Monday, Monday

Weight: 131.8
left to goal: 6.8 pounds
sleep: 7 hours

After such a great weekend, it was tough to go back to work.  Especially with the thundercloud that has been hanging over the office lately!  Not only is my job relatively stressful, the people that I work with are...well, they're miserable.

I started my morning with the standard walk, lemon juice and supplements.  After a trip to Costco on Sunday, I was able to get the type of cereal that I really like (think healthy cornpops!) - Nature's Path Gluten Free Vanilla Sunrise - in the BIG box, so that was breakfast, along with unflavoured, unsweetened almond milk.

Once I got to work, I had grapefruit, and around 10:30 I had my Greek Yogourt.  We had been looking for ways to change it up so that I don't get bored, and bought a few different flavoured extracts; today was banana day, and let me just say this: IT. WAS. AWFUL.  How is it that it just ended up tasting like medicine??

I had some errands to run, so I didn't get lunch until about 1:45: Roast, potatoes and peach/pecan salad!

I had second lunch (the same as before) around 4:30.  Since I ended up having to stay late  - I didn't leave until about 5:45 - I ate some more of my awful banana greek yogourt.

When I got home, my boyfriend and I split a protein bar before the gym, then did legs.

After the gym, it was chicken and sprouts.


Since we were working on a job application that he's really excited about, I didn't get to bed until nearly midnight....should make for another LOOOONG day!

Week in review

Weight: 131.8 pounds
left to goal: 6.8 pounds
sleep: 6 hours

At the end of my first week, here's what my weight looked like:



While I was definitely trending in the right direction, Saturday slowed things down (and turned them around a little), as it was the anniversary of my boyfriend and I meeting, so we went out for an INCREDIBLE DINNER, at a restaurant called Mildred's Temple Kitchen (www.templekitchen.com).  I believe in a cheat meal each week, but this was BEYOND.  While my diet the rest of the day was right in line with a typical day, dinner on Saturday night consisted of the following:

Starter: a small selection from the chacuterie plate - pickled grapes, duck aspic, pickled chorizo sausage, house made dill pickles, salami, and "Grandma's mustard"....wow.

Apps: I had the octopus - it was served in a prego sauce, with garlic bread...amazing.  I actually wiped the plate clean.  My boyfriend had the Lamb ribs.  WOW.  Did I mention that this food was incredible?

Palate cleanser: apricot sorbet with blueberries.  It SO helps to know the chef (or at least his girlfriend!)

Mains: I had the special - duck 2 ways, with veggies, and what I believe was some kind of cornbread that I wanted to curl up in and drift off to my happy place...it was SO much food for this point in the meal, but my boyfriend helped me clean it up, after he cleaned off his plate of halibut.  It was all SO GOOD.

DESSERT!: Chocolate cherry bread pudding with coffee cream.  And then I died.  They even wrote (beautifully) "Happy Anniversary" in chocolate!

...Does it help that we both did pullups on the scaffolding on the way back to the car?

Obviously, the weight on the scale on Sunday morning wasn't pretty.  I was back up ONE POINT EIGHT POUNDS from the previous morning.  Well worth it for the occasion.  Love you Z!

I was back on track on Sunday with my diet, working to make sure that extra weight gained the night before was only temporary.

Overall, my weight loss was up to exactly 3 pounds before the cheat.  After the cheat, I was only 1 pound lower, but either way I'm happy with a pound lost in a week.  I'll have to keep working hard, and keep my weekly cheat in check to make sure that I keep that line moving the right way!

'Tis the season

Weight: 130.8
Left to goal: 5.8 pounds
Sleep: 6.6 hours

I'm sure we all have them: those little indulgences that are only available at certain times of the year.  For me, it's the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte.  And of course, Tuesday of this week was the launch date of the PSL in Canada.  Go figure.  In my previous life, this would have meant daily (at LEAST once) trips to the 'bucks for a grande or even venti PSL with whip.  Yup.  Full fat, full sugar AND whipped cream on top to boot!

This morning, exactly 3 pounds lost since Monday morning, one inch whittled off of my waist, and feeling very proud of myself, I strolled into the 'bucks across the street from my office and ordered myself a tall nonfat half sweet PSL.  With no whip.  I should be the poster child for self restraint!

Of course, I started my day with my 6am walk, followed by lemon water and supplements, then cereal with almond milk before heading out, but this was really what put the smile on my face:

 I love you, Siren girl.

After I recovered (and it really was just as good with non-fat milk and half the sugar), it was business as usual:

9:30am - grapefruit!

Step by Step [Ooh Baby!]

Weight: 131.0 pounds
Left to goal: 6 pounds
Sleep: 6 hours

I woke up RAVENOUS today!  I guess 2 days of being back on track and quite strict about my diet has my metabolism right back to overdrive, which is a great feeling.  I'm down another pound already from yesterday, which tells me that a) I ate way too much at the Mandarin Buffet on Sunday (duh!), and b) I. CAN. DO. THIS.

6am I was up, walked the puppy and had my lemon water and supps.  No green tea extract pills left, so I'll have to be sure to be more consistent about adding a green tea bag to my water in the afternoons.

Since I had a client coming into the office this morning first thing, I was in more of a rush than usual, so my boyfriend made me a protein shake - I'm pretty sure it was Vegan protein (we have a few different ones that we're experimenting with as a change from WHEY), a little instant coffee, almond milk, ice, and some caffeine and benefibre for good measure... After I dropped him off at the bus stop, he sent me a text warning me to be near a bathroom in about an hour - which just happened to be when my meeting was scheduled!  Sometimes....

BUT (pun...ish...intended) I made it to the office with time to spare, so no issues, but it certainly helped to clean me out - should be interesting to see where my weight is tomorrow!

The meeting ran longer than intended, so I didn't get to my grapefruit until almost 11am.

This one wasn't as sweet or juicy as they usually are, but the firmness of it was strangely satisfying!

Since my belly was still rumbling, I went straight for my Greek Yogourt.  I grabbed PB&J packets from the kitchen, but opted against adding them - no need for treats EVERY day, and I happen to like plain yogourt.  I might experiment more with berries and nuts etc just to mix it up a little more.

No cravings yet today (and it's already noon - how the time does fly!), but MAN am I hungry!  I know getting back on track takes little steps, so I'm feeling good.  My afternoon sweet cravings are often the worst, so we'll see what happens after lunch.  Today it looks like porkchops and quinoa, same as last night - which is usually the case, as my boyfriend cooks in large quantities so that dinner also takes care of the next day's lunches!

3:00pm - second lunch.  Same as the first.  I was so hungry, I forgot to take a picture until it was too late.  So just imagine that I posted a picture that looks KIND OF like the one above, but a little different.  It was the same thing, and the same portion size!

RAWWWWWWWR!  It's 4:00pm and my stomach is making itself heard. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank whoever ate the chocolate dipped doughnut in the kitchen, because they MAY have just saved my life.  Or at least my waistline.

But now I have another 40 minutes left at my desk, and my lunch bag is devastatingly barren...I'm going to have to make do with this delicious Green Tea - Mandarin Orange...so yummy!

What a LOOOOONG, PAINFUL drive home.  Note to self: ease up on heavy water/tea drinking at the end of the day - your commute is at least 40 minutes, and it HURTS when you have to go that badly!

Got home with just enough time to take puppy out for her walk and grab a quick bite before obedience class, so my boyfriend made me a toasted tuna sandwich (with avocado instead of mayo!)...I was so hungry I almost forgot to take a picture!

After puppy class we came home and he got to work on making dinner...we were both really hungry, so we split a protein bar.  Then it was Curry chicken and yummy coleslaw!  I wasn't really in the mood for curry, but it was REALLY good!

Bedtime!

xo Mandy

One of those days...

Weight: 132.0 pounds
Left to goal: 7 pounds
Sleep 6.5 hours...ish

I never considered myself to be an emotional eater...until now.  I've discovered that as the stress mounts at work, I look more and more to food to ease the tension!  That said, I'm proud to announce that I still haven't caved.  No cookies, no chocolate, no chips...mmmm chips....

I started my day with the usual suspects:

 Had a 30 minute nap on the bus to work, and when I arrived had my grapefruit (isn't my boyfriend good to me?  He even cuts my grapefruit into "Supremes"!)

By 10:00am I was already hungry - it seems that getting back on track has allowed my body to jump right back into crazy metabolism mode - so I had the other half of my PB&J Greek Yogourt.

11:30am I ate lunch a little early...I got off of one call (did I mention how stressed out I am?!), and have another with a customer at 12:30pm, so I'm pushing it...

Normally I would eat only half of the salad with my first lunch, and save the second half for my second lunch, but I was RAVENOUS, so it's all gone.  I'll have to dig up another salad for later!

1:00pm I was craving sweets, and happened to have a Protein Bar in my purse, so I downed that between my speaking parts on the conference call.

2:00pm = time for lunch #2!

 Since there were veggies in my lunch, I opted to eat those with my second lunch, rather than venture out to the salad bar (which would have forced me to walk past displays of chips and chocolate bars!)

When I got home, I walked Eason, and when we got in, my boyfriend had prepared a pre-workout snack fit for a King...or THE King, rather!  Peanut Butter and Banana sandwiches, on french toast!  mmmmmmmm!  They seem SO sinful, but since we were on our way to a heavy back workout, we could justify the extra carbs that the bread and banana add. 

BACK AND BICEPS WORKOUT:

After the gym and a quick stop at the grocery store, it was porkchops and quinoa for dinner, around 9:00pm.  I know most people recommend against eating after 6 or 7pm, but with our schedules and workouts, it's just not possible most days!

I'm feeling good, and that French-Elvis sandwich really filled the cravings for sweet, while not being a TOTAL cheat!  mmmmmmm!  Little by little, I'm SURE this will get easier!

xo
Mandy

Fit/Fat

Weight: 132.6 pounds
Left to goal: 7.6 pounds
Sleep: about 7 hours


The reason I have FINALLY come back to the Life Buffet and starting writing: FOCUS.

I am in good shape; I am physically strong, and can put a lot of the boys to shame when I'm at the gym; I do not look the way that I want to look.  While I'm fit, all I see when I look in the mirror most days is the layer of fat sitting on top of the muscles that I've worked so hard to develop.  It's not an obsession, but it's certainly a point of frustration to know that I work as hard as I do, and don't feel that the way that I look is a reflection of that effort.  The obvious issue is my nutrition - I'm not always as focused as I could be, and find myself lying through omission.  I post daily to a website called Gymga (find me at www.gymga.com/mandy), essentially Facebook for Gym rats and Health Fanatics/Hopefuls, and a great source of inspiration.  I post my workouts there (and will duplicate them here), along with food posts...but I often find myself leaving out the Starbucks latte, or snack-pack of cookies that I justified to myself in the office lunch room.  THAT. STOPS. NOW.

I need to focus on my nutrition even more now that my workout schedule has been minimized to 3 times a week (from my original 5-6), and I am going to be 100% transparent.  I will post my cravings in the hope that acknowledging them will help me to combat them.

7:15am - lemon water and supps

9:00am - MacIntosh Apple

10:30am - half a tub of Liberte 0% Greek Yogourt (http://www.liberte.ca/en/grec-yogurt-products/plain_greek_yogurt_0_.sn) with peanut butter and strawberry jam - trying to mix up flavours, but I know this is a little more sugar than is ideal.

I'm DYING to cross the street and get a Pumpkin Spice Latte today, as it's the first day they're available this season...maybe later this week as a treat if I'm good?!

12:30pm and I'm craving sweets.  I know it's just that I haven't eaten yet, but those cookies in the lunch room are calling out to me!  I've heated up my lunch - leftover beef stew - so hopefully that will stave off the evil cravings for a while.  I've also been filling my super cute plastic insulated drinking cup with matching straw...this is cup #3 of water since I got to work.  I really need to drink more water too!

It's 1:20pm and the sweet cravings haven't really gone away...eating some veggies...but I'm hanging on by a thread!

3:00pm - Lunch #2 helped to fill me up, but I'm still craving sweets! Eat-clean chicken fingers and butternut squash gnocchi leftovers from last night's dinner...Still delicious the second time!

I closed out my day at the office by putting a Lipton Green Tea Superfruit (Red Goji & Raspberry) teabag in my cup, which took a bit of the edge off of my sugar cravings.

When I got home, just before 6:00pm, I was craving......BROCCOLI of all things!

So I threw two crowns into some boiling water, sprinkled with a little S&P and voila.  My boyfriend felt I needed some protein too, so he pan seared a couple of haddock filets in lemon juice to tide us both over until dinner was ready...2 hours later!

A big, beautiful salad with mixed greens, apple, orange pepper and pecans, and in the background is a small piece of roast beef.  The perfect pre-game meal....

We had a late baseball game, which usually means a beer or two before we head home, but I BEHAVED MYSELF!  Not a drop to drink for this girl!

While I technically started this yesterday, TODAY really felt like the beginning, as work is where most of my food-cheats happen...so I survived!

xo
Mandy

Labor Day - Get to work!

It's time for me to refocus.  For the next 30 days, I will be coming here to post everything that I eat, and all of my workouts, along with moods, cravings, measurements and pictures.  A little self-indulgent?  Maybe.  Isn't that fitting though, in the spirit of buffet mentality?

As of this morning, I weighed in at 133.4 pounds.  Granted, this number is a little bit inflated due to Sunday night being "cheat night", and our visit to the Mandarin restaurant.


Every morning, I start my day at 6:00am (since bringing home my new puppy!).  Once I've had the dog out and started her on her breakfast, I make myself a glass of lemon water - 1/4 of a large lemon squeezed into a glass, with a little bit of water - and my morning vitamins and supplements:

(Pills from left to right: Green Tea Extract, Raspberry Ketones, Women's One-A-Day multivitamin, Omega 3 Fish Oil, and CLA)  Since we're on the end of a long weekend, today started at 8am - what a welcome treat!

After the puppy (Eason, after fitness model, Jamie Eason) and I go for our morning walk, I hand her off to her Daddy, and get ready for my day.  We normally put her in her crate for the morning and I sit and eat my breakfast with her:

(Nature's Path Cereal with Unflavoured, unsweetened Almond Breeze almond milk)

 Since this is a holiday Monday, I didn't have to head to work, so my next meal came around 10:00, roughly two hours after my breakfast meal.  This meal usually consists of just plain 0% Liberte Greek Yogourt, but I decided to add some cinnamon, Xylitol and vanilla extract to mix it up a little...and it was DELICIOUS!

 I was feeling really hungry today, so lunch was at 11:30 - that dish has a 400mL capacity, and is filled with homemade Beef Stew from the other night.  Lots of veggies, red kidney beans and extra-lean roast in there, not to mention all of the crazy spices!

 1:00p.m.: Jamie Eason's Pumpkin Protein Bar...these are fantastic for the sweet cravings that I often suffer from!

At 2:00 we were on our way out the door to play some "baseball" with some of my boyfriend's friends...No time to prepare a meal for the road, so we grabbed these protein bars.  I especially like the Yogourt flavour, and the Double Fudge Chocolate...they sound much more sinful than they are when you look at the macros!

Dinner, let's call it around 8:00p.m.  Eat-Clean chicken fingers (recipe at http://www.eatcleandiet.com/food_and_recipes/clean_recipe/crispy_chicken_bites.aspx) and homemade butternut squash gnocchi with a balsamic reduction over the top.  While the texture of the gnocchi wasn't exactly as expected (likely due to the type of high-protein flour used), it was still delicious!  I need to get in the habit of using the small plates so that it looks like more food!

Around 9:00 I had a MacIntosh apple with peanut butter for a snack, and when my boyfriend went back for another helping of dinner, I had another two bites of chicken strips!




So here I am, another 30 day challenge for myself.  I'd like to see myself finally reach my goal of a wait of 125 pounds, but any progress will be welcome!

xo
Mandy