April 15, 2013
Day 18, 19, 20: Surviving the American schedule
Starting weight: 138 / 140 / 141
Eat clean. Unless I get flooded with protests, I think I will discontinue the bite-by-bite commentary on my food intake. It can’t be that interesting. Plus, I haven’t made the time to blog for the past three days, and dang if I can remember everything I ate.
My challenge Friday was finding healthy eats at the Riverview Buffet, a place we’d heard about but never tried. It turned out to be standard Chinese buffet fare … orange chicken, broccoli beef, with some regional seafood (crab legs, salmon), soups and desserts. I played it safe (skipped the sauteed octopus) with a little sushi, some fruit, chicken skewers, some fish labeled salmon that wasn’t, and udon noodles with veggies. I did go a little over my normal sugar intake with the dessert bar … a palmier pastry (I had to Google that to learn what it was called), a mini cream puff, and something else bite-sized I don’t remember.
I knew Saturday would be rough. I had to be in Vancouver, Wash., for a Beachbody Super Saturday event at 9:30 a.m. Tom and Julia needed to leave at the same time for the high school’s winter percussion show, and we were running late – no time to make shakes. I was groggy from a long day and not enough sleep, so halfway to Vancouver I pulled into a mini mart for something to pick me up. Made the disastrous choice to get a mocha cappuccino from a machine. Once I deemed it cool enough to sip, my first mouthful tasted like mocha-flavored motor oil. “It’s just the foam,” I thought. Four or five sips later … nope. That was the nastiest stuff I have imbibed in quite a while.
Super Saturday was great – I brought three of my coaches with me who had never been to one before, and it was awesome to see them taking notes, meeting other coaches and soaking up all the Beachbody vibe. One Vancouver-area coach was celebrating her birthday and brought – get this – CUPCAKES! (I would have brought Shakeology cookies myself, but that’s just me …) I politely took a red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting, and yes, it was delicious.
Then I had to book it across the Portland metro area to get to Sherwood High School in time to see Astoria’s drumline compete in prelims. They had a great run! And Subway sandwich platters afterwards. I had one snack bag of Cheetos and stayed away from the granola bars, which are usually my downfall. Domino’s delivered dinner, and I do believe I was content with one or two pieces. So I was fairly happy with my diet for the day, compared to the disaster of a typical show day. The drive home was another matter … again, needing something to keep me awake, I bought a Coke Zero and a bag of trail mix (no chocolate chips or M&Ms this time, but it did have yogurt raisins). I woke up the next morning with cotton mouth and feeling as dehydrated as I would after a night of mixed drinks and bad karaoke.
Sunday was my chance to reel it back in and focus on good nutrition. I’m happy to say I feel much better now that I have control over my meal choices.
Drink water. Friday I’m sure I did OK. Standing out in the chill wind of the Sherwood HS parking lot all Saturday afternoon must have whisked all the water out of my cells … even though I grabbed a bottle of water here and there, it clearly wasn’t enough. I was back on track with hydration Sunday.
Burn calories. I deliberately planned for no Turbo Fire workout Friday, since we had committed to tackling a project we’d been putting off for months: hauling out all the scrap wood, wallpaper and flooring we’d torn out of the upstairs office/studio room. I figured it would mean multiple exhausting trips up and down the 43 stairs between the scrap pile and the truck at street level, carrying heavy or awkward loads. Surprise – the job wasn’t nearly as extensive or taxing as I predicted. Which was great for crossing it off our to-do list, but disappointing as a workout.
I had thought that Super Saturday would include a workout, so again, didn’t plan for one at home – but found out that morning otherwise. However, seven hours of shivering, jumping up and down, moving percussion equipment and tearing down our tent and tables has to count for something!
Aaaaaaand I was looking forward to working up a good sweat on Sunday, after taking care to get plenty of rest and relaxation, but guess what? Unexpected circumstances conspired against me and once again, I did not get to Turbo that day. Haaargh. Renewed commitment in 3…2…1…
DAILY TOTALS:
Calories eaten (approximate): Too many / Good in number, bad in quality / Much better
How clean? (1=crap, 10=pure): 7 / 7 / 8.5
Water drank: Enough / Not nearly enough / Enough
Calories burned (approximate): Less than I wanted / Probably more than I imagine / Not enough!
Ending weight: 140 / 141 / 138
Want to join me on my quest to get back to 135? Post a comment!
April 6, 2013
Day 10: You’re out of what?
Starting weight: 139
Eat clean. With my temporary work schedule (7-11 a.m. at the newspaper, because they’re terribly shorthanded), I feel like my five-meals-a-day routine I’d gotten used to has gone pffffft. Tom was up before we left this morning and we tried something new for breakfast: Cream of Rice. Of course, at first it reminded us of baby cereal, but once cooked, the consistency was more like grits – which was fine with me. I doctored it up with strawberry preserves and nonfat milk, and had a cup of coffee to go with.
As I predicted, I got super hungry by 10 a.m., and lunch when I got home ended up being a peanut butter and banana sandwich and a chocolate Shakeology, plus a couple handfuls of almonds on the side. Tom had to drive to Hillsboro (2 hours away) for a meeting and left at 4:30; I was planning on making chicken and rice when Julia got done with her drumline rehearsal, but would have had to drive to Safeway to get more chicken … so Subway won the vote for dinner.
A note about Subway here. Before we changed our ways and started eating healthier, the question frequently arose, “Which fast food drive through are we visiting tonight?” Subway was often voted down, because in the words of certain other family members, “they sell sandwiches. We can make sandwiches at home.” Ah, I would argue, but we can’t duplicate a Subway steak and cheese sandwich at home. Steak and cheese is the only thing I ever order at Subway. First, because it’s delicious, and second, because no, I can’t approximate a steak and cheese any more than I can recreate a Whopper or a Quarter Pounder. And, besides the bread being a little much in the way of carbs, Subway is probably the healthiest option we have here in Astoria for dining out.
Back to our story. Julia and I drove over the hill to Subway on our way home at around 6:15. She ordered her usual turkey on Italian, and I ordered my usual – steak and cheese on wheat. Then our sandwich artist figuratively punched me in the gut: He told me they were out of steak.
This is not the first time that has happened. At least three other times in the past six months, there has not been enough steak prepped to fill all the orders – at least not enough to fill mine. It’s gotten to the point where I will call Subway before we go there to confirm that they have steak for my sandwich. I’ve even driven 5 miles to the Subway in the next town to get my beloved steak and cheese when the Astoria store has let me down. And you know I let the poor teenagers behind the counter have an earful about upping their quota of little paper steak boats so their customers can have their favorite sandwiches.
I must have looked like I was about to cry, because the head teenager stepped in to ring us up and apologized for not having enough steak. He even took my phone number so he could ask the store owner if they could give me a credit for a free sandwich as recompense for the inconvenience.
I’ve been reading “Leading at a Higher Level” by Ken Blanchard recently, about providing exceptional customer service all the way up your organization. This was a prime example of Subway and this store’s owners (Mike and Mary Davies, hi guys) giving their employees the freedom and the responsibility to make their customers happy. It worked. I ended up taking home a nice Subway club – minus the mayo but heavy on the guacamole.
Drink water. 64 ounces, done.
Burn calories. Today was a rest day for Turbo Fire, but I found ways to keep moderately active around the house, running errands, etc.
DAILY TOTALS:
Calories eaten (approximate): 2,690
How clean? (1=crap, 10=pure): 8
Water drank: 64 oz.
Calories burned (approximate): 1,904
Ending weight: 139
Want to join me on my quest to get back to 135? Post a comment!
April 2, 2013
Day 7: Ah, that’s better.
Starting weight: 143
Eat clean. OK, I did MUCH better today. Shakeology for breakfast at my cubicle (whaaaaa? Yes, I agreed to help out a severely shorthanded newsroom for a couple of hours in the mornings while my former managing editor recovers from surgery); six-inch Steak & Cheese sandwich from Subway for lunch; an apple for a snack; and orange chicken, garlic mashed potatoes and tossed salad for dinner. I felt so much cleaner and lighter after Sunday’s gut-bombs.
Drink water. Reached my goal of 64 ounces of water – and made the trips to the bathroom to prove it!
Burn calories. Today’s Turbo Fire schedule showed Core 20 and Stretch 40. Core 20 is not too intense, but I could tell I was going to feel the aftereffects in my abs in a day or so. Stretch 40 I had never done before, and it turned out to be mostly YOGA – not my favorite. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the value of yoga for flexibility, strength, balance, centering, etc. … I just don’t enjoy doing it. The best part of a yoga workout? Right at the end when you lie there and will yourself to relax every part of your body. Zzzzzzz.
DAILY TOTALS:
Calories eaten (approximate): 1,879
How clean? (1=crap, 10=pure): 8
Water drank: 64 oz.
Calories burned (approximate): 2,300
Ending weight: 139
Want to join me on my quest to get back to 135? Post a comment!
thehealthymuse 