8/18/10

5:15: Drinking the Fizz with 1/2 liter of water

8am: Bowl of steamed broccoli with 1/2 oz of extra sharp vintage white cheddar from Tillamook and 5 egg whites (I'm out of avocado...I don' like the cheese as much, but a little bit of fat is necessary for optimal absorption of vitamins and minerals as well as making your meal stay with you. You don't need too much, though...a few grams. In 1/2 ounce of cheese there are about 4.5 grams of fat and 45 calories. I recommend sharp cheeses as they add maximal flavor in very small amounts.

9:30am: Zero calorie Vitamin Water. I have a hard time drinking plain water, but I can drink flavored waters and mineral waters. The Vitamin Water is my new favorite find, as it is lightly sweetened with stevia...a natural sweetener...and has vitamins. You can get them at most stores right now, for about $1.00.

9:45: 45 minutes of PiYo (a Pilates and Yoga fusion...awesome!!!) and 1 hour and 15 minutes of moderate biking. I sprint about 5 minutes toward the end, but I'm dragging a bit today.

11:45: Zero Calorie Vitamin Water

Noon: One stalk of romaine chopped and dressed with the juice of 1 lime, 1 tsp turbinado sugar and sea salt. I top it with 1/4 avocado and 5 egg whites. (I put the egg whites in a bowl and nuke them for two minutes, stirring each 30 seconds. No dirty pan!)

I also eat 1 piece of Pugliese bread with another 1/4 avocado, sprinkled with sea salt.

I'm still craving salt after all the sweating, so I top off my meal with 2 handfuls of organic, trans-fat free microwave popcorn.

3pm: 20 cherries

5pm: Scott comes home and we are both hungry, so we eat an early dinner. I have 6 ounces of chicken breast. I've salted the chicken with sea salt and browned both sides and then dressed it with low-fat lime vinegrette from Newman's Own (I also pour all of the extra oil off of the top before I use this dressing...but it sure is delicious!). I cover the pan and cook on low heat for 5 minutes per side. I slice the chicken, plate it, and pour on the remaining juices from the pan.

In addition to the chicken, I have a large portion of broccoli (dressed with 1 tsp butter and a bit of sea salt) and two pieces of pugliese bread topped with 1/4 avocado.

When I finish dinner I'm still a bit hungry. For dessert, I eat a bowl of Chex topped with 1 tbsp of ground flaxseed (I buy it ground up at Trader Joe's and store it in the freezer), 1 cup of 1% milk and 1 TBSP all-natural peanut butter.

I also eat 1 organic sandwich cookie. They don't have less sugar than the regular kind, but they are trans-fat free, use no corn sweetener, and they truly taste good. That really hits the spot.

8:30: I'll finish my evening with a bunch of liquids. I am drinking diet ginger ale. Not exactly a health food, but we all have out vices!

TMI for 8/17/10

5:30am: I can't sleep, so I mix up my Zip Fizz and hop on the elliptical machine for 50 minutes and then stretch for 5.

7:30am: Big bowl of steamed broccoli, 1/2 avocado, 5 egg whites. I'm leaving for work and won't be snacking again for about 5 hours...the extra 1/4 avocado should help tide me over. I don't measure the broccoli, but it's probably 3-4 servings worth. May as well get it in right now!

Noon: I'm hungry after working and eat a nectarine until I can get home and eat some protein.

12:30: I'm hungrier than I thought...more than I like to be. I eat 6oz of rotisserie chicken (I carefully blot off the abundant oil with paper towels...I'm in it for the protein). 1 serving of baked potato chips from Trader Joe's, a handful of blueberries and three strawberries. 1/2 cup milk, 2 pieces of bread and 1 tbsp butter.

Lunch is actually too big of a meal...I don't usually wait that long to eat. Ideally, eating every 3 hours keeps my blood sugar from tanking. Between the meal and the two 6 hour nights of sleep, I'm beat. I take a nap.

3:30: The last nectarine is calling my name, so I oblige. I tend to crave what I have at my house. If I keep healthy stuff I stay on the right track. My husband and kids would love to have cookies and candy and chips around all of the time, but I simply don't buy it regularly. I start to crave things I don't even like, if they are around long enough. Self-restraint is easier when I'm at the store!

7:30pm: We've been at a barbecue for a while, and I'm finally loading a plate. I'm pretty hungry! I eat about 8oz of chicken. It's a little bland, so I dip it in ketchup and mustard. I take small portions of homemade corn and bean salsa and a small portion of yummy vegetable frittata. I keep side dishes to about 2 TBSP each. I do load my plate with my lime-dressed salad. I go back for a second helping of the salad and another TBSP each of both side dishes. I eat a few handfuls of blueberries and a few pieces of watermelon as well.

8:45: Back at home and still a touch on the hungry side. I've given my dinner time to rest. I don't like to eat too much at once, as it takes 20 minutes for hunger signals to turn off. At this point, I can tell I need something more. I eat a taro roll a friend made (yummy! They are soft and sweet and fresh...if you've been to a Luau in Hawaii, you've had them, but they are not as good as the ones Bonita makes). I also eat a cup of Wheaties mixed with a cup of blueberries and 1 percent milk. Still hungry, so I have a second bowl. Now I feel great. I'm not full, but I'm not hungry anymore either. Perfect!

Commentary on 8/16/10

As for the exercise, I do something different every, single day. I'm trying to keep the blogs short and to-the-point, so if you wish for more details, I'm happy to share.

As for the many, many snacks during the day, I spent the day painting and couldn't be bothered to make a meal. I never eat by the clock, but always by my appetite. When I start to get hungry, I give my body 200-300 calories. My main goal is to get as many fruit and vegetables down the hatch and enough protein to rebuild my muscles after my workouts. I try to eat about 15 grams of protein in at each sitting, as that is all your body can absorb in one sitting.

The food combinations I make are essentially the same each meal: heavy on the veggies and protein, low in carbs, moderate amounts of healthy fats (you can see I'm partial to avocados right now). I like simple and fast most of the time. Mostly, I hate to be hungry. I like the energy and stamina that my diet gives me. Plus, the ingredients I use are fresh and light, and they taste wonderful!

Food and Exercise for 8/16/2010

5:15am: 1 liter of H2O mixed with a Zip Fizz (natural caffeine and a bunch of B vitamins). I like to wake up and hydrate.

7am: Home after my client and starving. I avoid heavy carbs in the morning (like cereal and toast) as they make me tired and even more hungry. Instead, I eat 5 egg whites, 1/4 avadado and a big bowl of steamed broccoli. This will keep me energized for my 9:45am workout

8am: Tired...only 6 hours of sleep...short by 1-2 hours. I mix myself another Zip Fizz (not ideal, but I'll sip it over the next 2-3 hours and get another liter of H20).

9:45am: Get to the gym and stretch for 10 minutes. I hold each stretch for at least 1 minute. Then, I get on the stair climber (the big one) and work out for 1 hour and 16 minutes. I work in some wicked intervals (you can e-mail me for details). Then, I do my 200 military-style push-ups (again, ask me if you wish for details).

Noon: Home from the gym and very thirsty. I eat 2 cups of watermelon and drink 1/2 a liter of carbonated H20. I eat a 6 ounce container of Chobani greek yogurt (this stuff is full of protein and is awesome, with only 5 ingredients). I mix in 1/4 cup of plain fat free greek style yogurt to make it more tart. Mostly, I'm just thirsty, but a little protein and carbs will keep the massive hunger at bay when I get hungry later.

2:20: Hungry. I am in the middle of a project and don't want to lose momentum, so I eat a serving of baked potato chips from Trader Joe's (yes, I count them). I also finish off the Diet Coke in my fridge. I don't keep it in the house, because I know it makes me feel off, but if it's there, I drink it. My self control works only in the grocery store!

2:30: Jack is hungry so I make him egg whites and throw some in for me as well. I eat 8 egg whites, and 1/4 avocado.

4pm: Hungry and thirsty, I eat a cup of watermelon, 1 Chobani yogurt and a serving of baked potato chips.

5:30pm: 1/2 cup of blueberries as a pick-me-up before my client.

8:30pm: 6oz chicken breast, a plate full of salad greens dressed with lime juice, sea salt and a sprinkling of turbinado sugar (from Trader Joe's), 2 pieces of crusty bread with butter, 1 nectarine, 1/2 cup of blueberries, 1 corn on the cob.

9:30pm: 1 bowl of Wheaties with 1 TBSP of natural peanut butter and 1 cup of hormone free 1 percent milk.

First Day Back

I'm back!

Beginning tomorrow evening, and each day afterward, I will post my daily food and exercise. Hopefully, this will be helpful to those of you who have asked me what I do to stay in shape and how I eat. For better or worse, you will now have a window into my world.

As always, comments and questions are welcome. I'm happy to tweak recipes and/or give exercise advice. So, stay in touch!

Healthy sugar cookies

My kids love this recipe. In fact, they like to eat the dough raw (I omit the eggs, as the flaxseed is an egg replacement anyway, when I know they will have access to the raw dough).

Play with the cooking time, as you want to pull the cookies out while they are still a bit raw. Once they cool and set, they will be moist inside, but not raw. You might want to do a couple of test runs the first time you make this, with just one or two cookies on the sheet. Let the cookies cool, and if they are too dry or too raw, adjust the cooking time by 30 seconds to a minute. Cooking time and testing for doneness are an art in lower fat and whole-grain baking, but it is very worth it, once you get the hang of it.

Low-fat, whole-grain sugar cookies
2 cups of spelt flour (you can also use whole grain wheat flour, but it isn't quite as good. You can buy spelt in bulk at Winco). (about 800 calories, 4.5 grams of fat)
1/4 ground flaxseed (140 calories, 10 grams of fat)
1 tsp baking powder (0 calories)
1/2 tsp baking soda (0 calories)
1/4 tsp salt (0 calories)

1/2 cup sugar (360 calories, 0 fat)
3 tbsp unsalted butter (softened) (300 calories, 34.5 grams of fat)
1 egg and 1 egg white (90 calories, 3.7 grams of fat)
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract (0 calories)
2 tbsp milk (about 10 calories, 0 grams of fat)

Mix the dry ingredients together
Mix the butter and sugar together
Mix in the eggs
Mix in the vanilla and milk

Mix wet and dry ingredients together
Chill for an hour before rolling out and cutting into shapes of your choice

Bake at 400 degrees for 6-10 minutes (really depends on how thick your cookies are and on your oven)

About 1500 calories, and about 53 grams of fat for the whole batch. You can divide up how many cookies your batch makes to determine how many calories for each cookie. Of course, if you decide to frost the cookies, they will have more calories and/or fat depending on the frosting that you use.

A workout for busy people

If your workout needs a face-lift, try this for a change: Get on a cardio machine (or run stairs in your house, or run around the block, or jump rope) for 5 minutes, working as hard as you can. Then, do 20 push-ups and 20 tricep dips. Repeat this cycle a total of 5 times, beginning and ending with the cardio intervals. You'll end up with 30 minutes of intense cardio and an upper body workout targeting every major muscle group. Top it all of with crunches (twist side-to-side to target the obliques as well). Do 100 very slow crunches, and then 100 quick crunches.