the San Diego Hilton right next to the Convention Center. Really pretty and nice hotel. Got to see my friends and their kids. It was great. While we were hanging out by the pool, relaxing and chatting, there was a gathering on the bayside of the pool. We went to check it out and they were training a military dolphin! So cool! Well, military not so cool but the dolphin was awesome. If you know me at all, you know I think I'm a reincarnated dolphin. Hee hee...
I hung out with them for a while and then headed home. The parking in that area is ridiculous so even though I came into the lot at :29 after and left at :32 after I still got charged the extra hour for those THREE minutes! Ridiculous but oh well. They weren't trying to help me out at all. Such is life. Then I'm waiting at the light in from of the Convention Center and we aren't moving at all because there are a ton of pedestrians. While I'm sitting there a couple of bees show up on my rearview mirror.
This was just the beginning...BEFORE the mirror was covered!!!
Next thing I know my car is SWARMED by bees. Literally the whole rearview mirror was covered with bees and they were just sticking to my window. I was so freaked out! And I'm not even a girly girl that can't handle bees. I can but this was a little too freaky. And it was ONLY my car. Nobody else was having the bee swarm. Weird or what?
Made it back around 7:15pm (3 1/2 hours of driving). I was exhausted from the drive and lounging in the sun. But I ate my dinner and headed off to the gym to work my legs and then do my PM cardio. Got the legs done with a lot of struggling but did it and then onto the treadmill. I couldn't do it. I made it for 15 and had to call it quits. I got home, made my chocolate cake and as I was eating it at 9:45 decided that Friday I was just going to sleep in and just enjoy my morning. I could tell I needed to regroup and I did just that.
Friday I woke up at 6:15am. Such a luxury. I took a nice leisurely shower and then ate a nice leisurely breakfast, had time to write on Gina's forum and just regrouped. Had some desperately needed ME time! And DOWN time!! It was great. I went to work and worked all day. Came home at lunch and took a nap and realized how very tired I was. Packed my bag for the gym anyway. At the end of the workday I asked myself if I would be incredibly disappointed in myself if I didn't work out...would I feel guilty. The answer was a definitive NO. So I didn't work out yesterday at all. I came home, watched a movie and just relaxed. It was AWESOME and very rejuvenating. I got to bed early so this morning, how did I feel?
I FELT FANTASTIC this morning and my energy and mind has been great today. I am about to eat my 3rd meal and then head to the gym. I made a colossal failure recipe this morning for egg white frosting. I thought it would be perfect for my chocolate cakes but it was a huge flop. I was subbing Just Like Sugar for the sugar though and I just don't think you can do that. I'll try a different recipe again some other time and see what happens. Then I turned around and made a jicama crisp. It looks pretty good and tastes pretty good but not great. I'm going to have to find and buy rhubarb today and then I'm making THAT into a crisp! That will be divine since the jicama is just a little too crunchy for that. But the rhubarb won't be. Can't wait!!! Yummy, yummy. I'll post the recipe when I get it right.
Well, off to more food and the gym. Then I have to head out to the mall. I really need a couple of pieces of clothing that fit!!!!
Make it great! It's got to be first rate!!! - Why, yes, that IS a high school cheer!!!! LOL!!! But it's fitting for me and I like it for today.
OMG! I just found this quote and could it be more fitting for me?!? I mean "holding two opposed ideas in my mind"!!!! WOW!! Nailed it!! Thanks F. Scott!
The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.~F. Scott Fitzgerald
Yeah! I slept well last night. Having the AC in my room helped tremendously. I guess at some point it turns off by itself so I had to turn it back on and then went right back to sleep. Aaaahhh...I have a new respect for sleep! I really do.
So, here are some stats along this journey I've been doing. The dates are August 2009, May 2010 (15 weeks out) and today (8 weeks out).
Weight: 165, 139, 129
Body fat: 33%, 19.3%, 17.2%
Lean mass: 110, 112, 107
I personally don't like the low weight...more on this later. But I am glad that I haven't lost much lean mass. I don't really want that number to get much lower though. I want my muscle to stay!
Already up and at 'em at the gym with my 40 minutes of fasted cardio split between the treadmill (yeah! my blister's almost gone) and stepmill. It actually seemed very easy today. Hmmm...don't know why. I ate 2 meals already, just 5 to go. I wonder how sick of eggs I will be by the end of all this. Right now I just keep making the same thing - egg pancake, spread my oatmeal on top of it, sprinkle a little sea salt, fresh cherry tomatoes or mini heirloom, grated lemon zest. I like this combo, I really do. But at some point I might just crack!! Pun intended! LOL!!!
I wrote out my to-do list for today last night and I think I really better get started on that right about now. So until later, keep cool as a cucumber and enjoy your day and weekend!!
I know this song is older but I heard it last night and I just love the lyrics. So true...the rest is still unwritten! Live your life with arms wide open!!!!
Lyrics:
I am unwritten, can't read my mind, I'm undefined
I'm just beginning, the pen's in my hand, ending unplanned
Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten
Oh, oh, oh
I break tradition, sometimes my tries, are outside the lines
We've been conditioned to not make mistakes, but I can't live that way
Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten
Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten
The rest is still unwritten
The rest is still unwritten
Oh, yeah, yeah
Sunday, June 27, 2010
After a rough start to my week I'm glad to say I'm back in the swing and having a great weekend. So far so good. I even got a little R&R with a friend of mine yesterday just hanging, talking, laughing. It was nice to not be cooking, cleaning or working out. AND I got my hair cut...well, trimmed I guess. I look awesome! LOL!!!
Funny story: My friend and I were in Coffee Bean yesterday and in walks this person that we both definitely know so we decide she must be one of our patients since that's the common ground my friend and I have. So my friend goes up to her and asks her if she's a patient at our office. She says very haughtily, "I don't even know Dr. So-and-so." And proceeds to march off. Later we realized that she looked familiar because she's a supermodel! Yep, it was Rachel Hunter!!! Too funny. Not a very nice person. I'm sure she gets tired of being a celebrity but she was unnecessarily rude.
I was on the stepmill early this morning, around 6:30 or so and I was wondering how much more cardio I'm doing now than when I started with Gina in January. Guess what? In January I was doing 240 minutes a week and now I'm doing 380!!! WOW!! That's a lot! No wonder I have no "free" time per se. Since the beginning of my prep 5 weeks ago I'm doing 70 more minutes a week. Yep! That's right!
Today was the first day in a long time that I got to eat fruit...granted it was only 1/2 a cup of berries but I put it in my shake with some almond butter (1 tablespoon) and it was so delicious. I was trying to figure out how to lick the inside of my fairly skinny glass. It was funny! And then I went on to practically licking out the blender. In fact I got to the blades and almost licked them without thinking! Luckily my brain kicked in and I didn't do it but yes, it was that tempting. A week of no fat and no fruit and then to have both in one meal. Apparently it makes a girl lose her mind!!!!
I know I owe you all some recipes and I'm going to get them up here in a minute. I've come up with a couple that I think you'll like and I'm also going to let you in on my little "secret" online recipe that is to die for!! RICH, you're definitely going to want to try this...Chocolate Protein Cake!!
I'm going to try to be better about sharing my diet and workout with all of you. I just feel so busy and I'm trying to not be on my computer as much so that kind of is a problem.
I'm off to the store then cooking and hopefully done a little early so I can enjoy a little more free time later today before Monday sets in!!
Have a great rest of your weekend!!! Enjoy! Live, breathe, laugh, and love!
“The person who knows how to laugh at himself will never cease to be amused.” ~Shirley MacLaine
I'm cruising right along with my prep here. Things are going along quite well. You know what I had for dinner on Friday night? PIZZA!!!! MMMMMMMM...
Okay, no it's not really pizza but this was really good! I made my egg whites and then topped those with some zucchini and mushroom saute and then added my oil-free tabouli on top!!! Soooooo delish! Really, really great flavor!
Yesterday was interesting. I went to do my morning workout and then headed into some Laundry Room Battle. The thing is that it wouldn't have been a battle if someone (let's just call them an idiot) hadn't washed...WHAT...a down pillow, comforter...something!!! Feathers EVERYWHERE!!!! Not noticing this at first since the barrel of the washing machine is grey I put my $1.25 in but as soon as the water started filling, here came the feathers and the more it agitated, the more feathers! Needless to say I was NOT going to put my laundry in there so then we're down to ONE washing machine so I just did ONE batch of laundry. I couldn't deal with the Laundry Room Battle. Nope!
Other than that yesterday went well and I had a GREAT workout in the afternoon and pretty much killed my legs after with my bike sprints. I like doing those though. They are fun.
I got my plan for this week from Gina and she's ramping it up! I've got more cardio but at least it's split between morning and night. Yeah! Apparently my training (weights) will be the same through most of the prep she said so that's good.
I've started being better at getting to sleep earlier and it really seems to make a HUGE impact on my workout and how difficult it does or doesn't feel. Sleep is a great thing!
So my goal for this week is to continue my fabulous job of following my meal plans to a T!! Also, to continue to be in bed on time - 9 and 9:30 at the latest! The hardest part about that is getting in my last meal in good enough time before I go to sleep. We don't need a reason for indigestion now, do we?
I went to the farmers market this morning as well as did my cardio. Luckily one of the stepmills opened up right after I got to the gym! Yeah! I have to get to Trader Joe's for some regular ol' staples like fish, shrimp, scallops, eggs...you know...the USUAL! It's a good thing that even though it's the usual I have an arsenal of recipes to keep it interesting. I think if I didn't I couldn't stick with the plan...REALLY!
Oh! And my Meal 3 today was this...Chicken tacos (with ground chicken) with pico de gallo and shredded cabbage on Ezekiel tortillas (the small ones)! DELISH!!!!! Here's how I did it!
1) Ezekiel Tortillas - put on plate and cover with slightly moist paper towel and microwave about 30 seconds.
2) Add ground chicken spiced with Mrs. Dash Chipotle seasoning
3) Add shredded cabbage
4) Add pico de gallo (recipe on RECIPE page)
Before folding and devouring...
Mmmm....see what I mean? FINAL PRODUCT...DELISH!!!
So there you have it...one really delicious meal! Really it's not that hard to eat this way. You just have to find the recipes that work for you.
I'm off to the store and then cooking, cooking, cooking!
Have a great rest of your weekend!
“One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating.” -Luciano Pavarotti
I must remember to sleep enough. Last night, for example, I didn't sleep enough. Tonight will be a different story! In bed at 10pm at the latest! Speaking of sleep, I need to figure out my ideal necessary sleep time so next week I have a project for myself. I will be going to bed at 9:30 each night and seeing what time I wake up naturally and that will be my new sleep budget! LOL! Budget...that's funny!
Food today:
Meal 1: 1 cup Cheerios w/ 1/2 c milk and 1/2 scoop protein powder
Meal 2: 1/2 cup yogurt, 1/2 an apple, 1/4 scoop protein powder
Meal 3: 1 pork loin chop, 2 cups salad, 1 T balsamic vinaigrette, 1/2 cup mashed potatoes
Meal 4: Think Thin creamy peanut butter bar
Meal 5: 1 cup Cheerios
Meal 6: Caesars Salad w/ 8 shrimp (recipe below)
Meal 7: TBD
My workout was Gina's 2nd Circuit Workout! It was funny and quick to do.
I'm going to make some zucchini loaf tonight and also maybe some apple fritter muffins too. We'll see. I'm also going to relax with a little crochet to just pass some time while my goodies are baking.
Today was a good day and I'm grateful for all the good that exists in this world and particularly in my life. Thank you, thank you!
"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep." by Scott Adams in The Dilbert Principle (Collins)
Caesar Salad Dressing
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1 T white vinegar
1 T grated Parmesan
2 anchovy fillets
1-2 garlic cloves
1 T lemon juice
1/2 T Worcestershire
1/2 T olive oil
water
Blend all in blender until creamy. With the blender on, pour water in top hole and continue to blend. Add water to desired consistency. Pour over romaine. This is pretty tangy so if you like things sweeter, you may want to add some stevia. Enjoy!
Broiled Shrimp
pressed garlic
paprika
cayenne
olive oil
(salt if desired)
Mix ingredients together to make a paste. Marinate shrimp for about 5-10 minutes. Broil 2 minutes on one side and 1 minute on the other.
So I'm starting a blog today to get me off on the right foot each and every day for a year. It's yet another commitment I'm going to stick with. I really want to track what I do each day, the weather, my diet, fitness, and entertainment. How I spend my time and what I'm learning on a daily basis. Hopefully my sharing will be of interest to someone else.
Today was a great fall day. It was overcast in the morning and early afternoon. The sun came out for a little while and it was pretty cool - upper 60's. I ate quite well today. I had my usual egg and egg whites scrambled with zucchini. Then I also had some oatmeal with walnuts and agave. I took my calcium, vitamin D and fish oil. My second meal was cabbage with chicken and avocado. Tasty. I got to have my protein shake and half an apple post workout. For dinner I had some "stew" of corn, tomatoes, onions, garlic, chicken and tilapia. Kind of odd I suppose.
I did the Day 2 workout of the Half Body Workout. I decided that I'm not crazy about back squats. Other than that it was good though.
I learned today to not give up on your dreams, to find your passion and keep going with it no matter what obstacles and no matter who tells you no or that you can't do something. Persevere. That's the only way to get where you want to go.
"We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have." ~Frederick Keonig
