Every Bite Counts

How did everyone's first day go? It feels good to be back on track and in control.

Michi's Ladder. Just a guideline for you. I like the challenge of trying to stay in those top tiers, but I am going to make some exceptions. The food challenges I do on my BeachBody forums use some of these same exceptions. Do what feels right to you:

-Rice cakes (brown rice)
-Dark chocolate. I told you to eat it every day and I'm going to follow my own advice. It makes me happy and makes me feel like I'm indulging.
-Almond milk. Soy milk is in the top tier, but I only eat soy in very limited quantities because supposedly you should avoid it when you have thyroid issues. Sometimes I eat tofu and I still love edamame, but for the most part, I don't eat soy.
-Popcorn. Come on, we're talking about ME here. How could I give up popcorn? That's just whacky nonsense. Popcorn is in the 3rd tier, I think. It saddens me to see it way down there. What's up with that? Anyway, I'm going to have my popcorn on Friday for the next two weeks. If it impedes weight loss, I'll have to drop it (THE HORROR) until my local weight loss challenge ends because I've told Eamonn we are getting that $100 back and I'd better make good on that promise. Heck, that's a customized facial right there, so if that's not motivation, I don't know what is.

Jean and I had a little e-mail exchange about fat free foods. She mentioned concerns over fat free foods and she prefers to eat the full fat versions--just less of them. Overall, I agree with that concept. Fat free cookies (remember the Snackwell craze?) probably have more sugar and chemicals in them in place of the fat. Something has to make up that flavor and texture of the fat. What the heck is it? Animal? Vegetable? Mineral? Hard to tell. I don't dig that.

I typically steer clear of fat free anything because in general, it alarms me. The only exception I make is fat free dairy, which can just be made with skim milk. Although I have to day--fat free cheese? What is the point? I'm liking fat free Greek yogurt these days, but that's pretty much the extent of my dairy consumption, unless we're skiing and then I drink my homemade hot chocolate made with full on straight-from-the-cow milk.

My day was good overall. Another thing I said to Jean was that I'm going to squeeze in some two-a-day workouts when I can to see if I can blast through this annoying little plateau I seem to have taken up residence on. I'm also shooting to cut my calories down to 1400 - 1500. I totally missed that today, dang it. It was the chocolate! So maybe that will have to be a once a week treat.

One curious thing that is happening--I'm definitely losing inches. On Saturday, when we were already late leaving the house for a hockey game (where else would we be going?), I was suddenly compelled to put on these jeans that I bought--no lie--2 1/2 years ago after I came home from 3 weeks in Ohio (where I was eating Donato's and Graeters too often). I bought the jeans thinking, "When I lose weight, I'll wear these. They're cute."

Until Saturday, it has been a no go situation. And yet, I do not return them. When I bought the jeans, I couldn't even pull them all the way up (I discovered this when I got home--they were from Costco. Yes, I buy a large portion of my wardrobe at Costco, as does half the valley so we're all dressed alike most of the time. Anyway, if you're a Costco shopper, you know there are no dressing rooms at Costco). Ultimately, I held out hope. I've been close to getting into the jeans several times, but then Christmas comes...

Anyway, on Saturday, they pulled right up--buttoned and everything. And that's when I discovered they are way low riders. As in I don't even think I own underwear small enough to keep from showing.

This could be interesting.

Today's workouts:
I had time to do two rounds. Round one: HIIT 15, Sculpt 30 (which actually got interrupted about 20 min. in by a child who needed last minute homework assistance). Round two: TurboJam Cardio Party. This used to be my favorite workout--Chalene Johnson, of course. But since I've been doing Chalene's TurboFire, going back to TurboJam was sooooo slow.

But get this, even with two workouts, I don't think I'll hit my goal. My goal is much higher now--2400 calories a day--because I'm grasping at straws to make my goal weight by early April. I'll have a nice deficit today, but not one as big as I want/need.

Food:
Breakfast: Chocolate Shakeology, almond milk, 1/2 banana
Snack: Apple, Brazil nuts
Lunch: Salad w/Romaine, tuna, radishes, tomatoes, olives, celery, olive oil, 1 square dark chocolate.
Snack: FF Greek yogurt
Dinner: Leftovers from Saturday night dinner out. I'm just realizing it had pork in it. Not in top two tiers of Michi. Dang it. 1 square dark chocolate.

Estimated calories eaten: 1745. I think this is high. I'm hungry.
Calories burned: I'm at 2264 with 90 minutes left to go. I don't think I'll squeak out 2400.

Alas.

OK, have a great day tomorrow!