Cast In Iron

Sorry, but I've got to boast.  Tonight I had the most DELICIOUS dinner and I attribute it to my cast-iron skillet.   The meal itself was really basic - marinated chicken breasts with peppers and onions and half an avocado.  Here's what made it so yummy:

• The marinade I used was a packet of Buffalo seasoning combined with 1/4 cup cider vinegar and 1/4 cup water.  I had the chicken marinating in it for about three hours.
• After pre-heating the skillet (with a spray of Pam to coat the surface), I seared the chicken on either side so it was nicely browned.
• Once the chicken was on its way to being cooked, I filled the rest of the skillet with a frozen mixture of peppers and onions and covered it was a piece of aluminum foil.
• I turned the chicken a couple of times while it was cooking, but basically let it cook on its own and let the liquid from the frozen veggies keep everything moist.
• Once everything was all cooked and portioned out, I added my avocado to the bowl and chowed down.  YUM!

What I love about the cast-iron skillet is the ease of use.  A spritz of Pam and the cooking surface is good to go.  Clean-up is a breeze with the skillet as well - just a good scrubbing (with no soap) under hot water, followed by a rub-down with olive oil.  I had finished all my clean-up before dinner was ready to be eaten!

Protein/Fat Day:

• Meal 1:
• 3 egg whites
• 1 whole egg
• Meal 2:
• 1/2 scoop protein powder in water
• 2/3 oz almonds
• Meal 3:
• 4 oz lean meat
• 1/2 avocado 
• Peppers and onions
• Meal 4:
•  4 oz lean meat
• 1/2 avocado
• Peppers and onions
• Meal 5:
• 1/2 scoop protein powder
• 3 tbsp peanut butter

Exercise: Hour-long session with trainer
Felt pretty strong and energized with the session.

Weigh-in: ~154
Happy that the weight continued to come down while out of town over the weekend.  More proof that eating clean and staying on plan does make a difference.

Prepping For The Weekend

Last night was all about food prep.  After getting a late start on my exercising, I spent the rest of the night portioning out my food for this weekend's trip to PA.  All my Tupperware containers were lined up.  I had my "cheat sheet" of meals and substitutions as reference because I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything.  I labeled the top of each container so I'd remember which meal it was for.  And now the fridge is filled with all my food from Friday's second meal until Sunday's third meal.  The one meal which I didn't pack was Saturday's dinner, since I'm expecting that to be a cheat when we go out to eat with friends.

A few things that I learned with this round of advance preparation:

• Label your meals so you remember what's what.  3oz of chicken doesn't look all that different from 4oz of chicken, especially when it's all mixed in with veggies.
• Sticky notes do not like to stick to Tupperware.
• Back-up options can really come in handy - I thought I had enough chicken prepped but it turns out that I didn't.  So I raided my husband's stash of ground turkey for two meals.
• When preparing so many meals at once, keep it simple and go for shortcuts.  I went with a serving of blueberries that was already rinsed off instead of washing, coring, and weighing strawberries.
• Better to over-pack than under-pack, within moderation.  I'm bringing 3 meals for Sunday though chances are we'll be home before I'm ready to eat the third one.  Also, I'm bringing some extra veggies to munch on (cherry tomatoes), just in case I get the munchies during the day.
• If space permits, bring the full-sized condiments rather than portioning them out.  All my small containers were taken up with protein powder and almonds.  Besides, I don't now just how much I'd like to use and whatever isn't used will just come back home with me.
• Write things down.  I found myself starting to get a little overwhelmed as I looked at putting together 11 meals at 11pm.  I couldn't put it together all at once, because I had veggies roasting in the oven and other things in process.  As I worked through my check-list, I was able to make note of the things still remaining.
• I WILL forget something.  It's just the way of the world.  It might be a fork (ooh, I should pack that) or something else, but I'm prepared to not have everything I intended to bring with me.  That's okay.  I'll deal.

Pro/Carb Day:

• Meal 1:
• 3 egg whites
• Cucumber
• 40g oatmeal
• Strawberries
• Meal 2:
• Chobani Greek Yogurt
• Meal 3:
• 3 oz chicken
• 1/2c whole wheat pasta
• Green beans
• 1/2c pasta sauce
• Meal 4:
• 3 oz ground turkey
• 1/2c whole wheat pasta
• Salsa (turkey was already seasoned with taco seasoning, so tomato sauce would have been weird)
• Meal 5:
• Chobani Greek Yogurt

Exercise:

• Time: 60 minutes on elliptical
• Level: Still keeping it at Level 1
• Distance: 4.5 miles
• Calories: 600+

Weight:  ~155

Cool comment of the day:  At the doctor's office today, I told the nurse that I would be about 155 on the scale.  She said she didn't believe me and that I looked like I weighed less than that.  I smiled and told her I was "densely packed" and that it could be deceiving.  (BTW, their scale showed me at 152)

Challenges In Timing

This morning I had every intention of getting up early to exercise before my 11am appointment.  Instead, I opted for some quality time with my husband and getting to the office early so I could make some phone calls.  GOOD THING!  Turns out I should have checked my schedule because I got a call at 10:10 from a client asking where I was for our 10am appointment.  DOH!  I managed to shift my appointments and fit everyone in, but it did throw me off my game a little bit.  So, for once, the decision to not exercise worked in my favor.  

I did bring my gym bag with me and had every intention of going to the gym on the way home.  Given the yucky weather, I opted to workout at home.  I knew there was a slight risk that I would walk through the door and succumb to the lure of the couch.  To combat this, I told my husband that I wasn't really at home but was actually at the gym and that he didn't see me.  I had thought about just going straight to the basement and changing down there, but that seemed a bit excessive.  If my commitment is really so weak that walking up and down the stairs is sufficient to get me side-tracked, then there's something really wrong and changing in the laundry room isn't going to cut it.

When all is said and done, I did get my workout in for today and felt really good for it.  I had a reasonable energy level and didn't feel like I was dying at the end.  True, I'm not back up to the resistance level that I was at previously, but I'm doing well with getting my heart rate elevated and maintaining a consistent pace for the duration.  Sticking with it, I know I'll get back there.

The most important thing is making time in my schedule for exercising and then making sure that I actually follow my schedule.

Pro/Fat:

• Meal 1:
• 3 egg whites
• 1 whole egg
• Cucumber (yup, a whole cucumber eaten "banana style" as I drove to work)
• Meal 2:
• 1/2 scoop protein powder in water 
• almonds
• Meal 3:
• 4 oz lean meat
• cheese
• green beans
• Meal 4:
• 4 oz steak
• grape tomatoes
• Meal 5:
• 1/2 scoop protein powder
• 3 tbsp peanut butter

Exercise

• Time:  60 minutes on elliptical
• Level:  Level 1 the entire time
• Speed:  Averaged 4.0-4.5 mph
• Calories:  600+ calories

Weigh-in:  Low 155 range

The Smallest Delights

Today is a "fat" day and I do love my fats!  I'm amazed by how much I enjoy these small additions to my diet and how much I missed them - the egg yolk with my egg whites at breakfast, full-fat cheese with my chicken and veggies, protein shakes, and peanut butter.  I kept everything in moderation, weighing out all the portions, but even these controlled tastes were enough to register with my body and mind.  

When she put together this plan for me, Nikki asked if I'd be able to restrain myself with the peanut butter.  That definitely made me laugh!  I sometimes feel like I could eat peanut butter all day long!  Knowing that I'll have 3 tablespoons at night is enough to satisfy my craving.  Knowing that I'll have it 2 out of every 3 nights is enough to help limit me.  I'll be traveling this weekend and the two evenings we're away are "fat" nights.  Rather than try to travel with peanut butter, I'll probably substitute almonds just for the ease of portion control and mess.  Too bad the tubes of peanut butter aren't the right size!

Pro/Fat:

• Meal 1:
• 3 egg whites
• 1 whole egg
• Cucumber (yup, a whole cucumber eaten "banana style" as I drove to work)
• Meal 2:
• 1/2 scoop protein powder in water 
• almonds
• Meal 3:
• 4 oz lean meat
• cheese
• green beans
• Meal 4:
• 4 oz lean meat
• cheese
• green beans
• Meal 5:
• 1/2 scoop protein powder
• 3 tbsp peanut butter

Exercise

• Time:  50 minutes on elliptical
• Level:  Level 1 the entire time
• Speed:  Averaged 4.5mph
• Calories:  600+ calories (I was working hard, pointing out how much conditioning I've lost!)

Weigh-in:  154.8-156.? range, down about 4.5 from yesterday - digestion pays off!

Laboring Away

Today marks the beginning of a new approach to food for me.  Actually, it's more like a return to a previous plan but with a twist.  Last summer, I started following a meal plan where I cycled between "fat" days and "carb" days.  That's how I was eating when I was really crushing it across the board.  I'm not returning to that exact plan because of the protein restriction I have due to my kidneys.

Another request that I put out to Nikki (my trainer's wife who is a trainer herself and very food-savvy) was that I wanted to have a variety of "real" foods in my diet.  I can generally hold my own when people ask about my meals or comment on the "weird" foods.  However, this talking about having children has got me thinking about what I'm modeling for others.

So Nikki put together this great plan that I've listed below.  One of the pieces that has me excited is the versatility.  For example, breakfast on a "fat" day could be my 3 egg whites and 1 egg or perhaps 4 egg whites and some cheese.  Dinner could be steak, chicken with avocado, or chicken with cheese.  All of those options still work within the plan and I can have so many different combinations.  Yup, I'm excited about avocado, cheese, pasta sauce, and oatmeal.  

I will admit that, in anticipation of starting on this new plan today, I totally binged and ate myself silly for several days.  Over the weekend, I noticed that many of the binge or cheat foods I gravitate to carbs - breads, macaroni and cheese, pizza, ice cream.  Yeah, it was a really unhealthy and it shows.  There's a reason why the scale has gone up about 10 pounds over the past 10 days.  I know that a fair amount of it is being digested this very minute.  I'm also realistic and recognize that my weight has gone up because I haven't been exercising or keeping strictly with my eating plans.

With summer wrapping up and fall around the corner, I'm using this as a chance to re-focus and start fresh.  Yes, I'm forever stuck in the academic mindset where September is as much the start of a new year as January.  For the month of September, I'm in town (except for next weekend) and I'm returning to my more-or-less routine schedule at work (after a summer of disruption).  This is an opportunity for me to set the stage for the holidays and festivities at the end of the year.

Honestly, this is probably why I haven't been blogging as much recently.  I don't feel like I've had much to say about nutrition and exercise aside from "Huh?  What are those things?"  I'm trying to re-focus and make space for the different priorities in life.  I haven't been bringing my work laptop home most nights in an effort to set boundaries.  Instead of exercising many evenings, I've been opting for time with my husband or running extra errands.

Okay, it's late and I'm starting to lose my focus here.  Brief re-cap:

- New meal plan has variety and "reality"

- Recommitting to exercise, even if it's not to the same level of intensity as before

- Trying to balance exercise/nutrition with the other parts of my life

- Trying to not get a case of the "fuck its" with hormones, PMS, and thinking about pregnancy

And since I don't want to write it all out right now, today was a carb day and I was all on-plan.  I skipped Meal 2 because I wasn't hungry for it.  I did exercise on the elliptical for 60 minutes today and kept it at Level 1 as I have ZERO conditioning right now.  Weigh-in this morning was around 160 and I'm hoping it will drop a bit over the next day or two with digestion.

Pro/Carb Day (DAY ONE):
Meal 1:
3 egg whites
veggies
40g oatmeal (27g carbs)
1/2c fruit or 1 small piece of fruit (10-15g carbs)


Meal 2:
0% or 2% flavored Chobani Greek Yogurt


Meal 3:
3 oz lean meat
1/2c cooked rice, whole wheat pasta or 4oz sweet potato
veggies
can add 1/2c low fat (under 3g), lower carb (under 10g) pasta sauce


Meal 4:
3 oz lean meat
1/2c cooked rice or whole wheat pasta or 4oz sweet potato
veggies
pasta sauce


Meal 5:
0% or 2% flavored Chobani Greek Yogurt


Pro/Fat (DAY TWO - DAY THREE):
Meal 1:
3 egg whites
1 whole egg
veggies


Meal 2:
1/2 scoop protein powder in water
2tsp coconut oil


Meal 3:
4 oz lean meat
2 tsp coconut oil
veggies


Meal 4:
4 oz lean meat
2 tsp coconut oil
veggies


Meal 5:
1/2 scoop protein powder
3 tbsp peanut butter




SUBSTITUTIONS:
Lean filet will replace the meat and fat on a pro/fat day
2/3 oz almonds = 2tsp coconut oil
1.5oz almonds = 3 tbsp peanut butter
2/3 oz cheese = 2 tsp coconut oil
1/4 oz cheese = 1 egg yolk
1/2 avocado = 2tsp coconut oil