Food Journal 1/23

Breakfast
- 1 container vanilla greek yogurt (120)
- 1 Special K protein bar (180)
- coffee with soy milk and creamer (40)

Snack
- Fresh & Easy pre-made salad with edamame, tomato, cranberries, & mango dressing (270)
- coffee with soy milk and creamer (40)

Lunch
- 1 veggie sausage (80)
- 1 sweet potato (150)
- 1 cup broccoli and spinach mix with 1 slice pepper jack cheese and hummus (130)

Snack
- 1 apple (70)
- 24 almonds (160)
- 1 small Gatorade (80)

Snack
- 1 Clif protein bar (270)

Dinner
- 1 packet oatmeal (140)
- 2 tbsp ground flaxseed (60)
- 1/2 cup blueberries (40)
- 1/4 cup cottage cheese (30)

Total
1860 cal

Food Journal 1/21

Early morning
-1 Special K protein bar (180)
-1 cup coffee with soy milk and creamer (40)
-1 banana (130)

Mid morning
-Salad with cranberries and quinoa  (320)
-1 container greek yogurt (120)

Lunch
-1 mocha soy latte no sugar added (200)
-1 sandwich with veggie patty, hummus, pepper jack cheese, spinach, on wheat (380)

Snack
-14 almonds (140)

Dinner
-1 cup green veggie soup and tofu (180)
-Salad with blueberries, broccoli, pepitas, apple, and vinaigrette (220)

Total
-1910

Write Down What You Eat

If your energy is low and you just don't feel like yourself, keeping track of what you're eating could help. I don't mean obsessive calorie counting, but instead making sure your body is getting enough of the nutrients it needs. I want to start doing that more often. So.. this is what I ate today. Looking at it now, it looks like a lot! I went through the calorie counts and I'm at around 1945 cals for the day. I consider myself active so that's not so bad.

Post Workout (taught morning spin class)
-1 bottle of Fresh & Easy green juice (80)

Breakfast
-1 veggie patty (120) with 1 slice pepper jack cheese (70)
-1 cup salad (10) with 1 large orange (100) and 2 tbsp vinaigrette (50)

Lunch
-1 honey greek yogurt (150) with 1 tbsp flaxseed (30)
-1 cup blueberries (80) and 12 almonds (85)
-1 cup coffee (5) with 1/3 cup soy milk (25) and 1 tbsp creamer (15)

Snack
-1 small sweet potato with cinnamon (130)
-1 apple (80)

Dinner
-kale, red pepper, edamame stir fry with tofu and brown rice (390)
-1 Special K protein bar (170)

Snack
-3/4 cup Special K protein cereal (120)
-1/2 cup soy milk (35)
-3 peppermint chocolate squares (200)

Total
1945

I definitely had enough fruit and veggies... maybe cut back on the sugar now!

Testing Wheat Free Eating

Tomorrow marks one full week that I've eaten no wheat. Without too much detail, I was getting inflammation and felt fatigued all the time. I got the idea to try not eating wheat from someone at work. She tried it and said that while it helped her energy levels, it seemed too complicated to maintain.

Well, I somewhat agree. I already don't eat meat, so without wheat, I felt I had to replace a huge staple in my diet. I've gotten so creative this week with my food planning!

In the last week I've made homemade veggie sushi (surprisingly easier than I thought), brown rice and tofu stir fry, refried beans with spinach and avocado, and kidney bean red velvet brownies. I've always wanted to cook more, and now I had a reason to do it. The only downside? I feel hungry every couple hours so I feel I'm constantly eating. I keep my calories in check to about the same amount but still.

We'll see how long I keep this up...

5 lbs

Disregard BMI. Track your progress in body fat % lost.

Healthy Habits That Aren't So Healthy

Here's a great read:

"22. Doing a million crunches. The secret to six-pack abs probably isn’t crunch after crunch. To flatten out and tone up the core, try running some intervals, lifting a few weights, and cleaning up that diet instead."

Healthy Habits That Aren't So Healthy

Working at a gym, you don't know how many times you hear people say they want to lose their stomach and get abs. Then they proceed to do a hundred crunches. That is the worst thing you can do--you won't lose belly fat (you can't spot reduce) and you might end up hurting your lower back.

The best recipe for six-pack abs is to stay on top of your nutrition. Things have to be near perfect to have that hard chiseled look. And although I have 19% body fat overall, I don't even have six-pack abs because I enjoy the occasional drink and some chocolate.

Discipline is key. First is nutrition, second is strength training, third is cardio. That's my recommendation for losing body fat and working toward a flat stomach!

Quick Legs Workout

Found this on Tumblr and thought, that looks pretty simple! Let me tell you, my quads and hamstrings were burning in such a short time. I did the warm-up, the workout twice through, and the stretching to finish. If you continually push through it, it'll take you less than 20 minutes to break a sweat.

When you're limited on time, something like this is perfect.