Day 390

Breakfast(645): Coconut French Toast Bake iwth turkey sausage (380)

Lunch(1200):  Sauteed veggies (eggplant, zuke, onion, red pepper, spinach, brussels sprouts) with almonds (50) and 3oz (cooked) of london broil (200?)

Carrots iwth hummus (100)
Tortilla with turkey breast and cheese and almonds (250)
Ice cream (120)

Walked half a mile, jogged 2.65 miles in 26:30 and walked another half.  Was sort of anxious to get out and run -- weird.  Didn't feel great today, but okay.  Shorter because I got a late start -- it got dark.

Dinner(1030):  Tortilla with turkey breast, artichoke dip , and almonds (200) with carrots and hummus (100)  And a small handful of potato chips (100)

Daily Tiotal:1550

Day 389

Day 388

Day 387

Day 386

Day 385

Breakfast: 2 slices of multigrain bread (160), half an ounce of cheese (60), 2 oz of ham (70) and one egg, scrambled (70)  Added a half an apple (50)

Lunch (1100): The dreaded spaghetti with tofu.  I'd baked off some tofu slices awhile back and they came out really tough, so I chopped them up and put them in spaghetti sauce.  I was pretty sure it was going to taste foul, but I actually really liked it! (380)

Dinner: Thai food... the spiciest thai food ever.  App order of spring rolls and then small portions of rice, pad thai and a chicken strifry.  SOOOO spicy.

Daily Totla:  790+thai

Day 384

Breakfast: Ham and Cheese Strata (380) with spinach

Snack (1000 - 1100) Carrots (70)

Lunch (145): Polenta Bake (325)

1 slice of bread (80) with ham and low sugar apricot jam (40)

Chocolate covered almonds and craisins (200)

Carrots and hummus (100)

Jog(730-815):  Tummy was too full.  I forget that part of why jogging helps me lose is that I have to modify my eating schedule.  I can't jog on a full stomach and any food in my stomach, so I stop eating a few hours before the jog and then I'm all sweaty and tired after, so I don't eat as much then either.  It's not so much the running as the modified eating that helps.  I walked 0.4 to warm up, jogged 3 miles in 30 minutes (only walked about 0.2 at two separate times around the 20minute mark), cool down 0.7.  Jogged nearly the full 3 miles and at a pace that was slightly faster thant he last 5k.  And I haven't even been running much lately.  Pretty confident that I can get under 30 minutes for my October 5k.  :D

Dinner(930):  1/2 serving of chicken breast (65), 1/2 serving of bulgur (35) and veggies  Just not that hungry post-run. 

More chocolat enad some other junk 200

Daily Total: 1595

Cooking

Made some stuffed peppers -- I have a lot of lentils to use (a LOT, like 9lb, leftover from party decorations, used in a mason jar with candles). I followed a recipe that was decent, but needs a fair bit of tweaking before I'll be happy with it. I'll post eventually. It was basically rice, onion, lentils, cheese and sausage stuffed in a roasted pepper. It used chicken sausage, I think I'd rather just use ground turkey. It used too much cheese and not enough veggies - I'd add mushrooms and zucchini.

I also used the leftover onion rice to make a sort of chicken burrito bowl -- I added kidney beans, corn, red pepper, salsa, diced chicken breast and jack cheese. Pretty good!

And I cooked up some bulgur I bought. I really like the grain. It's similar to quinoa in taste and texture. I'm finding that I've really adjusted to whole grains. I like the nutty taste and the chewy texture better than enriched. I portioned the bulgur into 1/2 servings (70cal) which was about 1/4cup - maybe a bit over. I ate that night with chicken in a salad. I ate Tuesday night... sauteed a chooped zucchini, chopped onion, red pepper, mushrooms, and spinach. Added the bulgur and a bit of mozarella. Served with a precooked chicken breast. YUM! and soooo much fiood with all the veggies.

Day 381 - 383

Okay, but not great. Probably right around 2000. Okay meals, but too much snacking.

I did run on Monday, walked 0.8 to warm up, jogged 1.25 at a 9:20pace. Felt slow though.

Day 380

Breakfast: turkey pear avocado muffin (260)

Snack: string cheese 80

Lunch: 6 tortilla chips(80) with 3 T of refried beans(80), 200 cal of friday nights dinner mixed with extra spinach and some sweet potato (30)

Snack: Cupcake (250)

Jogged: walked 1mi to warm up. The stupid school fenced off the corner I cut through, so I had to waaay back track. That meant it was too dark, so I just jogged down the lit street a couple of times... turned out to be 1.4mi. I felt slow, but kept just saying you gotta do it -- it's been 2 weeks, you gotta do something no matter how slow. Turns out I was at a 9:40 pace. ! strange.

Dinner:

Daily total:

Day 379

breakfast: ham cheese apple muffin

lunch: bday party - did okay for a full spread, but not great. half a sandwich, a few chips, a bit or potato salad and chinese chicken salad, lemonade, 2 cupckaes...

dinner: late 930 - actually said outloud how I wasn't hungry and then ate refried beans with tortilla chips... and tomato lettuce and olives.

Total: ??? not ridiculous, but not good either. 2100?

Day 378

Backfilling missing entries...
Normal breakfast and lunch...
Dinner out -- order an app (350) to share instead of a drink and added a side salad (150) to the entree I ordered which was a 575cal chicken thing off the light menu. By the time the entree came, I was full. Took 95% of it home.
Deesert Yogurt (200)

Day 377

Busy with school... can't remember today. It wasn't great, but not terrible either.

Day 376

Breakfast(730): Coconut French Toast Bake with morningstar sausage (380)

Snack (1000): Grapes (65)

Lunch (200): Chicken Tamale Bake (330) with lettuce tomato and ff sour cream (40)



Daily TOtal:

Day 375

Breakfast: 150 cal of potato chips leftover in car Had a muffin, but wasn't that hungry.

LunchI(1045): Turkey/Avocado/apple muffin (260)and a bunch of carrots (50)

LunchII (300): Turkey Taco Salad (250)

Bit of PB and choco chips (150)

DInner (700): More, but different, Turkey Taco Salad at a friend's house. (500?)

Dessert McD's Ice Cream (150) felt strange sitting in the drive through.


Daily Total: 1510

Day 374

Breakfast (700 - 1015): Chicken Crepes with zucchini (400)

Lunch(1045): Right, I just finished breakfast!

Snack (1100): Apple (80)

Lunch (200): POlenta Bake (300)

Snack 150 cal of potato chips, 5 mini pb cups (200)

Dinner(830): Chicken breast, quinoa, tomato compote, broccoli (275)

Grapes (100)

PB and choco chips (150)

Daily total: 1655

Day 373

Crossing my fingers that I'm back on track... Woke up not hungry (duh, given what I ate yesterday.) Toyed with the idea of doing a fruit/veggie/water only day, but other food was already prepared. Biggest difference is that I wasn't constantly putting food in my mouth today - and I had no desire to. I wasn't fighting it all day, I just didn't want it. And my wieght is down 3 lb from yesterday, despite the fact that I ate like a beast yesterday. It's all so frustratingly unpredictable!

Breakfast (930): Peach (100), a few almonds (100) and 1.5 ounce of ham (50)

Lunch(230): Chicken Corn Chowder with peas (300)

Homemade blueberry muffin (250)

Snack (500): 100cal of peanuts

Snack (600): small spoon of peanut butter with a few choco chips (150)

Dinner (715): Chicken breast, quinoa, tomato compote and broccoli (275)

Dessert: 2T of peanut butter with 2 T of choco chips (350! more than i thought it'd be.)

Cucumber with hummus (75)

Daily Total: 1500

Day 372

Another really bad day... I can't tell the difference anymore whether this is premenst. shenanigans or me just falling off the wagon. I'm leaning towards the later. I'm definitely eating even when I'm not hungry. I'm definitely eating even if I'd just eaten. I'm definitely feeling full and bloated and gross. And yet I eat more. wtf?

Didn't track today... I'd guess like 2800-3000? I'm still not completely off the wagon. I have absolutlely NO craving for crappy processed foods. Didn't hit and drive thru or guzzle a soda. That's a plus in my book. I just ate way too much of the fairly healthy stuff. Like full on extra meals -- as snacks! ugh. I feel physically sick at the end of the day.

Day 371

Breakfast(700): Ham, cheese, apple muffin (270)

Lunch: CHicken with hasbrown casserole and broccoli 415

Snack" String cheese (80) and 4 mini reeses (100)

Snack:???

Dinner:???

Updated two days later... I don't know what I ate, but I KNOW I ate WAY WAY WAY too much today.

Daily: 2500???

Day 370

Back to school -- should be good for the eating habits.  Staying busy keeps me from eating too much!  Only issue to work out is that I have first lunch.  Means I eat breakfast at 7am, then lunch at 1045.  Sorta early, but if not then I have to wait until 230.  Too late... :(  I guess my normal morning snacl time becomes lunch time.  And I'll just have an afternoon snack.  ??? It'll work out hopefully!

Breakfast: Chicken Mushroom Crepes (375) with a bit of spinach

Lunch (1100): Tofu Veggie Stirfry (300)  I don;t think cooked tofu freezes well.  The tezture was not as good as when I fate it fresh.

Snack (300):  Turkey Taco Salad (turkey 120 + lettuce and tomato + cheese 50 + toasted tortilla 55 + FF sourcream 20)

Choco covered almonds (250)

Dinner(800): Chicken breast, quinoa, tomato compote and broccoli (250)

3 flour tortillas (300), 1.5 oz of cheese (180)

Daily Total: 1900

Day 369

Not great today, but better... being busy helps and I think I'm getting tot he end of my ravenous time.

Breakfast: Chicken Corn Chowder (300)

Snack: Lots of watermelon and blueberries, 2 mini donut gems, string cheese

Lunch: 3 oz of tritip, half a chicken breast, 1/2 cup of potato salad, 1/4 cup coleslaw, cornbread, water

Worked my butt off moving literally TONS of boxes of books.  Really, probably moved 3000lb worth.

Snack: 150 cal of candy

Snack: 200 of pasta, chips, muffin  a few bites each, late getting home and so hungry.

Dinner: POlenta Bake (315)

Day 368

Breakfast (700am): Back to work -- English muffin with turkey, avocado, apple (250)

Snack (1000): string cheese (80)

Snack (1100): peanut butter cup (80)

Lunch (1200):  Chicnese place.  Steamed rice (a lot! like 1.5cups 350cal), and chicken breast with veggies in a light white sauce (250?)

500 cal of candy at school - oof.

Cereal (200)

Dinner: chicne breast (150), quinoa (50), tomato compote (60), broccoli (30)  (300 total)

ice cream 120
popcorn 100
almonds 100

cereal (200)

Supposed to run yesterday, didn't.  Have a run date tomorrow, so I didn't want to run a bunch today.  Decided to see how fast I could do one mile.  Walked 0.6mi in 10 min, then ran a full mile in 8:50.  First sub-9 mile!  Doesn't conteract the rediculous amount of calories... but it's something!
Daily 2520

SOOO many nice comments from ppl who haven't seen me for a whole summer.  Though I'm only 5-10lb lighter than the last time they saw me... loved it! :D 

Day 367

Let's not even talk about today... Ate way too much of mostly healthy foods.  Felt stuffed all day.  Ended the day with a healthy, but big meal with family.  Included cake for dessert.  And a caramel nut cluster.  AND I was supposed to jog today, but didn't.  Ugh.  TOM combined with going back to work/school stress is doing me in.  Need to figure out how to not let it be an excuse.

Day 366

Breakfast: Ham and Cheese Strata 375

Lunch: Polenta bake (315)

ice cream 120, half a yogurt 100, almonds 100,

???
Daily Total:  estimate 1800

Day 365

Breakfast (830): half an english muffin (60) with 90cal of PB and half an apple (40)

Lunch: Sushi 400

Snacks: ice cream 120, carrots and hummus 100, almonds 100, tastes of food I'm making (100) [Chicken/corn chowder and chicken with polenta and tomato compote]

DinnerI: Ham, apple gruyere quesadilla (150) and half a pear (30)

Half a yogurt (90) and a few almonds (50)

Jog: Walked 0.6 to warmup, jogged for a FULL 5k in about 33 minutes! About a 10:30 minute mile. That's the first time I've jogged the entire 5k without walking any of it. That was my goal for the October 5k I'm in. I guess my goal now is to get the time under 30minutes. I think it's totally doable. I could have pushed a little faster, but I was more focused on jogging the full 5k, wanted to pace myself. I felt it more in my muscles tonight than in my cardio. Breathing was steady and I didn't feel dead when I got done -- didn't take long at all to get HR down to normal. So happy!! :D

Dinner II: Taco salad (250) with a lemon drink (150)

Pudding (80)

Daily Total: 1670

Day 364

Still SUPER munchy today, but trying to be smart about it...  I still hate this week. 
I went and bought hand weights for the house today... one 10lb and one 15lb.  I thought about buying pairs, but all I do is one arm at a time.  Saves $ this way, and I can get the other if I ever need it.  I've been doing pushups at home, now I can do the other exercises too.  Not sure why I need the gym anymore, but not ready to give up on it.  Might be nice to be able to switch it up and I should investigate the classes...

Breakfast (830): ham.apple.cheese muffin (270)

Snack (1200): Yogurt (180), grapes(30), carrots and redpepper hummus (100)

Lunch: Taco salad (90cal turkey, lettcuse, tomatoe, 50 cal cheese, 70cak avocado, 40 cal FF sourcream, 55 cal tortilla)  Total: 305

Snack: MORE grapes (50) and some almonds (100) and pudding 100

Dinner (615): Polenta Bake (315)

Ice Cream (120) and pudding (100)  Finally feel satisfied... ugh.  Not too bad, if I can keep my mouth shut the rest of the night!

And I didn't... I had a frozen chicken rice burrito that tasted terrible (240) and 160 cal of tater tots.  Rifreakingdiculous.

Daily: 2070

Day 363

Breakfast (830): Ham, cheese, apple muffin (225)  smaller portions than usual, still a little iffy about overeating (really "binging", I guess) last night.

Snack (1100): 1/3 of an apple

Lunch (1200):  Polenta Bake with spinach and tomato (330)

Snack: 4 hershey's nuggets (200)

Dinner:  Small bit of pasta salad, serving of chicnese chicken salad.  Both had some dressing, but lightly dressed.  Also had grapes.  No cookie...  and water, no soda.

Went to friend's to jog on the river.  I am still sore from Tuesday's jog -- jogging faster uses more muscle.  I was still amazed that I could jog much farther, faster, more consistently than my friend who is a perfect weight and goes to the gym often.  She'll get it together and back on track in terms of fitness and then kick my a$$, but tonight, I schooled her! :)

DinnerII: Friend's daughter made quesadillas -- was going home, but she surprised me with a special 'dilla just for me.  I couldn't say no.  It was a flour tortilla with 120 cal of cheese and 25 cal of ham.  yummy.

Still a bit hungry... it's that week out of the month.  Can't go back to parents house without a plan... so I'm making and taking a salad with me to munch on.  No saltines left there -- I put the half tube down the sink this morn.  May have to destroy the frosting too.  We'll see.... Ate ONE graham cracker with ONE Tbs of chocolate frosting.  (150?)

Total: 1380+the unkown dinner salads...  ???

Day 362

Breakfast (800): Coconut TFrench Toast Bake with veggie sausage (380) added a few strawberries (30)

LunchI (1100): tortilla (55), half oz of cheese (60), 50 cal of deli ham, carrots (25)

Lunch II (200): tortilla (55), half oz of cheese (60), 50 cal of delil turkey, almonds (100)

Sushi (400)

DInner (730): At a friend's house, I cooked.  Two! servings of tamale casserole (600) with salad (30) and ice cream for dessert (140)

Daily Total: 2035... sheesh.

But wait, there's more!  :(  After getting home, I ate 2 graham crackers, 2 Tbs of chocolate frosting, a chocolate pudding cup, half a sleeve of saltines and 5 slices of velveeta.  nice, right?!  So, lwt's just round that 2035 up to 3000.  Felt like crap physically before bed.  And really felt crappy the next morning.  What's up with all that?!  Why, why, why!?  I think partially due to TOM coming and partially stressed cause school starts up next week -- back to work and I haven't finished all the crap I was supposed to get down this summer.  ugh.

Day 361

Breakfast (800am): My chicken mushroom crepes (375) with a bit of spinach. 

Lunch(1200): Polenta Bake with corn and broccoli (350)

Snack: Cheese (120), strawberries (50) and ham (50)

Snack: Choc covered almonds (100)

Was about to make dinner at 8pm, but realized that if I ate, I wouldn't be able to gym.  But I didn't want to take forever at the gym either.  So, I compromised... jogged around the neighborhood.  Decided not to take iphone to track run -- it gets bulky.  I did check the time before and immediately after.  Then I tracked the distance.  I walked 0.6 to warm up in 8 minutes.  Then I jogged straight for 2.28mi in 22 minutes.  That's a 9:40 minute mile... I'm stunned.  I'm typically at an 11 minute mile for the jog part.  I've only been sub-10 ONCE before, for just a mile, on the treadmill, and it was HARD.  TOnight I felt like I still had a bit in me at the end.  In fact I sprinted the last 100yards.  Seriously, I'm amazed.  I might even give up the treadmill! :D

Dinner(930):  Taco Salad (300)

Peach (80)
Ice Cream (120)
Cheese (150) with crisps (20)

Daily Total: 1765

Chicken and Mushroom Crepes

There are a few BMD meals that I really miss.  The chicken and mushroom crepes are one of the top ones.  If I could order 7 of that meal, I would.  I found frozen crepes at Ikea (yes, I know I could make them, but...).  So, I looked up chicken mushroom crepes on cookinglight and mashed two recipes together... Original recipes #1 and #2

My Recipe...
6 frozen Ikea crepes, thawed
29oz of raw chicken breast (roasted in oven, trimmed and chopped, 19oz cooked)
8oz mushrooms, chopped (should have used more, like 16oz)
2/3 of a large onion, chopped
1T of butter
2 T cornstarch
2 cups of skim mik
2 oz gruyere cheese
1 oz mozarella cheese
red pepper flakes
salt
pepper
garlic powder
1-2 T of fresh thyme, chopped
1-2 T of parsely, chopped

Saute the mushrooms and onions until mostly soft.  In a bowl, mix the chicken, mushrooms, onions, shredded cheese and seasonings.  In a small cup mix the cornstarch with a small bit of milk, just enough to moisten.  Heat the butter in a small pan, add the slurry and let cook a bit.  Add the remaining milk.  Cook for a minute or so and cool to thicken.  Add the milk mixture to the chicken mixture and gently stir to coat.  Serve with a thawed crepe (or make your own!)

By my measurements and calculations, each serving is about 375cal.  The chicken mixture is amazingly tasty.  Don't skip out on the thyme -- it really makes the meal.  Note to self though: Don't use more that 2T... it gets heavy.  And easy on the parsley... it's bitter.  And I could probably get away with using just half a crepe per serving.  AND it could use twice as many mushrooms!  With a few tweaks though, this is perfect!  And exactly what I was craving.  Hopefully it holds me over as long as the BMD version!  (Edit on trying: So far, so good... It's been 2 hours and I still feel FULL.)

Tofu Stirfry

Not a real detailed recipe here, but I did like the end product... So, I'd like to try to get it down here.

I soaked some rice noodles according to package, used half a serving per tray.  I think it was one oz dry per tray.

Sliced the tofu into 6 slices and drained for a bit on paper towels.  Then cut each slice into 8 cubes.

Sauce: This was totally a guess, based off a few different recipes and modified as I tasted it.  I used about a cup of chicken broth as the base.  Added a T of cornstarch, 2 T of soy, 2 T of oyster sauce, 1 T of siracha, a tsp or so of sesame oil, and the juice of a lime.  The lime was critical to the flavor, really brightened it up.  Mix throughly.

Sauteed off some veggies in a bit of olive oil.  I used broccoli, red pepper, mushroom, onion, carrot, green onion.  Remove to bowl.  Saute tofu cube lightly in a bit of oil until browned a bit.  Add veggies back to pan.  Add the sauce mixture.  Let come to a simmer, cook for a minute of so, then remove from heat.  The cornstarch will thicken up as it cools. 

According to my measurements and calculations, this is 300cal per serving.  I added a few almonds and a bit of steamed spinach when I ate it.  Pretty darn tasty!  I like the tofu much better this way, over the baked version.  Surprised me -- I didn't think I'd like tofu so much, especially since it's barely cooked.

Polenta Bake

Wanted to use up some canned diced tomatoes and get a different style meal.  Found this recipe on myrecipe.com.  Modified some: used ground turkey breast, added extra zucchin, red pepper, mushrooms.  Will also add spinach when served.  I like this, though ironically, I'm not that fond of the canned tomato taste.  I might try just roasting off some grape tomatoes next time. I was worried the tomato paste might be too strong, but that doesn't seem to be an issue.  THough it was difficult to mix in -- I might try thinning it slightly with a bit of tomato juice or water next time.  And I wasn't sure whether to use yellow cornmeal or polenta meal -- the polenta is a coarser grind.  Chose polenta in the end.

Here's my slightly modified recipe...
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup polenta meal
1/2 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
?? garlic powder
9oz mozarella, shredded and divided
1oz cheddar

20oz ground turkey, extra lean

1 cup chopped onion

3 medium zucchini, cut in half lengthwise and sliced
8oz mushroom, shopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1.5 tsp olive oil
2 (14 1/2-oz.) cans petite diced tomatoes, drained
1 (6-oz.) can tomato paste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Bring 3 cups water and 1 tsp. salt to a boil in a 2-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat. Whisk in cornmeal; reduce heat to low, and simmer, whisking constantly, 3 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat, and stir in italian seasoning and 1 oz cheddar with 1 oz mozarella. Spread cornmeal mixture into a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish.

2. Brown ground turkey in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, stirring often, 10 minutes or until meat crumbles and is no longer pink; drain and transfer to a bowl.

3. Sauté onion and zucchini pepper and mushrooms in hot oil in skillet over medium heat 5 minutes or until crisp-tender. Stir in beef, tomatoes, and tomato paste; simmer, stirring often, 10 minutes. Pour beef mixture over cornmeal crust. Sprinkle with remaining 8oz mozarella cheese.

4. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until bubbly. Sprinkle casserole with parsley just before serving.

By my measurements and calculations, this comes out to about 315cal at 8 servings. Added a 1/3 cup of corn and a bit of broccoli to tray, for a total of 350. It's a heavy tray too! It thought the corn would taste good with the polenta. Might add to polenta next time -- either frozen or creamed.

Day 360

Breakfast (800am): eng muff (140) with PB (100) and jam (20)

(1130): Cherries (50)

Lunch (200):  Turkey Taco salad with lettuce, tomato, cuke, avocado, little cheese, FF cour cream, corn tortilla, crunchy onion bits, green onion (350ish)

Crepe with choco chips and jam (150), carrots with FF sourcream dip (100)

Dinner: Grocery Store Sushi, vegetable (carrot, cuke, avocado) with brown rice (400?)

Snacking as cooking (250)

Choco covered almonds and cranberries (150)

Daily Total: 1710 Definitely heading into and bad part of the month! Ugh.

Day 359

Breakfast(1200): French toast at favortie brunch place (800?)

Lunch (500): trail mix (100) and a string cheese (80)

Non fat fro yo (150)

Dinner I: Salad with lettuce, tomato, red pepper, FF sourcream mixed with onion soup mix, and crispy onion bits (100)

DinnerII: Serving of zucchini casserole (150), broccoli and corn (70) and spinach with roasted onion bits (50)

Dessert: Slice of bread with nutella and jam (150)

Waffle with nutella (180)

Cheddar cheese on 2 slices of bread (250)  I don't know why im so hungry tonuight... gotta get under control and back to norm tomorrow.

Daily Total: 2080