Day 29... Time to Lose the Thanksgiving POUND!

Yes, you read the title correctly. I only gained 1 lb over Thanksgiving. Much better than I expected... so that's a plus! Now it's time to get back to business. My "challenge wraps up at the end of December, so I'm half way there. But am I half way to my goal? I just finished week 4, and my calorie calculator shows that I should be at 144 lbs. I'm 5 lbs higher than I should be in order to reach my goal. That means the next few weeks I am going to have to work extra hard! That's not going to be easy, especially with Christmas approaching. The Perry House is throwing 2 parties this month... one for Drop Night (the night we find out what base we go to next) on December 9th and the other is a Christmas Party with friends on December 18th. I can't serve entirely low-calorie foods for everyone... that wouldn't be fair. I'll just have to step it up at the gym, and eat better. I look forward to working harder in order to obtain my goal of 135 lbs!

Breakfast

• Bag of Popcorn ( 62.5 calories) 

Lunch

• Not sure what I was thinking today. I decided to make some popcorn for breakfast (we literally have no food at our house). I snacked on the popcorn throughout breakfast and into lunch.

Dinner

• Juicy Porkchops (138 calories)  
• http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Juicy-Pork-Chops/Detail.aspx?prop31=1
• I've made these porkchops before, and they are always delicious. The porkchops are marinated in soy sauce, minced garlic, and pepper. Cook under the broiler for 7 or 8 minutes on each side, and it makes for a low calorie meat.
• Salad (125 calories)
• Lettuce (15 calories)
• Cheese (55 calories)
• Bacon Bits (30 calories)
• Fat Free Italian Dressing (25 calories)

Exercise

• Elliptical for 20 minutes (175 calories)
• Lazy bike for 5 minutes (25 calories)

Day 29 Summary

Calorie Calculator Total Calories: 676 calories

Total Burned: 200 calories

Amount I Could Have Eaten: 876 calories

Food Eaten: 325.5 calories

Calories Saved: 550.5 calories - This probably isn't good. I was so hungry all day today (probably from all the overeating done this past weekend), so I tried to fight my hunger pains.

Thanksgiving Indulging... Days 24 - 28

How was everyone's Thanksgiving?? My holiday was wonderful! (Minus Bama losing in the Iron Bowl). Well, I made a decision not to blog during my Thanksgiving trip. I wanted to enjoy my family and friends (staying away from the computer as much as possible)... and more importantly, I wanted to savor every bit of the food I ate without feeling guilty! I thought about the food I was eating, but then figured it was too good to worry about little things like calories (or in some cases big things).

By the time I made it back to Biloxi on Sunday, I was wondering how much I was going to regret my "wonderful" Thanksgiving (ordering a Papa John's pizza didn't help). Instead of stressing, Jason and I set up our Christmas tree and watched the Jim Carrey version of The Grinch. However, I woke up early Monday morning remembering it was time to step on the scale. After stripping down I hopped on the scale, praying that I hadn't ruined an entire month's worth of work. Please don't let me back to 153 (or worse). Luckily...

149! I only gained 1 lb from Thanksgiving!!

Now that's something to be thankful for! ;) 

Day 23 ... Yummy Chick-fil-A!

Time to get serious... I can only eat 687 calories per day (not including my workouts). I plan to play tennis tonight against one of Jason's classmates. He doesn't own a racquet, but for some reason he thinks he's going to beat me. We've been doing this whole "trash-talking" for a few days now, so I'm excited to play him.

Breakfast

• 100 calorie pack of crackers (100 calories, duh!)

Lunch

• Garlic Chicken (278 calories)
• I knew I could eat a piece of garlic chicken (it is so good!), but against my heart's desire, I turned down the leftover macaroni and cheese. Jason and friends were than happy for me to turn it down... allowing each of them to have a few more delicious bites. 
• 1 Peanut Butter and Jelly Cracker (31 calories)
• Jason grabbed a pack of crackers on the way to tennis. I wanted one, but he said I had to blog about it. So, here it is... 31 calories.

Dinner

• Chick-fil-A Kid's Meal (580 calories)
•  6 count chicken nuggets (200 calories)
• Small fries (290 calories)
• 2 honey mustard sauces (45 x 2 = 90 calories)

Exercise

•  Elliptical (135 calories)
• Singles tennis with Jon for 62 minutes (422 calories)

Day 23 Summary

Calorie Calculator Total Calories: 687 calories

Total Burned: 557 calories

Amount I Could Have Eaten: 1244 calories

Food Eaten: 958 calories

Calories Saved: 286 calories

This is a much better start to Thanksgiving week. Hope to keep it up... headed home to Tuscaloosa tomorrow!

Day 22 ... Dropping Pounds, but How Many?

Week 3 is officially over and I still managed to lose weight! Referring back to my calorie calculator, I should weigh 146.39. Not quite there (I have had a few weak moments), but I haven't gained weight!!

148 lbs ... so I've lost 5 lbs in 3 weeks!

Not too bad! This week begins the tricky part: Thanksgiving. The day of indulging in calorie packed foods... overeating by going back for seconds, thirds, and sometimes even fourths! My plan is to eat small portions of each food... and don't eat foods that don't even taste that great to me.

Breakfast

• 100 calorie pack of crackers (100 calories, duh!)

Lunch

• Roast Beef Sandwich (211 calories)
• 2 Slices of white bread (130 calories)
• 3 slices of roast beef (36 calories)
• 2% white American cheese (45 calories) 

Dinner

 

Dinner party at the Perry House (1102 calories)

• Garlic Chicken (278 calories)
• I haven't made this recipe since Day 1, but Jason and I are big fans of it! If you haven't tried it yet, put it on your menu for this week or next. It's easy and delicious!
• Creamy Macaroni and Cheese (412 calories x 2 servings = 824 calories)
• Ingredients
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 pound elbow, shell or other bite-size shaped pasta
• 2 (12 fluid ounce) cans evaporated milk
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pound Velveeta cheese, cubed
• Directions
1. Bring 2 quarts of water to boil in large soup kettle. Add salt and pasta. Using package directions as a guide, cook until al dente. Drain. To prevent sticking, drain and immediately pour onto a large lipped baking sheet and let cool while preparing sauce.
2. Meanwhile, microwave the milk and chicken broth in a 4-cup Pyrex measuring cup or bowl until hot and steamy (not boiling). Melt butter in the empty pasta pot; whisk in flour, then hot milk mixture. Continue to whisk until thick and bubbly, 3 to 4 minutes. Whisk in mustard, Parmesan and pepper. Turn off heat, stir in cheddar until melted.
3. Add drained pasta (and optional flavoring ingredients, see notes) to sauce, and stir until everything is well combined over low heat. Stir to heat through, and thin with a little water if the sauce is too thick. Serve hot.
Jason and I used to have friends over to eat almost every week. It's a fun way to hang out and get the big group together. I haven't done it since I've started the diet... and I've missed it! Everyone contributes, and it's always a lot of fun!

Exercise

• 
  Elliptical and Bike at the gym (210 calories)

Day 22 Summary

 

Calorie Calculator Total Calories: 687 calories

 

Total Burned: 210 calories

 

Amount I Could Have Eaten: 897 calories (just about enough to cover my macaroni and cheese helping!)

 

Food Eaten: 1413 calories

 

Calories Saved: I ate 513 calories more than I should have! Not the way to start out the week of Thanksgiving!!! 

Day 21 ... I didn't get sucked into Olive Garden's 1000+ calorie meals!

Breakfast

• Biscuit (180 calories)

Lunch

•  Breakfast for lunch (255 calories)
• Pancakes (150 calories)
• Syrup (105 calories)
• 1/4 cup of syrup was 210 calories, but I measured out an 1/8 cup. The pancakes would have tasted better if I used more syrup, but I have to cut calories at times. Especially when I already know where I'm going for dinner tonight. :)

Dinner

• Olive Garden (635 calories)
• 1 serving of salad with dressing (350 calories - ridiculous!!)
• Grilled chicken with spaghetti without a side of broccoli (285 calories)
• Jason and I went with friends to Olive Garden to met a friend's fiance. I planned out what I was going to eat before I went so I would know just how many calories I should be eating. The waiter was kind of bothered by me ordering off the kid's menu (he thought I had a child at home), but I think he got it when I explained that I was counting calories. 

Exercise

• Singles tennis for 55 minutes  (379 calories) 

Day 21 Summary

Calorie Calculator Total Calories: 698 calories

Total Burned: 379 calories

Amount I Could Have Eaten: 1077 calories

Food Eaten: 1070 calories
Calories Saved: 7 calories (whew, that was close!!)

Day 20 ... Tennis and More Tennis

After knowing that I majorly screwed up by not exercising yesterday, I decided that I had to do some physical activity today. But then... we ate at Raising Cane's. :) I made up for it though... tennis before lunch, tennis after lunch.

Breakfast

• Scrambled Egg (80 calories)
• Biscuit (180 calories)

Lunch

• Raising Cane's Kid's Combo (891 calories)
• 2 Chicken fingers (254 calories)
• Fries (291 calories)
• 2 Cane's Sauces (346 calories)
• Jason and I decided to eat at Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers... the closest thing we have down here to a Zaxbys! I thought I did pretty well on the calories because I ate a kid's meal. I can't imagine consuming Jason's meal!

Dinner

• I didn't eat dinner tonight. Jason and I played tennis late, took showers, at then headed to Treasure Bay with Cameron for the evening. Diet Cokes for me tonight! :)

Exercise

• Singles tennis for 37 minutes in the heat! (255 calories) 
• Singles tennis for exactly 1 hour! (414 calories)

Day 20 Summary

Calorie Calculator Total Calories: 698 calories

Total Burned: 669 calories

Amount I Could Have Eaten: 1367 calories

Food Eaten: 1151 calories

Calories Saved: 216 calories

I might eat a snack after Treasure Bay... I probably will be too tired though. Yay for saving 216 calories! :)

UPDATE: I ended up eating a house salad at Treasure Bay... lettuce, cheese, hard boiled eggs, and I'm pretty sure some low-cal ranch. 216 calories or under? Maybe. :)

Day 19 ... A Day of No Exercise :(

Breakfast

• 2 Fried Eggs 160 calories)  

Lunch

• Roast Beef Sandwich (211 calories)
• 2 Slices of white bread (130 calories)
• 3 slices of roast beef (36 calories)
• 2% white American cheese (45 calories)  

Dinner

• Yuki's Japanese Steakhouse (770 calories)
• Salad (170 calories)
• Rice (not fried) (100 calories)
• Shrimp Sauce (200 calories)
• Half of Steak (300 calories)
• This is all an estimate... I tried googling the different items individually)

Exercise

• None... and I'm really wishing I had done something!

Day 19 Summary

Calorie Calculator Total Calories: 698 calories

Total Burned: 0 calories

Amount I Could Have Eaten: 698 calories (dinner alone was more than my daily intake)

Food Eaten: 1141 calories

Calories Saved: I ate 443 calories more than I was allowed. Oh well, Jason and I had a nice date night dinner and then rented a movie. So I guess it was worth it? No, I should have exercised earlier in the day. Instead, I wrapped Christmas presents. :)

Day 18 ... Greek Salad, The Never-Ending Tennis Match, and Spaghetti!

Breakfast

• "Cars" Fruit Snack Pack (80 calories) 
  • I watched my friend's two-year-old, and I ate a pack when he did.  

Lunch

• Mr. Greek's Greek Chicken Salad (312 calories) 
• Jason and I joined his class at the restaurant Mr. Greeks... right off base. I wasn't sure what to order, so I decided a Greek Chicken Salad should be pretty good. It came with all the stuff I don't eat (tomatoes, onions, olives), but I loved the romaine lettuce, chicken strips, feta cheese, and dressing. The salad was huge, and I couldn't eat all of it! For counting calories, I used a generic greek chicken salad calorie counter. It was delicious, but a little pricey (over $10 for a lunch salad)! 

Dinner

• Spaghetti at Lauren's apartment (Melanie's recipe)
• I'm not even going to pretend that I know the calories for this meal! It was so good, but I have no clue what the calories are. I think Melanie told me a serving was 100 calories... must be a serving the size of my thumb!! It is good thing I just played tennis and burned 828 calories!
• Half a Coke Can (70 calories)
• I forgot to bring Diet Sunkist, so I drank one of Lauren's cokes. Not my first choice, but I was impressed that I only drank half of it! Usually I drink Diet Sunkist or Fruit Punch with zero calories.

Exercise

• Elliptical (100 calories)
• Bike (50 calories)
• Singles Tennis (828 calories)
  • I had a tennis match... the best competition I've had in a singles match (ok, I've only played 3 real matches). 

Day 18 Summary

Calorie Calculator Total Calories: 698 calories

Total Burned: 978 calories

Amount I Could Have Eaten: 1676 calories

Food Eaten: 462 calories ... not counting Lauren's spaghetti!

Calories Saved: 1214 calories... I'm pretty sure the amount of spaghetti I ate did NOT equal 1214 calories... so all in all, a pretty good day!

Day 17 ... 192 Calories More Than I Should Have Eaten ...

Breakfast

• 1/5 of a Tombstone Pizza - 4 Meat (310 calories)
• I woke up way too early and feeling hungry. I fought it for a little while, but then I decided I was going for it - another slice of pizza!

Lunch

• BBQ Chicken (230 calories)
• 4 oz chicken breast (110 calories) 
• 4 tablespoons bbq sauce (120 calories)
• 1/2 of a slice of a Tombstone Pizza - 4 Meat (155 calories)
• 19 grapes (57 calories)

Dinner

•   Mexican Restaurant: El Rancho (445 calories)
• 5 chips and salsa (125 calories)
• Half an order of chicken fajitas (320 calories for 2 fajitas)

Exercise

• Bike (100 calories)
• Singles Tennis (207 calories)
• Jason and I only played for 30 minutes because my wrist was/is hurting. Hopefully it'll be better before my match on Thursday.

Day 16 Summary

Calorie Calculator Total Calories: 698 calories

Total Burned: 307 calories

Amount I Could Have Eaten: 1005 calories

Food Eaten: 1197 calories

Calories Saved: I didn't save any calories... I ate 192 more than I should have! I expected to play more tennis but didn't... oh well, maybe better luck tomorrow!

Day 16 ... First Time to Eat My Favorite - Tombstone Pizza!

Breakfast

• Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes (245 calories)
• I finally finished the potatoes! I hate being wasteful... and Jason isn't big on leftovers. So for breakfast today I figured I'd eat what was left (about a serving). 

Lunch

• 1/5 of a Tombstone Pizza - 4 Meat (310 calories)
• I love Tombstone Pizza. LOVE IT. Unfortunately, the calories aren't part of my ideal diet plan. Normally, Jason and I split a pizza. The serving size is 1/5 of the pizza and it is 310 calories. That means the entire pizza is 1550 calories, so I usually eat 775 calories - in one meal! Not good!! I really wanted to eat more than 1/5, but I knew the calories would be adding up so I fought the urge to go back for seconds.

Dinner

• BBQ Chicken (230 calories)
• 4 oz chicken breast (110 calories) 
• 4 tablespoons bbq sauce (120 calories) 
• Snacks after tennis match (200 calories)
• Chips and queso (probably about 200 calories)

Exercise

• Treadmill (182 calories)
•  Singles tennis ( 518 calories)

Day 16 Summary

Calorie Calculator Total Calories: 698 calories

Total Burned: 700 calories

Amount I Could Have Eaten: 1398 calories

Food Eaten: 985 calories

Calories Saved: 413 calories ... nice!

Day 15 ... Back in the Swing of Things

Well, after indulging this past weekend and spending wonderful quality time with my family, I knew I wasn't going to be too thrilled with the number that appeared on the scale this morning. Luckily, I did not gain any weight... however, I didn't lose too much either...

... 150 lbs ...

I only lost a half a pound. Bummer. Not the result I wanted, but realistically, I am excited! At least I did not gain any weight! So where to go from here?

1. NOT GIVE UP!
2. Continue on the same plan I was on. Drop down to eating (not including exercise) to 698 - the recommended amount for where I should be at currently. Maybe I can make up the lost calories.
3. Exercise more.
4. Try new recipes, enjoy the healthy ones we've tried, and toss the ones we didn't like.

This past weekend, I used a shorter way to summarize my eating habits each day. I like it... it doesn't drag on, reading the same ole "I ate an egg biscuit" day after day. So I'm going to try it for now - just breaking it down breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the bullet format, and add extra information when necessary.

Breakfast

• Leftover Baked Honey Mustard Chicken (232 calories)

Lunch

• Half Serving of Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes (123 calories)

Dinner

• Roast Beef Sandwich (211 calories)
  • 2 Slices of white bread (130 calories)
  • 3 slices of roast beef (36 calories)
  • 2% white American cheese (45 calories)
• Little Debbie Fudge Round (150 calories)
  

Exercise

• Treadmill (175 calories)
• Bike (75 calories) 

Day 15 Summary

Calorie Calculator Total Calories: 698 calories

Total Burned: 250 calories

Amount I Could Have Eaten: 948 calories

Food Eaten:716 calories

Calories Saved: 232 calories ... Yay for getting back in the swing of things!

Days 12, 13, & 14... My Parents Make a Visit to Biloxi!

I've been behind on my daily blogging, so I am attempting to play catch-up by combining the weekend all into 1. My parents came to visit us in Biloxi this weekend, and I really tried to stay on the straight and narrow path to skinny-ness. I decided to cook the majority of the weekend so I could have more control over what I ate (and so I could show off my badass cooking skills to my parents haha). Overall, I think I had a pretty low calorie weekend.................

Day 12

• Breakfast: Rest of Applebees (285 calories)
• Lunch: Taco Bell at the BX (420 calories)
• 2 Soft Beef Tacos (210 per taco)
• 4 Hot Sauces (0 calories)
• Dinner: Dinner at Home (677 calories)
• Baked Honey Mustard Chicken (232 calories)
• Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes (245 calories)
• Chocolate Cupcake (about 200 calories)
• Exercise: None :(    (no exercise the previous day... what is wrong with me?!)

Calorie Calculator Total Calories: 708 calories

Total Burned: 0 calories

Amount I Could Have Eaten: 708 calories

Food Eaten: 1382 calories

Calories Saved:  Nothing saved... I added an extra 674 calories!!!!!!!!!! Oh no!

Day 13

• Breakfast: Chocolate cupcake (about 200 calories)
• Lunch: Roast Beef Sandwich (211 calories)
• 2 Slices of white bread (130 calories)
• 3 slices of roast beef (36 calories)
• 2% white American cheese (45 calories)
• Dinner: Dinner at Home for BAMA game (700 calories)
• 2 Ribs with BBQ Sauce (350 calories?)
• According to a website I found, it says 4 oz of spare ribs is 275. I had more than 4 oz but way less than 8 oz. Also, I added bbq sauce.
• Cole Slaw (around 150 calories for a cup)
• I made cole slaw but I didn't pay attention to the calories (because it is so yummy!). So today I'm googling cole slaws, and the calories range from 120 - 170, so I decided on 150 calories for a cup.
• Cupcake at halftime (about 200 calories)
• Exercise: Walked the Biloxi-Ocean Springs Bridge (309 calories)
• 3.4 miles in 62 minutes
• Wonderful workout and great time to visit with my mom!

Calorie Calculator Total Calories: 708 calories

Total Burned: 309 calories

Amount I Could Have Eaten: 1017 calories

Food Eaten: 1111 calories

Calories Saved:  Another day of nothing saved, however I am a lot closer to the amount I could have eaten! Only 94 calories away from my goal!

Day 14

• Breakfast: Chocolate cupcake (200 calories?)
• Thankgoodness - I finished the last cupcake! I couldn't stand having them sit around in the house!
• Lunch: Half at the mall / Half at home
• At the Outlet Mall - Caesar salad (180 calories)
• 130 calories for dressing
• 50 calories for lettuce and cheese?
• Roast Beef Sandwich (211 calories)
• 2 Slices of white bread (130 calories)
• 3 slices of roast beef (36 calories)
• 2% white American cheese (45 calories)
• Half Serving of Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes (123 calories)
• Dinner: Eating at the tennis court (465 calories)
• Chips (about 5) and salsa (125 calories)
• 2 brownies (170 calories each = 340 calories)
• Exercise: Singles tennis 80 minutes 566 calories
• My first singles tennis match, and I won!! First set - 7-4, Second set - 6-2 --- and a major workout for an hour and 20 minutes!

Calorie Calculator Total Calories: 708 calories

Total Burned: 566 calories

Amount I Could Have Eaten: 1274 calories

Food Eaten: 999 calories

Calories Saved:  275 calories (finally saved some this weekend!)

Summary of the weekend: I enjoyed my parents coming to visit, and I let my diet slip. Oops! It wasn't until Sunday that I was able to eat less than my calorie intake. I've got to pick it up seriously this next week... because the next week is Thanksgiving!!!!!! This week my calories will drop again (even if I don't lose anything... or if I gain some!). Actually I've already weighed myself this morning, but I'll save it for my post regarding today (this one is long enough already!)

Day 11... Pretty Sure I Blew It!

Well, Thursday was an interesting day for me in the food world. I started the day with 2 fried eggs. Always a good meal!

Lunch was a little later than usual... Jason and 3 other guys went golfing. Around 2:30, the guys, Jason, Lindsey, and I met at Applebee's in Ocean Springs for a free Veteran's Day meal. We decided that the 2 non-active duty people were going to try to get the free food... it didn't actually say that dependents/spouses could not receive the special. We noticed the waitress was not checking ID cards, so Phil and I decided to go for it. I ordered the 7 oz sirloin with a Caesar salad and mashed potatoes. Not the meal choice I would have selected if I wasn't getting the free food. I would have ordered off the 550 calories or less menu. Oh well, it was free. Or so we thought... at the end of the meal, the waitress asked for our military IDs. Phil and I whipped out our cards like it was no big deal (actually I attempted to show her my casino card first, oh well). A few minutes later she came back to tell us that Phil and I were not eligible for the free meal... wish she would have told us that before --- I would have ordered healthier! When she tried to split the tickets, that was a disaster! It took her like 3 or 4 times to get it right. We will not be returning there again. We didn't leave until almost 5:00, but at least I had leftovers.

Well, we decided to hit up another free food spot: Hooters. We went with Cameron and Jon to watch the Ravens v Falcons game. Jason ordered one of the four free sandwiches/burgers they offered for military, and I went with the Diet Coke. Around half-time we headed to the Hard Rock Casino... and I started feeling awful. I had to sit down at a random slot machine. I was sweating and feeling kinda dizzy, so we decided I needed to eat. Lindsey and I went to the 24/7 Grille, and I definitely didn't care about my diet. I ordered a Philly cheesesteak (with a LOT of mayo) with fries. The sandwich was delicious, and I'm sure it was loaded with calories. Oh well... at least the fries were disguisting and I didn't eat them. I don't even want to imagine the amount of calories... but I guess I should!!

Oh and by the way... I didn't exercise at all!!! :(

Breakfast

• Egg (80 calories)

Lunch

• Applebees (375 calories)
• Half 7 ounce sirloin (240/2 = 120 calories)
• Half mashed potatoes (330/2 = 165 calories)
• Side Caesar salad (90 calories)

Dinner

• Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich (lots and lots of calories!)

Day 11 Summary

Calorie Calculator Total Calories: 708 calories

Total Burned: 0 calories (unless you count every time I pushed the button for the slot machine)

Amount I Could Have Eaten: 708 calories

Food Eaten: Don't even want to know

Calories Saved: None!

Day 10... Mexican Order Gone WAY Wrong

Hello everyone!

This morning I woke up earlier than usual and was starving! I grabbed an individual box of Froot Loops (100 calories) and inhaled them. Though still feeling empty, I went on with my morning... watching the usual TV shows and playing with Heinz.

Jason and his friends came over for lunch. Jason ate the rest of the honey mustard chicken from last night's dinner, while I waited around to go eat lunch with Laura and a few of her friends (other AF wives... none that I knew). My hunger was really starting to get to me around 11:30, but we weren't meeting until 12:30, so I decided to grab a slice of bread for a snack. Not bad... not that filling either though.

I met Laura, 4 other ladies, and a baby at El Rancho for a little Mexican lunch. Before going, I did my homework: I checked out Dottie's Wight Loss Zone: Mexican & Spanish Foods section. It has general calorie suggestions for the typical Mexican menus. Also, I talked with Josh (an AF lunch buddy) and he gave me some ideas of what I could eat. I decided no more than 5 chips (which I stuck to) with salsa and two soft chicken tacos. The website suggested that chicken at Mexican restaurants is a lot better for you than the ground beef. I ordered and was proud of myself... until my order came. I received 2 hard beef tacos. I was with a bunch of girls I didn't know so I didn't want to be tacky and send it all back. Oh well... I tried. Instead, I crunched up the tacos, poured some salsa on it, and made my own little taco salad. Not going to lie... it tasted great!

Laura and I hightailed it to the gym after that meal! Being bored with the elliptical machines, I suggested walking on the treadmill. So after about 35 minutes, I burned 208 calories. I could do the same amount with about 10 minutes less on the elliptical, but I needed a break. If only I knew how many calories my tacos were... I might have stayed on another 30 minutes!

Before deciding what to do dinner for dinner, Jason and I decided to hit the tennis court. We played for 37 minutes. Jason won 7-3. That's okay, I still won be I burned 257 calories! While playing tennis, we decided what's for dinner tonight - hot dogs and smores!! I've been wanting to camp out, but Jason said we have to practice in the backyard first (he doesn't think I'll make it all night in the cold). So, as I'm finishing up my post for the day, Jason has already put the tent up and has the grill going. He's going to take the grate off the grill so we can cook the hot dogs and make the smores. Should be an fun / interesting night!! We bought the 98% free hot dogs (only 40 calories each) and whitewheat buns (90 calories). For the smores, we bought dark chocolate bars (180 calories... less than milk chocolate), cheap post-Halloween marshmallows (14 pieces are 100 calories), and graham crackers (not sure the calories). So, hopefully this will work out. I'm going to leave my summary blank for now, and I'll update in the morning.

UPDATE: Camping was ... interesting ... Jason and I attempted to make hot dogs over the grill, and it kinda worked. The smores worked much better though! We went to bed in the tent around 10:00, and by 2:00 I was going inside. My body hurt so bad... didn't know the ground was going to be so uncomfortable!! Oh well... maybe we'll try again sometime.

Breakfast

• Box of Froot Loops (100 calories)
• Slice of bread (60 calories)

Lunch

• 5 Tortilla Chips (125 calories)
• 2 small tacos with beef and cheese (395 calories... according to DWLZ)
• A lot of salsa (50 calories)
• 2 tablespoons is 10 calories, and I enjoyed it!!

Dinner

• 2 hotdogs (80 calories)
• 1 bun (90 calories
• 1 smores (339 calories)
• graham cracker (130 calories)
• 4 marshmallows (29 calories)
• chocolate (180 calories)
  

Exercise

• Treadmill (208 calories)
• 37 minutes singles tennis (257 calories)

Day 9 Summary

Calorie Calculator Total Calories: 708 calories

Total Burned: 565 calories

Amount I Could Have Eaten: 1273 calories

Food Eaten: 730 (not including hot dogs and smores) ... update: 1069 calories

Calories Saved: 204 calories

Day 9... Yummy Baked Honey Mustard Chicken!

Working on the second week of my diet... so I started the morning off with a scrambled egg biscuit. No harm in sticking with what you know, right? If anyone has any breakfast suggestions that don't involve fruits, send them my way!

For lunch, I ate my leftover 6 inch sub from Subway. Yummy as always. Then I headed to the gym to use the usual machine... the elliptical. Now at Planet Fitness, they have like 12 or 14 ellipticals, and I'm very particular about which machine I get on. Usually I like #6, but machine #6 didn't feel right today. It felt more difficult, so my 22:30 minutes only burned 192 calories. Oh well... I didn't feel like pushing myself to reach 200.

After the gym, Laura and I came back to my house to wait for Jason and Mike to get out of class. On Tuesdays and Thursdays they have physical training (PT). During this time they have to do some type of training like running or weight lifting. Today the guys decided to meet us for tennis. We ended up playing for over an hour (1 hour, 16 minutes). Jason and I beat them pretty good! :)

After tennis, Lauren wanted us to help her move a little bit. Before doing that though, we decided to eat a new chicken recipe: Baked Honey Mustard Chicken. I was looking forward to it all day... and it was definitely worth it! I recommend trying this; it was great! I added a handful of grapes as a side item (21 to be exact), and it was a great meal. We helped Lauren move for about 2 hours, and then I came home feeling a little hungry. Jason suggested another piece of chicken, but I opted for a small slice of cake from Saturday... and Jason had already decided a few days ago that it's only about 150 calories. Even with adding cake, I managed to stay under my required amount!

Breakfast

• Scrambled Egg Biscuit (260 calories)
• Biscuit (180 calories)
• Scrambled egg (80 calories)

Lunch

• Subway Roast Beef 6 inch Sandwich (380 calories)
• 6 inch Italian/White Bread (190 calories)
• Roast Beef Meat (70 calories)
• American Cheese (40 calories)
• Honey Mustard Sauce: Fat Free (30 calories)  
• Light Mayonnaise (50 calories)

Dinner

•  Baked Honey Mustard Chicken (232 calories)
• Ingredients
• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup prepared mustard
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
• Directions
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and pepper to taste, and place in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish. 
• In a small bowl, combine the honey, mustard, basil, paprika, and parsley. Mix well. Pour 1/2 of this mixture over the chicken, and brush to cover.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Turn chicken pieces over and brush with the remaining 1/2 of the honey mustard mixture. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.
• Red Grapes (63 calories)
• 21 grapes, 3 calories a piece

• Evening Snack: Cake (150 calories)

Exercise

• elliptical (192 calories)
• 76 minutes of doubles tennis (372 calories)

Day 9 Summary

Calorie Calculator Total Calories: 708 calories

Total Burned: 564 calories

Amount I Could Have Eaten: 1272 calories

Food Eaten: 1085 calories

Calories Saved: 187 calories

Week 1 Down... 7 More to Go! And Day 8 Wrap Up

Well, I started my morning by coming downstairs, opening a Diet Sunkist can, turning on the TV to watch the last few minutes of Good Morning America, and playing with Heinz. It wasn't until I was on my my 2nd Diet Sunkist that I remembered "it's Monday, time to weigh myself!" So I ran back upstairs, stripped down, and hopped on the scale...............


150.5 lbs ... I've lost 2.5 lbs!

So I hopped off, then hopped back on again... same response! Now, to be honest, it didn't read 150.5, but it teeter-tottered between 150 and 151, so I'm putting 150.5. I need to buy a digital scale... maybe I'll reward myself after reaching half my goal or the whole thing. Or does anyone want to buy the one I found online a little while ago? It's on sale! http://dealnews.com/Weigh-Max-Tempered-Glass-Top-Digital-Scale-for-19-free-shipping/401588.html I'll give you my address! :)

So anyway, I was feeling pretty good about myself, so I decided to skip breakfast... and I didn't even feel that hungry. I waited to eat when Jason and his friends came over for lunch. I made a turkey sandwich... I left off the mayo though this time. Not as good, but it filled me up.

I met Laura at the gym at 1:30, and we decided to bump up our time on the elliptical. Usually we shoot for 20 minutes, so we decided to go a little longer and stay on 22:30. I burned 205 calories... success!

After the gym, I decided Heinz needed to go to Tailwaggers for a long-overdue nail clipping. He cried a little, so I bought him a few leftover Halloween treats 50% off. Because he doesn't like the dremel they use to smooth out his cut nails, I decided this would be the perfect time to take him for a walk around the neighborhood. We did our usual route: 20 minutes/100 calories.

Jason came home soon after that, and I started getting hungry. Only 4:00... guess I'm not fully adjusted to the time change. I caved and ate a piece of cake. Not sure how many calories that was, but I know it wasn't good! On my behalf, it was a small piece of cake. Jason's guess was 30, mine was more along 150. So, that's what I'm going with... 150 calories wasted on a piece of cake (with Jason's yummy delicious buttercream icing to top it off).

I was still hungry so a little while later I decided to go ahead and make dinner. Jason and I learned that we do not like Lemon Chicken!! I tried to make Simple Lemon Herb Chicken from allrecipes and ick, not good!! We trashed it and headed to Subway! :) We both got our usuals... mine a roast beef and Jason's a meatball.


After dinner, Jason and I decided to play some tennis. I guess I shouldn't have gloated on my blog from last night because Jason kicked my booty tonight... 7-4! With only 11 games instead of our 13 last night, we still played the exact same amount of time: 56 minutes. So more calories burned... yay!


This diet thing is getting easier. My problem now is trying to vary our food a little. It's hard when I don't eat fruits (with the exception of pineapples and grapes) and vegetables (only lettuce and with lots of dressing). Have a recipe you'd think I'd like? Post it in the comment section... I'd really appreciate it!


Oh, and by the way, my calorie intake has dropped because of my weight change. I could eat 719 (before working out), but now I can only eat 708. Not too much of a drop, but still a drop nonetheless.


Breakfast

• Nothing! (0 calories)

 
Lunch

• Turkey Sandwich (215 calories)
• White bread two slices (130 calories)
• 1/2 serving of turkey slices... 3 slices (40 calories)
• 2% White American Cheese (45 calories)
• Late Afternoon Snack: Cake (150 calories)

 
Dinner

• Subway Roast Beef 6 inch Sandwich (380 calories)
• 6 inch Italian/White Bread (190 calories)
• Roast Beef Meat (70 calories)
• American Cheese (40 calories)
• Honey Mustard Sauce: Fat Free (30 calories)  
• Light Mayonnaise (50 calories)

Exercise

• 22:30 minutes of elliptical (205 calories)
• 20 minute walk with Heinz (100 calories)
• 56 minutes of singles tennis (394 calories)

Day 8 Summary

Calorie Calculator Total Calories: 708 calories

Total Burned: 699 calories

Amount I Could Have Eaten: 1407 calories

Food Eaten: 745 calories

Calories Saved: 662 calories - WoW!!!

Day 7... Now What?

I've made it almost an entire week. A week of watching what I eat (minus Saturday a little), not stepping on the scale (okay maybe once or twice), but now what? I don't see a physical change, but I can tell by the amount of food I am not eating. And I don't mean that in a "I'm starving myself" type way. I mean that I don't feel hungry like I did a week ago. And when I do feel hungry? I don't act on it right away... I give it a little while so I can wait to see if the hunger is permanent or it goes away. I think this adventure has been successful so far. So, what have I eaten today?

For breakfast, I didn't do the whole "egg biscuit" thing. We have leftover food from our football yesterday, so I want to get that out of the way as soon as possible. I snacked a little on a tiny cheese ball I broke off of the original (it wouldn't fit in the platter I was using). I ate it with a few Ritz crackers. Pretty good, but not the healthiest item.

I cleaned a little while Jason and his good friend Smith golfed. Not really, that's a lie. I sat around pretty much the entire day. They made it back from golfing around 2:00, and then we ate lunch. I finished up the grilled chicken from yesterday, and I ate some Fiesta dip. For the first time in my life, I measured out the serving size for dip: 2 tablespoons. Then I ate a few chips with the dip. Overall, a pretty good lunch.

After Jason and I ran a few errands, we decided to hit the tennis court... in the dark, in the cold. We had a fun time, and I beat him pretty good. We played played one set and I won 6-1. The second set was cut short because my ears were cold, but I won that 4-2, as well. We set the timer so I could have an accurate time of how long we played tennis: 56 minutes. Heck yeah... that was 394 calories!

For dinner, I decided to treat Jason to his favorite meal: spaghetti. Good on calories? Not so much! So I started googling and found out a cup of lean ground beef (93%) is 330 calories. Plus tomato sauce and spaghetti seasoning... I knew I was about to hit my calorie limit for the day. So instead of eating spaghetti noodles, I decided to make an open faced spaghetti sandwich. I measured out a cup of spaghetti and poured it on a toasted slice of bread. Not bad... but it was way too much meat for one piece of bread. I wish I spread it out over 2 slices, but I don't think my calories would have allowed that. And... I had to add some Parmesan cheese. Next time, I think I'll just put 1/2 cup of spaghetti per slice of bread. Either way, Jason has been great support of not eating fatty foods in front of me and putting up with the low cal foods, so I wanted to let him have his favorite.

Breakfast

• A small portion of my leftover cheese-ball (about 11 calories: 215 calories, divided by about 20 servings)
• Cream cheese (100 calories)
• Shredded cheddar cheese (110 calories)
• Italian dressing mix (5 calories)
• Ritz crackers (128 calories)
• 5 crackers is 80 calories according to the box, and I believe I had 8

Lunch

• Honey Mustard Grilled Chicken (266 calories)   (eaten yesterday)
• Ingredients
• 1/3 cup dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon steak sauce
• boneless skinless chicken breasts (this recipe makes 4 breasts)
• Directions
• In a shallow bowl, mix the mustard, honey, mayonnaise, and steak sauce. Set aside a small amount of the honey mustard sauce for basting, and dip the chicken into the remaining sauce to coat.
• Lightly oil the grill grate. Grill chicken over indirect heat for 18 to 20 minutes, turning occasionally, or until juices run clear. Baste occasionally with the reserved sauce during the last 10 minutes (which we forgot to do, oh well).
• Fiesta Dip (100 calories)
• Ingredients
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup salsa
• 1/2 cup salsa
• Directions
• Mix everything together. Serve or refrigerate.
• Tortilla chips (about 60 calories)

Dinner

• Open Faced Spaghetti Sandwich, 465 calories
• Lean ground beef (330 calories)
• Tomato sauce (20 calories)
• Spaghetti seasoning (35 calories)
• Slice of bread (60 calories)
• 2 teaspoons Parmesan cheese (20 calories)

Exercise

• 56 minutes of singles tennis (394 calories)

Day 7 Summary

Calorie Calculator Total Calories: 719 calories

Total Burned: 394 calories

Amount I Could Have Eaten: 1113 calories

Food Eaten: 1030 calories

Calories Saved: 83 calories

Day 6... First Football Party of the Diet, What to Do??

After having a fun evening with the MTE party, I slept too late and missed breakfast. That was okay though because I had so much to do. For the Bama games, Jason and I invite friends over to share our passion of Alabama football with those not familiar with it. We always invite the guys and girls in Jason's class, along with a few other friends we know from the area (like Lauren). Though Lauren went to the game in Baton Rouge, we had a huge crowd... 19 people! The most we've ever had!! Everybody brought friends and GOOD FOOD! So, even on the diet, everyone brought all sorts of delicious foods into my house, tempting me all day long. Before the party began, I told Jason that my diet was off for the day. He moaned, stating something about he would have cooked a juicy steak for each us instead instead of the low calorie chicken recipe I found. I didn't keep up with the calories, but I feel like I did pretty good. I didn't eat everything on the table, and what I did eat at took very small portions of it. So, with that being said, here are the items that we had for our football party.

From the grill:

• Honey Mustard Grilled Chicken (266 calories) - Really good... will be making again!
• Various types of fish caught by our favorite diver, Cameron (Red Snapper, Amberjack, etc)
• Steaks
• Burgers
• Devan's Famous Ribs

On the table:

• Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes (245 calories) - We are LOVING these! It's official - Mom asked me to make them for Thanksgiving! I put these in the crock pot, and they were wonderful!
• Cheese Ball
• Fiesta Dip
• Salsas
• Cole Slaw courtesy of Laura (my gym buddy)
• Funfetti Halloween Cake with homemade buttercream icing from Jason
• Macaroni and Cheese
• Green beans made by Josh
• Pumpkin cake from Stephanie
• Maybe some other things but I don't remember

So anyway, I ate did not eat too much during the football party. However, my exercise consisted of running around in the kitchen and back to the tv. I didn't get a chance to "earn back" any calories, but that's okay. If I can do really well during the week, maybe on the weekends I can be a little more lenient with what I eat. And besides... Thanksgiving is in less than 3 weeks, and Christmas is 48 days away. So, I can't be good all the time, but I can still try to make the best of it!

Day 5... First Time Not Being Able to Accurately Count Calories

Wondering what my title is all about? I'll get to that in a minute. First things first...

For breakfast? Yep, that same ole egg biscuit. It is cold in Biloxi, so that was my excuse for not taking Heinz for a walk yesterday morning... or in the afternoon.

I tried to eat the last bit of leftover mashed potatoes for lunch. It fulfilled my hunger for a while. Sometime afterward I met Laura at the gym. Between the elliptical and the treadmill, I burned 205 calories. Not too bad, but I should have exercised a little harder... especially since my body insisted that it was too cold to walk Heinz.

Later after the gym, I started feeling hungry. I decided to make a turkey sandwich, which totaled 255 calories. Two slices of white bread, half the serving of turkey, chipotle mayonnaise, and white American cheese. I put it in the sandwich maker, and it was delicious! I think next time I'll skip the mayo... with the melted cheese, I don't think I need the extra calories from the mayonnaise.

So... back to the title. Friday night Jason and I attended the First Annual Martin Tennis Enterprises Party at Porter Avenue Bistro. I looked at the menu before going, and I decided I was going to the get the Smoked Chicken Pecan Salad Plate... "A traditional Chicken Salad blended with crispy celery, sweet pickle, creamy mayonnaise, and spice roasted pecans." After decided that for my meal, I logged in to my favorite recipe site Allrecipes to try to find a similar recipe. The best I could find was "Best Chicken Salad Ever I" with a few differences. This recipe only had 128 calories, so maybe this is close? I hope so! Anyway, we had a wonderful time with some really great friends in Mississippi. It was fun to get out for a while and hang out with people that I normally only see hot and sweaty from tennis matches. And how was the Smoked Chicken Pecan Salad Plate? AMAZING! ... but still not as good as Miranda's chicken salad (a wonderful friend from tennis) who makes divine chicken salad!

Breakfast

• Scrambled Egg Biscuit (260 calories)
• Biscuit (180 calories)
• Scrambled egg (80 calories)

Lunch

• Half a serving of Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes (123 calories)
• Turkey Sandwich (255 calories)
• White bread two slices (130 calories)
• 1/2 serving of turkey slices... 3 slices (40 calories)
• Chipotle Mayonnaise (40 calories)
• 2% White American Cheese (45 calories)

Dinner

• Porter Avenue's Smoked Chicken Pecan Salad Plate (maybe 128 calories?)

Exercise

• 20 minute walk with Heinz (100 calories) 
• elliptical and bike at the gym (200 calories)

Day 5 Summary

Calorie Calculator Total Calories: 719 calories

Total Burned: 300 calories

Amount I Could Have Eaten: 1019 calories

Food Eaten: 766 calories

Calories Saved: 253 calories

My thoughts on eating out Friday night: Even if the chicken salad had more calories than what I assumed, I still saved 253 calories. So my chicken salad could have been 381 calories and I still would have been safe.

Day 4... Yummy leftovers!

Before breakfast, I took Heinz on a 20 minute walk. The wind was blowing, and it was freezing! Yeah, really cold 59 degrees. Oh well, I was cold. And for breakfast? Well you know the drill, I had an egg biscuit for breakfast. Not too exciting.

I decided I needed to increase my eBay selling inventory, so I headed to Dirt Cheap in Gautier, MS (about 30 minutes away). I stayed too long and missed lunch before having to meet Laura at the gym. We decided to do the "lazy" bikes and chit-chat, so I burned a total of 100 calories in a little under 20 minutes. Not worth it... I'd rather burn the same amount of calories in the same amount of time by taking Heinz around the neighborhood.

Lunch was easy: a left over pork chop and half a serving of mashed potatoes. I decided to only get a half serving, and then go back if I needed/wanted more. I ended up not going back for more potatoes, and instead I dove right into eBay listing. Over the course of the day I listed 10 items, and I might get one or two more done before going to bed. If you want to see what all I have for sale, click here.

Before dinner, I decided to meet Lauren at the tennis courts in Ocean Springs. One of our singles teams had a match, so we decided to get a little bit of practice in while they were playing. Lauren's recovering for a tennis related injury (sprained ankle), so we didn't get to play too much. Kevin, our awesome coach, came to our court and did some hitting drills with us. My combined total of playing tennis this evening was 35 minutes, and the three of us decided that I needed to select doubles tennis for my calorie burning calculator. So, I burned about 171 calories... works for me!

Dinner was an easy night... I finished up the last pork chop (while Jason ate the last garlic chicken breast from Monday night), and we each ate a serving of mashed potatoes. There's one more serving of potatoes left... wonder who will get to it first tomorrow?

On a final note, my hunger has started to lessen. I didn't eat lunch until about 2:45 and didn't start getting hungry for dinner until after tennis around 8:30. Maybe this won't be so bad!


Breakfast

• Scrambled Egg Biscuit (260 calories)
• Biscuit (180 calories)
• Scrambled egg (80 calories)

Lunch

• Juicy Pork Chops (138 calories)
• Half a serving of Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes (123 calories)

Dinner

• Juicy Pork Chops (138 calories)
• Half a serving of Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes (245 calories)

Exercise

• 20 minute walk with Heinz (100 calories)
• 20 minute bike ride at the gym (100 calories)
• 35 minutes of doubles tennis (171 calories)

Day 2 Summary

Calorie Calculator Total Calories: 719 calories

Total Burned: 371 calories

Amount I Could Have Eaten: 1090 calories

Food Eaten: 904 calories

Calories Saved: 186 calories

Day 3... Back in the Swing of Tennis!

So have the hunger pains stopped yet? Nope!

So for breakfast... you guessed it, scrambled egg biscuit. Well I made a can of 8 biscuits, and I'm not big on wasting food (isn't that what got me in this fat mess in the first place??), so I'll eat egg biscuits a few more time. For some reason Jason hasn't eaten any... I think he's in a hurry when he leaves for work so breakfast is far from his mind.

It rained all morning so I didn't feel like going to the grocery store. The rain also prevented me from taking Heinz on our daily walk. We laid around the majority of the morning.

Jason's friends came over for lunch, and they all asked how the diet was going. I told them to take all my Halloween candy because I'm still tempted to eat a 3 Musketeers. Jason and I ate our leftover Subway sandwiches, and mine might have been better today than it was last night! At any rate, I enjoyed it thoroughly and wanted more. Having the guys over for lunch helped me not to eat anymore... didn't want to look like a "fatty" in front of people.

After lunch I finally went to the grocery store. Jason and I decided our meals for the rest of the week, so grocery shopping was easy. I left the store to come home and prepare dinner.

After dinner was "ready" I met Laura at the gym. We stayed on the elliptical for a good 20 minutes, burning 200 calories.

After Jason came home, I put the final touches on the pork chops and heated the mashed potatoes. Both were delicious... and Jason agreed! I highly recommend these recipes. When I told my mom about my mashed potatoes, she mentioned that maybe I should make them for THANKSGIVING! Jason and I loved them, and hopefully everyone else will, too! And, it'll help me keep track of my calories on Thanksgiving Day.

Since I didn't go for a walk with Heinz, Jason and I decided to play a little bit of tennis. We've started playing tennis in Biloxi with some friends, and I'm even on a tennis team. My first doubles season ended, and I had a perfect record --- all losses! Oh well, it's a lot of fun and great exercise. Anyway, Jason and I played singles tennis for a little over 45 minutes. A fabulous workout ... and a fun married thing to do!

So here I am, typing and calculating. It appears like I've had another successful day with the diet. Thanks for all the words of encouragement and the comment posts. I really appreciate it!

Breakfast

• Scrambled Egg Biscuit (260 calories)
• Biscuit (180 calories)
• Scrambled egg (80 calories)

Lunch

• Subway Roast Beef 6 inch Sandwich (380 calories)
• 6 inch Italian/White Bread (190 calories)
• Roast Beef Meat (70 calories)
• American Cheese (40 calories)
• Honey Mustard Sauce: Fat Free (30 calories)  
• Light Mayonnaise (50 calories)

 Dinner

• Juicy Pork Chops, serves 4 (138 calories)
• Ingredients
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 2 Tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1 pound boneless pork chops 1 inch thick 
• Directions
• In a large resealable bag, mix together the soy sauce, minced garlic, and pepper. Place the pork chops into the bag, squeeze out most of the air, seal, and marinate for a few hours in the refrigerator. Turn the bag over about halfway through.  
• Preheat the oven's broiler. Place the pork chops onto a broiling pan. Broil for about 8 minutes per side.

• Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes, serves 6 (245 calories)
• Ingredients
•  2-1/2 pounds red potatoes, cubed (recipe called for Yukon, but I used red)
• 3 ounces cream cheese
• 4 ounces sour cream
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon onion salt
• black ground pepper to taste
• Directions
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Place potatoes in a large pot of lightly salted water. Bring to a boil, and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain then mash.
• In a large bowl, mix mashed potatoes, cream cheese, sour cream, milk, onion salt, and pepper. Transfer to a large casserole dish.
• Cover and bake for 50 minutes. 

Exercise

• 2 miles on the elliptical (200 calories)
• 45 minutes of singles tennis (317 calories)

 
Day 2 Summary

Calorie Calculator Total Calories: 719 calories

 

      Total Burned: 517 calories

Amount I Could Have Eaten:  1236 calories

Food Eaten: 1023 calories

Calories Saved: 213 calories

Day 2 ... Still Hungry

When is the all-day hunger going to end?? My stomach needs to hurry up and shrink so it is not constantly wanting food!

In my Day 1 blog, I mentioned that I didn't eat breakfast. I didn't go to the grocery store (and still haven't) so I stuck with what I knew... eggs. I cooked a can of biscuits, and I put my scrambled egg in the biscuit. An egg biscuit, not too bad. Actually, it was pretty good. Normally my biscuits come with sausage and are from McDonald's. So I exchanged my 430 calories of McDonald's for my version with only 260 calories.

Sometime after breakfast I took Heinz for a walk around the neighborhood. We took the same route as yesterday because the sky looked as if it was going to fall out. Our neighborhood is very big, and all the houses look the same so I didn't want to wander too far off the path with rain on the way. With all the wind swirling around, the walk felt great and Heinz loved it, too! An easy way to lose 101 calories.

Lunch was pretty boring... I ate another egg biscuit. Because Jason only came home for a few minutes, I decided an egg biscuit would be an easy option for lunch. Only another 260 calories.

Laura and I met at Planet Fitness around 1:15 and had a pretty good workout. We used the elliptical machines for about a mile, or ten minutes, and I burned 88 calories. Then we switched to the bike for another 92 calories. Why so random and not push on to 100 calories? Because 88 + 92 = 180, the calories from one biscuit (minus the egg).

Instead of going to the grocery store, I began a deep clean of the house. I cleaned the kitchen and dining areas and the living room. Too bad vacuuming isn't listed as a calorie burner on The Most Accurate Calories Burned Calculator because I'm sure I could count a large amount!

Procrastinating even more, I decided not to go to the grocery store before Jason came home from work/school. "My insides were eating each other" so we decided to go to Subway for dinner. I used Dottie's Weight Loss Zone for figuring out the calories I consumed in my roast beef sandwich. Jason and I also made an economical decision, too... we each bought $5 footlongs and saved half for lunch tomorrow.

Breakfast

• Scrambled Egg Biscuit (260 calories)
• Biscuit (180 calories)
• Scrambled egg (80 calories)

Lunch

• Scrambled Egg Biscuit (260 calories)
  
• Biscuit (180 calories)
• Scrambled egg (80 calories)

Dinner

• Subway Roast Beef 6 inch Sandwich (380 calories)
• 6 inch Italian/White Bread (190 calories)
• Roast Beef Meat (70 calories)
• American Cheese (40 calories)
• Honey Mustard Sauce: Fat Free (30 calories)  
• Light Mayonnaise (50 calories)

 Overall, a pretty good day. My allotted calories included 719, plus the burned calories...


Day 2 Summary

Calorie Calculator Total Calories: 719 calories

Total Burned: 280 calories

Amount I Could Have Eaten:  999 calories

Food Eaten: 900 calories

Calories Saved: 99 calories

Day 1 ... Success!

I’ve read several web sites and blogs that insist that eating breakfast helps in losing weight. Today though, I was just so excited/nervous about starting my diet that I fought my hunger pains all morning and skipped breakfast. I am going to try to find a good breakfast to eat in the morning so I can lots of energy and help relieve these food cravings!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Instead of indulging into the leftover Halloween candy (successfully haven’t touched!), I decided to do a little exercise. I was getting ready to head to the gym when I remembered my friend Lauren’s car was behind me with a flat tire. So instead, I decided to walk Heinz around the neighborhood. I planned to walk for 30 minutes, but the route I took only lasted 20 minutes. I’ll have to try a different way tomorrow. Heinz enjoyed it, and I burned 101 calories. How did I figure that out? I used The Most Accurate Calories Burned Calculator. I’m not sure how accurate this is, but I’ve decided I am only using this calculator when determining burned calories so I can be consistent with it. Anyway, this site is so cool! You enter in your weight and the time in minutes you “exercised” to discover your calories burned. I put exercise in quotes because there are some random activities for burning calories, anything from sleeping to cooking to brushing your teeth! Try it out when you get a chance – it’s kinda fun!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------For lunch I decided to eat two eggs – scrambled around 11. I didn’t add any cheese or milk, just a little EVOO and two eggs. They were quite tasty, probably because my stomach was growling louder than Heinz was at the trick-or-treaters last night. Jason came home from lunch, and he ate my leftover chicken fingers and roll from Logan’s Roadhouse. We ate there last night as my pre-diet feast, and the leftovers smelled delicious! At least it isn’t in the fridge still… staring back at me. Jason fixed Lauren’s tire and moved it out of the way. Cameron (a military friend) came over with his Subway, and it looked good, too. I eventually went to get a box of Froot Loops that I had taken from the hotel’s breakfast buffet in New Orleans yesterday.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After lunch I met Laura at Planet Fitness for an afternoon workout. Our usual choice for calorie burning is the elliptical. After 20 minutes (exactly 2 miles) on the elliptical, I burned 175 calories. Not bad considering all I had eaten today up to this point equaled 260 calories.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For dinner I attempt my first low-calorie meal. I made garlic chicken and baked french fries. Chicken was really good, while the fries weren’t too great. I’m very proud of myself because I only ate the one portion. No piling a ton of food on my plate or going back for seconds. Overall, a successful meal… and Jason said he wants the garlic chicken again!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Breakfast

·        Nothing - Not the best idea.

Lunch

·        2 Scrambled Eggs (80 calories each / 160 total)

·        1 Individual Box of Froot Loops (100 calories)

Dinner

·      

Garlic Chicken (278 calories)

Ingredients

2 teaspoons crushed garlic

¼ cup olive oil

¼ cup Parmesan cheese

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Warm the garlic and olive oil to blend the flavors. In a separate dish, combine the bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. Dip the chicken breasts in the olive oil and garlic mixture, then into the bread crumb mixture. Place in a shallow baking dish.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes until no longer pink.

Baked French Fries (151 calories)

Ingredients

3 Russet potatoes, cut into ¼ inch strips

Cooking spray

1 teaspoon dried basil

¼ cup Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and lightly grease baking sheet.

Arrange potato strips in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet, skin sides down. Spray lightly with cooking spray, and sprinkle with basil, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.

Bake 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

 (both dinner recipes are from my favorite food recipe website AllRecipes.com)

Exercise

·        Walked Heinz for 20 minutes (101 calories burned)

·        20 minutes on the elliptical (175 calories burned)

 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, I was only supposed to eat 719 calories, plus the amount of calories I burned from exercise...

Day 1 Summary

Calorie Calculator Total Calories: 719 calories

Total Burned: 275 calories

Amount I Could Have Eaten: 994 calories

Food Eaten: 689 calories

Calories Saved: 305 calories

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FYI: Sorry for the formatting issues. I typed this up in Word and added to it throughout the day, and for some reason it messed it all up. Better luck tomorrow!

And the Magic Number is...

153!


On the first day of my diet I weighed 153. Not too bad, I expected somewhere in between 155-160. This changes things slightly from my original plan... The plan was to lose 20 lbs in 2 months... but because my weight is less than what I thought, I'm going to modify it slightly.

Now, my plan is to weigh 135 by 2011. The reason for the change? When I lost my pre-wedding weight, I went from 175 to 140. I need to get back to my June weight, and then an additional 5 lbs. So... here I am at the beginning of this challenge with the intent of losing 18 lbs.

I am going to use the Calorie Calculator that was mentioned previously. However, I am going to use it a little differently than it is intended purpose. Here is my calculator:

So, above is MY actual calorie counter. If you noticed, I put "very light" as my activity level. I am a fairly active person, so why did I put very light, especially when I debated in a previous post between light and moderate? I'm using the "very light" activity level because it is the minimum amount of calories to eat in order to lose the weight I want to shed. This way, when I go to the gym or play tennis, I can calculate the calories that I burned and factor them back into the calories I can eat for the day. Does that make sense? Simply... if I burn 100 calories doing an activity, I can add an extra 100 calories to the amount of food I eat for that day. I decided it wouldn't be accurate if I calculated using moderate if I didn't do an intense workout that day. So....... each day this week I can eat 719 calories per day (plus whatever my exercise is for the day).

I've decided that I am going to try to blog at night or in the morning to reflect the previous day's accomplishments (and setbacks). So far, I've eaten 2 eggs and walked Heinz around the neighborhood for 20 minutes. Looks like I'm going to have to step it up a bit!