Day 9

I haven't stayed as true to my plan this week as I did last week. I have tried but with my throat hurting so much it's really hard to eat certain things. Hopefully my throat is getting better and I'll be able to start focusing again. The orange juice really has been my downfall.

I didn't get my workout in...YET...but I'm heading to the pool for a broken mile swim around 6:30 PM tonight. My last long swim before the race.

I made some really yummy "salsa/salad" tonight:

Bell Peppers: Green, Yellow, Red

Onions

Tomatoes

Fresh Cilantro from my garden

Salt

I was going to add some lime juice but I didn't have any and it tasted pretty good anyway.

Day 8

Well, the past few days have been kinda crazy as far as my dieting goes. I was right on track until Saturday when I had to do a long bike & run. Being able to "cheat" on my sports nutrition gave me the great idea to go ahead and cheat on my other foods! Of course, being sick didn't help much. I didn't go off course too far so it was easy to get back on track but when I'm sick orange juice is one of my best friends. So, I probably had too many carbs on Saturday but particularly on Sunday night after we went to the grocery and I bought more OJ.

Regarding my workout. WOW! I really do feel the healthier eating is doing the job. I felt great during my workout but surprisingly VERY great afterwards! Of course, I wasn't concerned this time about going a particular amount of miles or at a particular fast pace (nutrition was the focus) so that may have played a role, too. Anyway, my longest BRICK workout ever (2.5 hours bike/2 hour run) was fantastic!

I can see results already - and so can others! I'm surprised it's working as fast as it is. But, I guess this is what my body has been waiting for all these years!

This coming week is going to be a challenge for me in many ways. I'm going to be very busy the first part of the week packing and preparing for my trip home and then the trip itself. It's going to be a long weekend of celebrations (my niece is graduating from high school). And, if the celebration food was all I had to consider that would be great. But, many of my poor eating habits have been handed down through the generations. So, when I'm with my family I tend to normally eat more and feel I have to "detox" my body when I come back home. I don't want it to be that way this time. My mom has graciously offered to help me out by buying some healthier options and by agreeing to not cover my meat or veggies in any kind of sauce or cheese while I'm there! 

Yesterday I made a turkey. That's right - an entire turkey! It smelled like Thanksgiving in my house! The reason I made the turkey was so I could always have a protein waiting in my fridge for me! I don't eat a lot of meat and my variety of chicken, chicken, and chicken was getting old VERY fast! I remember about 15 years ago when I did Weight Watchers I got so tired of chicken that I didn't eat it for YEARS after! I still sometimes have a problem eating it. Sad, I know. Anyway, because I know my schedule is going to be crazy busy this week I have also made a fresh fruit salad that I hope will last more than a day in my house! All I did was throw a bunch of fruit together, added some nuts and then squeeze some lemon juice over it. I've never eaten it with lemon juice on it before but as I was making it the taste of the lemon with the apples was really yummy. Now, if I can just figure out how to count the "blocks" for the Zone I'd be okay! 

Here's hoping for a great week!

Fruit Salad:

2 green apples

1 banana

approx 1/2 cup blueberries

approx 1/2 cup blackberries

approx 1.5 cup strawberries

approx 2/3 cup pecans

approx 1 tbsp lemon juice

Dinner: 

Spring Salad

Red Bell Peppers

Cucumbers

Turkey w/sunflower seeds, golden raisins and approx 1 tbsp of olive oil and balsamic vinegar and a pinch of salt.

NOTE: This salad was pretty dry. I was hoping to use dried cranberries instead of raisins but it needed something else (maybe more balsamic vinegar?) to make it more moist.

Day 4

I'm feeling kinda yucky today. I'm not sure why but I'm guessing it's the random changes in weather we've had here in Northern VA for the past few weeks. My throat is scratchy, I feel tired, and I have a headache. I was hoping my bike/run tonight will be the "cure" I needed but unfortunately I wasn't able to get out at all. I stuck with my meal plans although it was hard to eat some of the food given the soreness of my throat. :(

Day 3

I can already tell this way of eating is going to be GREAT for my workouts. I felt I had a lot more power and energy during my track workout this morning. I also feel like my recovery time is faster. Can it be? In only two short days? Well, we'll see later on if this is just a fluke morning or what.

I had two big accomplishments today. First, I was grocery shopping at my favorite Harris Teeter and they have a LOT of samples that I have enjoyed sampling in the past but today I had one strawberry piece and that was it! I even buttered a piece of bread and gave it to my daughter but had none myself. My second accomplishment was not tasting the pizza I had made the kids for lunch. There was even a very tiny piece of pepperoni on the knife I used to cut the pizza. I pulled it off the knife and got ready to pop it in my mouth then decided just to wash it down the drain! I know it may not seem like much but each little step I make like this helps me move forward to my goal.

Today's meals:

I thought breakfast didn't seem very big this morning so I started counting my blocks and realized I was missing 1 block of carbs AND 2 blocks of fat. I took this picture before I added the rest

Breakfast:
1 egg, 2 egg whites
1/2 cup blueberries
1/2 cup grapes
Not pictured: 1/2 apple & cashew butter

Lunch:

Okay, when I looked at this I thought it seemed like too much...AND I WAS RIGHT! I even had a hard time eating it all! I had double checked the chicken package as I was putting it on my plate but I totally missed the fact that the package had TWO servings in it. So, what I thought was only 21 g of protein ended up being 42 g of protein. UGH! At least I put some of the chicken (maybe an ounce) back in the fridge. So, my guess is that I had about 35 g of protein. Note to self: If it looks too big, it probably IS! 

3 leaves of Romaine 

Southwest Chicken pieces 

Grilled onions (approx 1/3 cup)

1/2 cup Salsa

1 Tbsp Guacamole

Dinner:
Salad:
     Spinach and Field Mix
     1/2 cup Strawberries
     2 tbsp Raspberry & Walnut dressing

1/2 cup cottage cheese
1 peach
1/2 banana w/cashew butter

Day 2 (aka the learning period)

Well, yesterday was quite an experience of learning but, I made it through the day sticking to my plan - and I even drank coffee without sweetener!

Today I read an article about the need for protein in an athlete's diet:

http://tinyurl.com/2cy42ul

Although I'm not promoting taking supplements, I can totally relate to this article as my diet has lacked protein for most of my life. That's been one of the biggest changes I've had to make. Carbs have ruled my diet for years but I need to focus more on the balance of carbs, protein and fat.

Lessons learned so far:
* I need more "fat" (as categorized by Zone) in my house. I can't keep using Olive Oil and Cashew butter for the next 30 days as a way to get my fat blocks into my diet.
* Read the information my coach gives me BEFORE I begin my plan so I'll know what to do on day one!
* Tea doesn't have nearly as much caffeine as coffee!
* Food tastes GREAT inside a lettuce wrap
* Be sure to tell my husband to keep his hands off my salsa if I want to use it ONE HOUR later!

Lunch 5/18/10

Salad:
Spinach and Field Mix
Chicken Sausage cooked in Olive Oil & Balsamic Vinegar
Mini Tomatoes

Side dish:
Grapes
Strawberries

Dinner:

Grilled Rosemary Balsamic Vinegar Chicken

Grilled Onions & Green Beans cooked in Olive Oil

Blueberries

Tomatoes

What an amazing late night snack! It tasted SOOO yummy!

less than 1/2 scoop Banana protein powder
1/4 cup blackberries
1/2 cup blueberries
1/2 cup milk
1 tbsp honey

Why I'm cutting out breads and grains...

30-day Challenge

Okay, so for...EVER...I've been trying to lose weight. I'm so fed up with working out like a mad woman then coming home to no changes on the scales. My coach has heard me say this one too many times so she finally threw down the gauntlet and gave me a 30-day challenge. I'm going to be combining the Zone diet with a Paleo lifestyle. You're like...WHAT??? Let me explain...

In the Zone Diet I will be eating portions (they call them "blocks") of protein, carbs & fat at every meal. So, for the amount of crazy insane workouts I do I am able to eat 3 blocks per meal and then have 2 snacks a day with 2 blocks each. So, 3 portions of protein, 3 portions of carbs and 3 portions of fat for every meal. Of course, it's much more complicated than that but you get the idea. However, eating the Zone diet doesn't always mean eating unprocessed foods. So, I'm combining Zone with Paleo. Paleo is basically eating all non-processed foods. So, basically I'll be eating fruits, veggies and lean meats in the right amount of "blocks" per meal.

I feel this might actually work for me this time. I have always struggled to eat enough protein in my diet (and too much carbs!) and I can already tell on day one, meal one that I'm going to be eating a LOT of food (compared to normal). But, it's all healthy foods.

I feel blogging about my progress (and sharing my blog with people who will keep me accountable) is going to be key. So, that's what I'm going to do.

I'm not quite ready to share my measurements with the world but I will say I'm currently wearing mostly size 14 clothes. My goal for this 30 days is to lose at least 10 lbs which will probably equate to a pant size.

On top of all this, I am only 27 days away from my biggest race ever - Ironman 70.3 Eagleman. Dropping some weight before this race will be a considerable advantage!

Here we go...