The wheels are up... *Project: Veganism* has officially taken flight!

Today marks my 4th consecutive 100% vegan day.  I have been more or less at it for the better part of 2 weeks, but I had some chicken I was working my way through as I didn't want to waste it and throw it away.  

I wanted to get some initial thoughts on paper now as I am curious to monitor how my body responds to this experiment, but also because (based on previous experience) it is easy to forget very quickly what life was like during a period of change.  I want to "time capsule" these next couple weeks to document what the transition to veganism is like.  So, without further adieu....

Issues I'm Looking Forward to Monitoring

I have some health items I am curious to track to see if a plant-based diet can address.  First is the tumor in my breast.  It is benign (a hamartoma), but I'm curious to see if it might shrink.  The second is a minor dry skin condition that kinda nags at me.  I am suspicious that this might be connected to my third issue, which is that I have bouts of systemic candida.  This is most evidenced when I drink alcohol, but I know its there regardless.  And I've heard the dermatitis I have is often times associated with candida problems.  Also related to candida -- and something I am most interested to track -- is my Hashimoto's Syndrome, a thyroid auto-immune disease.  It is rumored that diet can reverse this syndrome, especially when caught early.  And I am in the early indicators phase.  So, I will be tracking those things along my journey.

Observations

Thus far, even after just a couple weeks of 95-100% veganism, I can say that my energy levels are off the charts.  I literally am bouncing around like I'm over-caffeinated all day long; except I'm not.  It's actually quite ridiculous, I feel sorry for anyone who has to be around me because I can't calm down ;)

I seem to be recovering from workouts better, too.  I have stepped my training up a significant notch, but my muscles bounce back from failure after only about 36 hours now (sometimes it could take upwards of 3-4 days for me to recover).  I am supplementing with a little left over glutamine I have here at the house, but otherwise, I rely solely on a diversity of plants to obtain my aminos.

I am also now 3 months completely off of birth control, and I do not intend to ever put my poor body on synthetic hormones ever again.  They served their purpose when I was younger and had AWFUL cycles with PMS I could not handle (fatigue, pain, headaches, etc).  But now I'm old enough to just deal with it.  I'm allowing my body to do 100% naturally what it wants to do; I'm just supplying it with as many nutrients as possible.

Current Supplements

Daily, I take an odorless garlic supplement, a Whole Foods general "Immune Support" herbal blend, a B-12 supplement, probiotics, a glutamine tab (because I have a bottle in my house still that I need to work through), and an enzyme support blend to help in digesting and absorbing the plants I'm eating (particularly the raw ones).  I've been reading up and have learned that over time, after switching to a plant-based diet, your body will slowly evolve to be able to handle a greater influx of cellulose-containing food stuffs.  As of right now, I do need the assistance of an extra cellulase enzyme boost to assist in the dirty work ;)

Other changes include using plant-based soaps and shampoos (just for the fun of it), I drink about 80-100 fl oz of water a day, and I take my coffee black -- I am about 75% of the way there to actually enjoying it! And I shop exclusively at Whole Foods because the labels are easy for me to determine that the foods I am buying are organic, fair trade and non-GMO.  If I am going to go all out with this diet/lifestyle experiment, I want to do it right,  And I'm willing to pay for it, so long as the means last.

Training

In terms of training, I have switched to HIIT cardio and a lot of circuit training with my PT dudes. This varies from the steady state cardio I have been doing (albeit at an intense level!), and a lifting schedule that included designating specific days for specific muscle groups.

Current Diet
The following is my current diet (for purposes of record keeping, of course :))

Breakfast
2 servings of [fortified] oatmeal
1 tbsp hemp hearts
1 tbsp chia seeds
1/2 cup organic plain soymilk
1 cup black coffee

Lunch
Green Protein Smoothie! Currently this contains about 2 cups of spinach, 1 cup of kale, 1 cup of green grapes, 1/4 avocado, 1 kiwi, the juice from 1/2 a lemon, 1/2 green apple, 4-6 frozen broccoli florets, 1/2 cup peas, and a scoop of Plant Fusion protein powder.

Snacks
1/2 cup of black beans, 1/4 cup of mixed nuts, and a NuGo vegan non-GMO protein bar (currently in Mint Chocolate flavor).

Dinner
As of right now I am eating homemade baked falafel and toum sauce with a romaine lettuce and tomato side salad dressed with a mixture of fresh lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, and minced garlic.

One of these days I'll get around to calculating the totals of what I'm eating, but these certainly do keep me full! :)

Weeks 10, 11 and 12: A Super Long Update...plus, the dreaded... PROGRESS PHOTOS :/

So, I finally passed the "Week 11" threshold.  Oh, glorious week 11... it was at the 11th week that I started to see progress in 2012, and I am officially seeing a lot of progress now! I'm having to tighten my bikini bottoms, clothes that didn't fit do now... I'm feeling amazing!  I'll detail these items below with my first release of PROGRESS PHOTOS!

UPDATE ON THE GENERAL PROCESS:
I am finding it increasingly difficult to check in on a weekly basis to blog, though I have so many thoughts, ideas, and tidbits I want to document in my transformation.

My work schedule has been chaotic -- I've been logging 10+ hour days at the office for the past 5 weeks.  Nonetheless, I have stuck to my workout plan.  Some days have been extremely hard to muster up the energy to produce a quality workout.  In those times, I draw upon my favorite motivational YouTube video (link: CLICK HERE) and my list of reasons why I am on this journey (which I will post later).  It's a funny thing -- when you want something SO badly, it's hard to imagine you'll ever find yourself in a place so difficult, exhausting, or otherwise seemingly impossible, that you lose your focus and begin to think that how you are feeling now (negatively) is not worth the toll your goals demand.  Several times last week I felt myself wanting to just quit for a couple days.  My body and my mind were drained, and there was one point (Thursday of last week, as I recall so clearly) where I remember sitting in the employee kitchen eating my pre-workout meal thinking to myself, "What am I doing?? I need to go home and sleep.  This workout is impossible."  Normally, I probably would have listened to that intuitive voice.  But I had scheduled an extra rest day last week for Friday, and decided to tough it out on Thursday.

As the funny meme suggests, rarely does one ever regret a workout.  Thursday reeeeally pushed my limits on believing there are no exceptions to this meme.  Even after toughing out as hard of a workout as I could (which, I'll admit, I still cut some corners and simply couldn't pull myself together enough to produce a strong cardio segment), I wondered if I hadn't actually done more harm than good by not giving my body the rest it craved.


Strangely, though, the next day I felt flush full of energy and, after getting dismissed early from work, decided I had the time and strength to do a regular workout.  Go figure.

The boy and I.  Sadness! :*(

One other wrench thrown into my life plan a couple weeks ago was that my boyfriend and I broke up.  I won't get into the details, but suffice it to say the event translated into some SERIOUS workouts in the gym.  I just ran and lifted my way out of sorrow, and I'm feeling great for it.  The break-up also means I have full control over my time and diet now, which means I can focus more on my goals and getting to where I want to be.  It hurts, and its sad, but the beauty about having a passion and a project to work on, is that you stay distracted and focused on what you love; the positive. I used to be an emotional eater, but through the course of diet and training (particularly back in 2012), I re-trained my mind to console myself with other feel-good things that didn't involve food, which also helped me cope throughout the past couple weeks and stay on track.  Shopping, splurging on a massage, taking long contemplative bike rides or walks.... sometimes even just going to a local park and people-watching has had healing powers over me.  But mostly, keeping myself busy -- working on those projects that I've let build up, splurging on new gardening tools and planting something, etc -- has been, in a word, "EPIC" at healing a broken heart without the use of junk food or wallowing on the couch instead of getting up and staying on track. 

UPDATE ON WORKOUTS
One new thing I have added into my routine over the past 3 weeks is a circuit training day in place of my regular Back/Chest day.  I've been taking one of those platforms that people use for step aerobics and stacking it onto 5 or 6 risers and placing it in a secluded part of my gym.  Then I do 100 jumps with a jump rope, immediately kneel on the makeshift bench and crank out 8 reps of a 35-lb single arm row (8 reps for each arm), then go immediately lay down on the bench and do 10 reps of a 27.5lb dumbbell chest press (27.5lbs per dumbbell), and then go right into a 45 second plank on the floor.  I aim for 6 sets of this, and done quickly enough, it has an exhaustive cardio element to it.

I have decided that each month, I will replace one of my normal lifting routines with a circuit just to keep things varied. Next week I will start a circuit for biceps and triceps.  Just got to research and plan one out.

UPDATE ON NUTRITION
I had several weeks in a row of SUPER solid nutritional planning.  I didn't feel the desire to cheat, so I stuck to a very clean (very boring!) meal plan, because it seemed to work.  I had my regular unsweetened bran flakes w/ skim milk for breakfast, 3 poached boneless/skinless chicken tenderloins w/ 3 cups steamed spinach and 1/2 cup cooked plain barley for lunch, 1/2 cup of roasted pistachios with a Quest Bar for an afternoon snack, a banana & 3 tbsp natural peanut butter for pre-workout, and then 6 eggs scrambled (2 yolks, 4 whites) with 4 cups of steamed spinach and a Cutie tangerine for dinner.  If I was extra hungry, I'd have a recovery protein shake directly following my workout. 

Café Gratitude "Awakening" pie... DIVINE.

In Week 11, however, I had a variety of cheat meals.  Two Sundays ago, my best friend's mom cooked a traditional Irish feast for St. Pat's.  We're talking full-fat corned beef, cabbage/carrots, soda bread, BBQ asparagus, and then a berry cobbler with vanilla ice cream for dessert.  I had seconds -- of both!! It felt SO good, and really gave my body a boost.  I woke up feeling re-fueled and good.  But then on Wednesday I had a date (already... yikes!) and we went to a DELICIOUS vegan restaurant.  It was all natural and organic, but nonetheless I know I blew my macros out of the park with dessert alone (which happened to be a Key Lime and Avocado Cream Pie -- maybe the most delicious thing I have ever had.  Bravo, Café Gratitude!) And THEN, on Friday, my friend ordered Thai food for all of us, and I completely gorged myself on coconut curry and pad Thai.  So, it was a cheat WEEK for me.  But I don't feel bad about it at all.  In fact, I feel great! I'm glad I infused some extra calories and new foods into my diet.  Kinda give my metabolism a break, give my mental state a break, and now I'm more than motivated to get back onto the plan and push for another 2-3 super clean weeks before I splurge again in April.

The Plan for this Week
My plan for this week is to stay the course.  Today and Thursday will be legs day at the gym plus solid intervals on the elliptical.  On Tuesday I plan to run 5 miles, and then do my final back/chest circuit plus a chest/posterior delt fly and assisted pull ups.  Wednesday is my day off but will be an active rest - I'll go for a walk, and do my therapy for my back.  Friday will either be a day off if I plan to play volleyball on Saturday, otherwise it will be biceps, triceps, shoulders and some kind of cardio (maybe hill repeats).  I wish I had access to a pool.

And not, for the long awaited.... PROGRESS PHOTOS!
Shit just officially got real.  Don't judge me for how soft I was when I started back up again.  I as practically on bed rest for all of 2013 :(

This was after week 1

After week 3.  Still had a fluffy belly in full effect!

This was after week 5.  Super hard time because it had already been 35 days and I could see how far I still had to go.  My face says it all.

After week 10.  Starting to see a little definition.  Clothes are starting to fit better.  A smile of hope on my face after 63 days!

Week 11 - More progress, bigger smiles :)

Week 12 - My current state -- still a long ways to go, but finally some visible progress

So, clearly I have a looong ways to go -- especially in the legs department, but my hands are tied there until my therapist gives me clearance to start doing squats, deadlifts, and really any exercise involving the quads.  Right now I'm only allowed to do hams and glutes.  For the record, I haven;t fit into those bikini bottoms since 4 months into my progress in 2012, so I feel like I'm right on track :)

More progress photos in  a month or so!

Week Four, 2014: Starting To See Results???

Let's not kid ourselves; I have a ways to go. But...could it be???

I know I said I would post progress photos by Week 4, but I'm just not there yet.  With that said, however, I am happy to announce that last Friday I looked in the mirror and for the first time so far, I was able to feel a difference! I can't see it... and my clothes still more or less fit the same, but I have a general sense of feeling stronger, and slightly "tighter". 

Strange things are going on with my body as it is; I was put on the wrong birth control last month which always messes me up (bloating, etc), but my cycle is due to start any day now, so I'm hoping once I clear this week and get back on my regular prescription next week, I might see a lot more progress than I already do. With that said, you know how the moniker goes...

4 weeks for me to notice; 8 weeks for my circle to notice, 12 weeks for outsiders to notice.  Maybe by this time next week, I actually will be in a position of experiencing something I haven't felt since the summer of 2012: The extreme joy of seeing hard work pay off.

But alas, I am in no hurry.  I was so desperate for outward results the last time I transformed my body.  But this time is more... spiritual.  It's the mental pleasure of knowing I am following through on a commitment.  It's waking up each morning remembering I stuck to my plan and did what I needed to do, pushed through and gave 110% in my workout, and had the soreness in my chest or calves to prove for it.  This time is different because I know this will work, I just need to give it time.  And there is something special to be said this time about waking up and starting my days.  It's like every day is a gift to me right now... every day I've been able to awaken and realize that I "just a normal day" before my back injury is a complete treasure to me now, to be able to get up and do whatever I want.  Such a sense of freedom and empowerment is never a bad way to begin a new day.

My Superbowl 10k rum time and caloric burn

In other news, my boyfriend was away with friends for most of last week through the weekend, which gave me the unique opportunity to have some time to myself.  And I realized just how much I cherish the shit out of my alone time.  I did a sunrise hike on Saturday followed by circuit weight training, ran a ton of errands, did my meal planning, scrubbed my balcony clean and organized my plants to prepare for a new garden, and got a solid night's sleep.  On Sunday I ran the local annual Super Bowl 10k -- and logged my fastest 10k time ever at 55:15, had a lovely lunch with my mom and sister, dropped by a Super Bowl party until half time, then went home and cooked myself a yummy dinner, did my nails, and went to bed early.

If it's anything I can say about the week that just passed, it's that relief has never felt so good.  My back has tolerated what I have been putting it through; I had a very successful physical therapy session on Friday last week, and treating myself out to weekly massages has helped keep my muscles limber.  I'm beginning to realize that investing in my body - whether that is through nutrition, rest, or prophylactic treatment - is worth its weight in gold. I "celebrated" my 1-year anniversary of injuring myself last Tuesday, and to be able to spend last week doing such a diverse array of activities such as training, running, and hiking on a whim has been just completely exhilarating.

I have modified my diet for this week to be composed of the following:

It doesn't quite hit my goal of 1,800 calories a day, but then again, I just haven't had the appetite to eat that much food yet.  Once my appetite increases, I'll match it with more food, but I seem to have reached a happy spot of calories in/calories out. My sugar intake is still on the high side, but I'll whittle it down in due time.

That is all, for now!

Experiment Results Are In: Are Heart Rate Monitors a Good Judge of Caloric Needs?

Results of my experiment are in! Do online calorie counters really provide a reliable estimate of how many calories I should be eating in a day to reach my goal?

The short answer is YES! But the caveat is that they are only useful if you have an honest and accurate assessment of what your activity level is.

Background of my Experiment

It's been 3 weeks since I re-started my training & diet program.  I wanted to reassess what my daily caloric burn was so I could develop an effective meal plan.  Calories In, Calories Out is really the most important factor here, with composition of the calories being the 2nd most important factor.  So how many calories should I be eating to maintain my weight, so I know how many calories to aim for in order to cut my body fat % back?

Step 1: Testing Out the Online Calculators

I plugged my biological stats (Female/30 years old/5'8"/142 lbs) into a variety of mathematical formulas and online calculators and chose an Activity Factor somewhere between "moderately active" and "very active" because, while I workout hard 5-6 days a week, I also have a desk job.  These formulas all produced the following results: 

1. FreeDieting.com says I should consume 2,068 calories to maintain my weight (at an activity level of working out "5x/week") 
2. Mayo Clinic says I should consume 2,100 calories to maintain my weight (at an "Active" activity level)
3. Calorie.Net says I should consume 2,190 calories to maintain my weight (at a "Moderately Active" activity level).  It also calculated my Basal Metabolic Rate ("BMR") - the number of calories I would need to consume to maintain if I were to lie in bed and do nothing ALL DAY - at 1,413 calories.
4. Active.com says I should consume 2,500 calories to maintain my weight (at an "Active" activity level) - and 2,227 calories at a "Low Active" level.
5. CaloriesPerHour.com gave me an RMR of 1,413 and a BMR of 1,450. These are both resting metabolic rates (the number of calories I would need to maintain if I did nothing but lie in bed all day).  They then displayed a variety of Activity Factors to determine how many calories I would need to eat given how active I was throughout the day.  I like this formula the best, because I was able to take an average of Moderately Active (1.55) and Very Active (1.725) and come up with a blended activity level I feel matches my desk job + intense after-work exercise routine.  I multiplied an average of my BMR and RMR (1,432 calories) by an average of Moderately and Very Active (1.64) to come up with a maintenance calorie intake suggestion of  2,345 calories.

I really have no idea how "active" I should have classified myself, but it appears as though to maintain my weight, I should be eating anywhere between 2,100 and 2,300 calories.  

But is this true? My goal is to shed about 3% body fat before I start a muscle building phase.  In order to lose this weight ("cut"), I would want to reduce my diet by 500 calories to create a gentle deficit.  But 500 calories off of 2,300 versus 2,100 yields a dramatic difference - either I'd be eating too many calories to make a progressive difference, or I would be eating too few given my athletic demands.  Neither situation is ideal.

Step 2: Testing Out the Heart Rate Monitor

So, I plugged my stats into my Polar FT4 heart rate monitor and wore it for 24 hours yesterday to put those estimates to the test.  I did a typical workout so as not to skew the results.  Sure enough, after 24 hours, I had burned a total of 2,423 calories.

Conclusion

I'm gonna give a thumbs up to the online calculators, because given the pretty limited information they asked for, their estimates were not grotesquely off target.  The problem is more with the user being able to adequately identify what their activity level is.  Had I stuck with my original estimates and elected to subtract 500 calories from a 2,100 calorie diet, I would be in a deficit of almost 800 calories based on my real burn.  And this was just the results of a day with a steady workout - no crazy circuits, no HIIT training.

With all of this in mind, I feel a LOT better about my idea of how much I should be eating in a day to reach my goals.  Now the challenge is to create a menu that includes a diverse variety of real foods to meet these goals.  I've been trying to stick to the below plan, but the strangest problem is that I am just not hungry enough to eat it all.  What's a girl to do??

I know I lack a diversity of vegetables in there, but my IBS prevents me from eating anything more exciting than zucchini, spinach, iceberg lettuce and the occasional serving of peas.  Carrots, celery, bell peppers, broccoli/kale/brussels sprouts, asparagus.... I could go on and on about the veggies my tummy can't handle.  But anywho, I digress!

Week Two, 2014: Those Tough Decisions

We're at the beginning of Week 2 of my 2014 Road to Results tour.  Last week was a really good start.  I stuck to my small goals (drinking three to four 20-oz glasses of water, cutting out all the crappy snack foods I was eating and replacing them with fruit, and adhering to a prescribed workout routine).  I stuck to my plan, and my back feels great!

But, I recognize that diet really needs to come under the microscope.  I am just "guesstimating" my intake, and while I said I would give myself till February 1 to continue to eat breakfast cereal, I struggle with portion controlling it.  Never ever ever ever EVER trust your eyeballs when it comes to something that is a dietary weakness for you.  Eyeballs are little liars! :P

So, this week, it's time to start making the first of many tough decisions -- reeling in my diet whether I'm ready to or not.  I know that after the first few days, the mental anguish will be replaced with a sense of pride, accomplishment, and a feeling like I am making real moves toward achieving my goals.  Still, it's gonna suck.

I need to either find a way to fix my heart rate monitor or else replace it altogether so I can get a sense of how many calories I am actually burning in a day.  The meal plan I begin to build is really only useful if I am indeed burning the amount of calories I think I am.  For now, I used an online calculator (this is a great calculator: http://vonblancofitness.com/fat-loss/how-to-calculate-calories-needed-for-fat-loss-muscle-gain-or-maintenance/).  My inputs were:

Height: 5'8"
Age: 30
Gender: Female
Current Weight: 142
How much exercise? 5 times/week (intense)

According to this, I need about 2,100 calories to maintain my weight, 1,750 to cut (lose body fat), and 2,600 calories to bulk (gain muscle).  The next 3 months I am dedicating to "gentle" cutting; nothing extreme, but slowly changing the types of food I eat to alter my macronutrient distribution.  For the first two month, I think a healthy plan would be 45% calories from carbs, 33% calories from protein, and 22% calories from fat.  For the third month, I'd go down to a 40-35-25 spread.  Although my body responds most favorably to a low carbohydrate diet, I don't want to do something dramatic and unsustainable in the first couple months because it sort of puts me in a mentally unhealthy spot -- and I'm in this for the long haul.

Week 2 will carry over Week 1's goals (water, no junky snack foods, and the same workout plan).  I will also cut out all coffee and diet soda, and will follow the meal plan below, based on the caloric intake of 1,750 calories as my goal, broken into 788 calories worth of carbs, 577 calories worth of protein and 385 calories worth of healthy fats. Knowing that each gram of carbs and protein equals 4 calories, and each gram of fats equals 9 calories, that would be 197 grams of carbs, 144 grams of protein, and 43 grams of fat.

Disclaimer:  Food Nazi's -- I am aware that this diet is not 100% clean.  I will be making my own homemade lunches starting next week, and will eventually be cutting out dairy.  But those transitions will come in the following weeks. I wanna use up the stuff in my pantry now instead of spend money making new stuff.  

Those extra 85 calories will easily be made up throughout the day, no doubt, when I grab a couple almonds here and there, or beef jerky at the office, etc. :)

In terms of how I'm feeling.... I feel like I lack the sense of urgency I felt the first time I did this journey back in 2012.  Maybe it's because I already know what I need to do... I'm just generally not feeling confident in my diet plan.  I never know if I'm eating too much... too little... I'm feeling like I should just hire a sports nutritionist and be done with it already.


Anyway, those are just my thoughts.  Week 2... over and out!

Progress Report: Week Three -- Workouts, Meal Plans, Progress Photo?

Well, it's not quite 3 weeks, but it's close enough :)

Yesterday marked the start of my 18th week since hurting my back - nearly 4 and a half months.  It feels like it's been an absolute eternity, but when I think about it, if I can recover in 6 - 8 months, that would be pretty reasonable.  

I continue to get stronger and am able to push myself harder in my workouts.  But right now, I only have two different weights routines in rotation, which I alternate every other day:

Routine 1:  Back and Chest

• Seated Row:  4 sets of 10 reps -- 80lbs
• Forward planks: 4 sets of 45 - 60 seconds
• Lat pulldown:  4 sets of 8 reps -- 70lbs
• Side bridges:  4 sets (2 on each side) - 60 seconds
• Bench Press:  4 sets of 8 reps, 30lbs (plus 45-lb bar)
• One arm row: 4 sets (2 on each side) of 10 reps, 27.5-lb dumbbells
• Chest fly:  4 sets of 8 reps, 60 lbs.
• Posterior delt fly:  4 sets of 8 reps, 40 lbs

Routine 2:  Lower Body + Shoulders and Triceps

• Seated hamstring curls: 4 sets of 10 reps, 90 lbs
• Forward planks: 4 sets of 45 - 60 seconds
• Skull crushers: 4 sets of 8 reps, 45-lb barbell
• Prone hamstring curls:  4 sets of 10 reps, 60 lbs
• Side bridges:  4 sets (2 on each side) - 60 seconds
• Shoulder press:  4 sets of 8-10 reps, 30-40lbs
• Tricep extensions:  4 sets of 8 reps, 45 lbs

I do these weights routines on my lunch break, and round it off with a sprint around the block where my office is (0.7 miles) - which I will be increasing to a block and a half for a full mile.  Before work, I walk on the treadmil for 30-45 mins at 3.4 MPH at a 7.0% incline, and then do specific calisthenics designed for my rehab program, including back hyperextensions, glute bridges and stationary lunges.  After work, I do hill repeats: 5 - 6 sets of speed walking up an incredible mountain-grade incline for 6 minutes, then walking down for 6 minutes.  All of these are designed to continue to build up the posterior of my body to help balance things out and bring my pelvis back into a natural alignment.  Picture to the right is one I took at dusk after an ass-kicking on the mountain doing hill repeats.  It's always worth it. 

It is a bit cardio-heavy, but I've been wearing my heart rate monitor and more or less the sum of all of these workouts equals the caloric burn I was achieving pre-injury, with all of it being gentle enough for my body to handle as it heals.  I do have to take 2 solid gym days off a week (I used to only take 1 off), but I think that plays an important role not only just in helping my back heal.  Here's the number of steps I take in a typical day on this routine!

My current diet stands as follows:

1. Pre-AM Workout Meal:

Medium banana, 2 tbsp peanut butter (strictly measured) and 20 fl. oz. water

2.  Post-AM Workout ("Breakfast")

Protein Shake -- I have been doing an audit of protein powders on the market to see if I could find something as healthy as Shakeology, that I enjoy equally, but that doesn't crush my bank account.  I've settled on Tera's Whey, which - when mixed with boiled milk, makes the most epic healthy hot chocolate!

3.  Mid-Morning Snack

Lydia's Organic raw/vegan/gluten-free sprouted grain bar.  Only 2g of sugar, nothing--absolutely NOTHING fake -- delicious!

4.  Lunch

My latest obsessions:  a 4% extra lean ground beef patty in 1/2 a whole wheat pita with lettuce, tomato, pickles, avocado, ketchup and mustard, with a cup of baby carrots.

5.  Mid-Afternoon Snack

I naturally have a blood sugar dip in the afternoon.  I've tried front loading my carbs, back loading my carbs, and spreading them out throughout the day, and it never fails -- come 2pm, I want something sweet.  Cue the dairy! By this time last year, I was completely free of dairy.  It was an experiment which I grew accustomed to.  But now, I feel variety is important.  And since dairy has protein and some sugar, it really hits that mid-afternoon hole in my regimen. I chose a nonfat Greek yogurt, a low fat string cheese and some mixed nuts to add a little more protein and healthy fat to the snack to round it out.  Add a cup of plain black tea:  perfection :)

6.  Pre-PM Workout Meal

Can't workout on an empty stomach! Come 5:30p, even if I'm not hungry, I eat anyway because it's the only way I'll make it through my hill repeats.  Simple:  1/2 cup of jumbo blueberries, the egg whites of 2 jumbo hard boiled eggs, and 1/2 a dark chocolate mocha NuGo bar.  Also vegan, gluten-free, all-natural AND DELICIOUS.  Oiy!

7.  Dinner

My newest go-to meal:  1 lb. of cubed boneless skinless chicken breast simmered in a jar of Trader Joe's Curry Simmer Sauce with chickpeas and steamed broccoli - makes 4 servings.

All of these meals equate to about 1850 calories with a macro distribution of around 30% fat, 37% carbs, and 33% protein.

I will confess, I haven't weighed myself, taken measurements, or tracked my progress.  I do know my clothes are fitting better though, and I've been taking weekly progress photos which I will be posting in a couple weeks.  I did the same thing last time -- didn't start tracking my stats until I was about a month in… and didn't start taking progress photos until 2 months in. Here's one photo I'm proud of though -- I've been kicking my booty in my workouts in time to wear this dress for the summer.  I'm almost there!

So, there you have it.  I need to continue to stick with my meal plans, be smart about my workouts, continue to get quality rest for my back, and I could be back in the game in only a few months :)  Woo-hoo!

A Day in the Life of My Diet #4: Macros at 35%/35%/30%

Haven't posted a Day in the Life of My Diet photo sequence in a while, and things have certainly changed since my last diet update from last July!

As some of you know, I have irritable bowel syndrome which REALLY puts a significant hamper on my ability to eat a varied diet full of fruits, veggies and certain carbs.  Finding the right mixture of clean, all-natural, well-balanced foods has been a struggle one year in the making, and it's a challenge each time I get bored of my meal plan and have to switch things up.

I have, however, found an agreeable and well-balanced diet plan that is working magic for me right now, so I thought I would share it.  I am aiming for a Carbohydrate/Protein/Fat caloric breakdown of 35%/35%/30% based on an 1800 calorie diet.  The following amounts to 1807 calories, 34.4% from carbs, 27.4% from protein, and 38.2% from fat.  So obviously I'll want to bring down my fat and bring up the protein.  Next week I'll cut out the nuts, reduce my avocado dose to 1/4 fruit instead of 1/3, and will add in a few hard-boiled egg whites at snack time.  I'll also likely switch out apples (which give me stomach problems) in favor of berries, which will decrease my sugar intake to my target range (50g).  We'll see how that all pans out. The fats I currently consume are "healthy fats" (from salmon, avocado and nuts), but I'm still going to need to bring it down a notch.  Eventually I will trade out 4oz of salmon for 6-8oz of a leaner fish like cod, tuna or tilapia.

Meal 1 -- Pre-morning work-out meal
One small banana, 2 tbsp all-natural peanut butter, and 20 fl. oz. water


Calories:  280
Fat / Saturated Fat: 16g / 2g
Cholesterol:  0mg
Sodium:  131mg
Potassium:  642mg
Carbs:  30g
Fiber:  6g
Sugar:  13g
Protein:  9g

Meal 2
Rosemary, Dill, Spinach and Egg White Quiche (For recipe, CLICK HERE), 16 fl oz water and black coffee

Calories:  212
Fat / Saturated Fat: 10g / 2g
Cholesterol:  177mg
Sodium:  600mg
Potassium:  306mg
Carbs:  5g
Fiber:  2g
Sugar:  1.6g
Protein:  25.4g








Meal 3
1 oz beef jerky, 1/4 serving mixed nuts, 2 pieces Ezekiel toast with 1 tsp raw honey drizzled on top, 16 fl oz water

Calories:  291
Fat / Saturated Fat:  5.5g / 0.3g
Cholesterol:  10mg
Sodium:  420mg
Potassium:  212mg
Carbs:  41g
Fiber:  7g
Sugar:  11g
Protein:  20.5g








Meal 4
1 whole head of Oak Leaf Lettuce, 1/2 lemon juice, 4oz grilled salmon, 1/3 avocado, 16 fl oz water

Calories:  319
Fat / Saturated Fat:  20g / 3g
Cholesterol:  54mg
Sodium:  134mg
Potassium:  867mg
Carbs:  12g
Fiber:  7g
Sugar:  1g
Protein:  28g








Meal 5
1/2 serving organic beef jerky, 1 whole apple, a ThinkThin Mixed Nuts bar, a cup of herbal tea and 16 fl oz water

Calories:  318
Fat / Saturated Fat:  13g / 2g
Cholesterol:  0mg
Sodium:  182mg
Potassium:  458mg
Carbs:  38g
Fiber:  6g
Sugar:  22g
Protein:  17g








 Meal 6 -- Pre-evening workout meal
1 scoop Chocolate Shakeology* mixed with 20 oz. ice water (*Please see footnote at the base of this entry)

Calories: 160
Fat / Saturated Fat:  2g / 1g
Cholesterol:  1mg
Sodium:  150mg
Potassium:  180mg
Carbs:  17g
Fiber:  6g
Sugar:  6g
Protein:  17g








Meal  7
1 Trader Joe's All-Natural Apple Chicken Sausage, 2 medium steamed zucchini's, 3 dried apricot halves (not shown in picture...dessert, yum!) and 12 fl oz water

Calories:227
Fat / Saturated Fat:  6g / 2g
Cholesterol:  50mg
Sodium:  300mg
Potassium:  522mg
Carbs:  27g
Fiber:  5g
Sugar:  14g
Protein:  19.4g




TOTAL INTAKE:
Total Calories:  1807 (100%)
Total Fat / Saturated Fat:  73g (121%) / 12g (88%)
Total Cholesterol:  292mg (97%)
Total Sodium:  1,917mg (96%)
Total Potassium:  3,187mg (68%)
Total Carbs:  171g (109%)
Total Fiber:  38g (128%)
Total Sugar:  68g (136%)
Total Protein:  136g (87%)

 *A final note I wanted to touch upon:  I am a huge promoter of all-natural, simple, clean, no-nonsense/fads/gimmicks diet and training.  I support the idea that you do not need anything fancy or special -- and that ranges from diet programs to gym memberships -- in order to get phenomenal results.  What you need is to research, improvise, and be knowledgeable about which exercises do what (and proper technique), and which foods do what (and proper intake).  It takes time and research, but you know the old adage -- Fish for a man, feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, feed him for life.  Learn how to fish, I say; don't pay some commercial company to tell you what to do without even knowing what it is (or isn't!) doing for you!

But all of that said, I do buy Shakeology.  I've been drinking it for months.  I personally hate the flavor now (but only because I mix it just with water -- if you mix it with other things like bananas and peanut butter, it's fabulous!  But if I'm gonna let myself have a banana and peanut butter, I want to enjoy them individually... not mixed into a shake with their unique tastes and textures concealed).  I am sure there are other fabulous protein powders out there, but Shakeology has a great mixture of probiotics, prebiotics and digestive enzymes which ease my stomach issues caused by IBS.  The product is gentle on my system and I seem a lot more regular than when clean-eating alone.  I wanted to have a protein shake as one of my daily meals, and so I have opted for Shakeology.  I will be trying SunWarrior soon, which has a delicious vegan vanilla flavor, but that's super expensive also.  Protein powders aren't for everybody, and please don't feel like you need to buy one in order to be successful (especially just in the beginning).

A Day In The Life of My Diet! And July goals, and such :)

Greetings, earthlings!

Wow, today was a 2fer blogging day.  And this one is actually diet/exercise-related, woo-hoo!

I'd love to spend more time gabbing about all these little things, but alas, my time is limited.  So, in the best interest of logging updates to my diet and fitness journey, I leave you with the famous words of Mario from Super Mario Brothers:  "Heeeere we GO!" :D

I was previously eating 7 small meals a day and not being able to figure out why I always felt like I was going to pass out.  Once I was done beating myself with the Stupid Stick, I realized that each of my meals was just too small; it didn't matter that I was eating every 1.5-2 hours if each meal was just not enough to get me out of a blood sugar dip.  D'oh!  So now, I've truncated everything into 6 meals.  Same foods, just more condensed.  

These photos are vaguely pointless, however, because my July goals are to essentially cut 3/4ths of the sugar out of my diet, which means big changes.  Sh*t's gonna get real.  But anyway, this is what I've been eating basically since the last time I posted food pics:

Meal 1

1 cup decaf with 1/2 cup unsweetened organic soymilk, 1 large steamed zucchini, 1/4 avocado and a builder's bar.  Oh and 24 fl. oz. water

Meal 2:

2 peaches, 1 cup berries (blueberry and raspberry, here) and a banana.  I no longer eat oatmeal after I discovered the joys of eating protein in my first meal, so these are some of the only carbs I get in the day.

Meal 3:

I forgot to take a pic before I ate my Meal 3, so I went home and pulled one out of the freezer, lol.  It's 6 oz. boneless skinless chicken breast, 2/3 cup green peas and 2/3 cup brown rice medley

Meal 4:

2 cups red leaf lettuce, a cut up apple, 1 serving raw almonds, and a Trader Joe's Blueberry Fiber Cake Muffin with a cup of green tea and a little soymilk.

My meal 5 is a chocolate Shakeology shake mixed with 1.5 cups unsweetened organic almond milk, and meal 6 is just an egg white, black bean and spinach scramble with garlic and cayenne pepper :) You can see a preview of the "Egg White Burrito" I'll be making for my July breakfasts and dinners in my Mad Science cooking album on my Facebook page, HERE.

All of these meals equate to the following macro-nutrient breakdown (This, being based off of an 1,800 calorie diet composed of 25% fat, 30% protein, and 45% carb.  And 100g sugars):


JULY
July is a big month for me.  When I started my journey, I hoped to have lost all the weight I wanted off, after 6 months of clean eating and exercise.  The end of July will mark my 6th month completed.  I was looking at my stats and realized the weight wasn't coming off fast enough, and though I was seeing results, I still have a substantial amount of fat in my core.  After some honest diet journalling, I discovered the culprit:

SUGAR.

Look at all that fruit - Banana, apple, 2 peaches, berries... peas.... the protein bar.... something's gonna have to change.

My June goal was to ride my bike to work 4 days a week, and that's a trend that will be staying through the end of Daylight Savings (upon which it becomes way too dangerous for me to ride home in the dark.  I got hit by a car last year!).

This month, it's all about diet.  I want to limit myself to 50-75g of sugar a day.  It will be traumatic, but it's my final push.  At the end of next month, I want to be ready to change things up and start putting on muscle mass and "cutting", if you will.  I'm even entertaining the thought of some light natural body building during the volleyball off-season, just to keep me motivated!

Here's a sample of what I think my diet will be looking like:
So this current diet has 81.4g of sugar, which I think is something I can live with.  There are things I can adjust to this, though.  I will very likely substitute in green beans for peas with my lunch, and sweet potatoes for the brown rice.  I am also going to attempt to make my own protein bars following this recipe here, because it is HIGH time I ditch the processed bars.  Not to mentioned it contributes 20% of my daily sugar intake! Umm, hello!

I'm also excited to announce that I found a digestive enzyme complex at Whole Foods that appears to be solving almost all of my digestive issues.  I've been slowly adding in previously troublesome foods with great success! It will cost me an arm and a leg, but you can't put a price tag on good health :) I'll blog about it soon!