How I will survive October...

 

Thank goodness for Trader Joe's chocolate!

 

Also.. I have an AWESOME coworker who made me dinner for tonight since we have to stay late for literacy night.  Here's today's breakdown:

 

Breakfast- apple, yougrt with granola and honey

 

Lunch- Tuna sandwich on cheese and onion bread, cheese stick, clementines

 

Dinner- Salmon with brown rice and green beans and tomatoes

 

4 squares of dark chocolate.  Yummmm.  

 

October Unprocessed Day 1

October unprocessed started today!  If you haven't checked out the blog for this yet please check it out:
http://www.eatingrules.com/category/october-unprocessed/

Eating rules is how Tom and I first got into unprocessed eating.  After a very hectic summer and start to the school year... I am really excited to commit to unprocessed October and get back on track as far as eating is concerned (Papa John's has gotten WAY to much money from me in the past few months).  I'm also hoping to workout like a crazy person this month (because very soon I will be out of pants that can comfortably button.... ).  I'll be attending boot camp at school 3 mornings a week, cardio dvd after school on Wednesdays (it was kickboxing for the past 2 weeks), yoga at lunch on Thursdays, AND running 3 times a week at home.  Sounds exhausting, but since 5 of the 8 workouts will take place while I am at work, it shouldn't be too bad.

Anyway... over the past weekend we were visiting friends in VA so I was TOTALLY unprepared to start unprocessed October.  Luckily, Monday was still September because I had to buy lunch from the cafeteria (for anyone new to this blog... I teach elementary school).
 

Cheese dippers with marinara sauce, carrots and an apple. Not terrible, but definitely not unprocessed.  (Cheese dippers are essentially mozzarella sticks).

After school yesterday I went to the grocery store and picked up organic whole milk (good bye caramel flavored coffee creamer), almonds, greek yogurt, and a new food discovery:

Not all of this brand would pass the kitchen test, but these two do.  Yay.  This will make unexpected schedule changes or quick meals so much easier.

After grocery shopping for healthy food, I of course ordered Chinese food for dinner (it was between that and Papa John's). 

Today was a success.  Here's the run down of what I ate:

Breakfast- apple, yogurt with honey and Bare Naked granola

Lunch- Amy's organic enchilada, rice, black beans, orange

Dinner- Tuna with whole foods mayo on homemade cheese and onion bread, Nature's promise string cheese, apple

Wow, as I was typing that I realized I ate no vegetables today.  Shame on me.  Will have to double up tomorrow. :)

Food discoveries

Some good and bad food discoveries recently.  I'll start with the good.....

Good food discoveries recently:

* Cheese and onion bread.  Yes that's right, I said cheese and onion bread.  It is amazing.  I'm guessing because it has a cup and a half of cheese in it.  It makes the bread really light and fluffy.  We've made three loaves in the last week and a half.  Seriously, but this bread maker and make your own bread:
http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/Black-Home-Bakery-Supreme-Bread-Machine-by-Zojirushi/1017407503?_requestid=276952

I know I've said it in previous blog posts, and I really, really mean it.  I love this bread maker.  Homemade bread is one of the best things ever. EVER.

 

See all the cheese and butter?  Delicious.

 

* Amy's organic frozen meals.  They aren't all totally unprocessed, but I found 2 that pass the kitchen test as far as I am concerned.  I had the enchilada one for lunch today and it was pretty good.  I bought two of each to keep on hand for quick meals.

 





 

 

Not so good food discovery:



Natural string cheese isn't stringy!  Something that is added to string cheese must be what makes it so much fun to eat.  I tried to peel a nature's promise string cheese into strings without much success :(  Boo.  What fun is eating string cheese if you can't eat it like your 5 years old?

 

Fitness, food, and motivation

Let me start by stating what this blog post will not include:
1. yummy recipes
2. pictures of yummy food


What it will include:
1. lots of lists (I'm in a list mood)
2. Lots of confusing rants
3. links to some other great blog posts

Ok... so those of you who know me know that I went back to work two weeks ago.  Yikes.  Now as a teacher I love back to school time, but back to school also means I am:
1. stressed
2. not working out
3. drinking wine (almost daily)
4. working late everyday
5. working on weekends (even labor day...)

This year back to school time has been no exception to the above list.  In fact I've actually been back to work for 3 weeks because I went back early to move classrooms (thus adding to the stress).  In the last month or so I have gained about 5 lbs.  I know that doesn't sound like much, but when you're 5 ft tall and only weight 115 most of the time an extra 5-7 lbs (I may have lied the first time when I said 5 lbs...) shows.  In fact, last week I only had two pairs of dress pants I could comfortably button.  Ugh. 

I've said it before and I'll say it again... I know a lot of you reading this HATE when people my size complain about their weight.  Stop reading now if that's you.  I started to get really freaked out about my weight gain this weekend and just went to a body weight calculator before typing this post:
http://www.nchmd.org/HealthTools/hbwcalc.html#calc

According to the calculator a healthy weight range for my height is 97 lbs-127 lbs.  What this means is that yes, I am in the range.  What it also means is that I could loose 15 lbs and still be in a healthy weight range (I am NOT saying that I want to loose 15 lbs.... that's crazy talk). 

A few months ago I read the book The New Rules of Lifting for Women
http://www.amazon.com/The-New-Rules-Lifting-Women/dp/1583333398

I really, really loved this book.  It made me want to start weight lifting.  There are however a few problems with that:
1. joining a gym costs money
2. hiring a trainer to keep me accountable would cost even more money
3. I like running and there is a whole chapter about how you should not be running as much as I was at the time
4. We have a gym that's not put together, we also don't own weights for it

After reading the book I started nagging Tom about getting our home gym put together (its been in the box for years).  My dad came over and they poured cement in our garage to close a gap that was between the floor and the door (I'm freaked out about rodents getting into the garage).  Then they started putting the gym together.  They got about half way.  4 months later the gym is still half put together (Tom- if you're reading this I am not calling you out.... we've been super busy and I totally could have gotten my butt out there to put it together too). 

Ok getting my thoughts back together because I kind of got off track.  So...
1. I am unhappy about my weight gain
2. I have a gym that is not put together and I want to start lifting
3. I haven't been that great with my eating lately

I'm not that concerned about my eating... I'm planning to do unprocessed October this year and that will help get me back on track.  Unprocessed October comes from the blog Eating Rules:
http://www.eatingrules.com/october-unprocessed-2013/
This blog is what first got me into eating unprocessed.  I really like it.

Anyway... that takes care of my eating (for the most part).  The real problem is the working out.  There are a lot of things standing in my way:

1. I wake up at 5 am already so getting up earlier to work out is out
2. I spend at least 2 hours a day in the car
3. My daily schedule sucks:
5 am- wake up
6 am- drive to work
7-4pm- at work
4-5:30- drive home
5:30-7- make dinner, talk to my husband
7-7:30- dinner and jeopardy
7:30-8 TV
8-9 TV in bed
9 ish- bed

As if this wasn't on my mind enough... I get email updates from this group called Girls Gone Strong.  Today I got an email containing this blog post about motivation:
http://mollygalbraith.com/category/blog/motivation/

In the blog post, Molly talks about the choices she has made to pursue her fitness goals.  She talks about all the social events she has skipped in favor of going to bed early and eating healthy.  This really got me thinking about my motivation.

My motivation:
1. My husband has a great stomach (like 10 times better than mine)
2. My pants are tight and I can't afford new ones
3. I want to look better naked
4. We have been trying to have a baby and some of the blogs my friend reads keep saying how much success people have had by cutting out carbs (I will NEVER cut out carbs, but I would consider cutting down on my carbs)

My Anti-Motivation:
1. Oreos are delicious
2. Wine is delicious
3. I like the amount of sleep that I get (they only way I can see to fit working out into my daily schedule is to go to bed later)
4. I will hopefully be pregnant in the next year and then all my hard work to get toned is out the window
5. I enjoy going out with my friends (seriously... I have great friends.  We have fun)

Somehow I thought typing all of these thoughts out would help me figure stuff out but I might be more unsure now.... ugh. Bottom line:
1. I want to start the workout plan in the book The New Rules of Lifting for Women
2. I can make time if I start to prep my meals on the weekends so that I need less time to make dinner
3. My gym still needs to get put together

Here are some things I will try to commit to:
1. Re read The New Rules of Lifting
2. Start Unprocessed October in October (duh) and get my eating back on track
3.  Try to get the gym put together in the next month
4. Start working out in October (seems like a good goal since that's when the eating will start too)
Workout plan:
Sun- long run
Mon- Rest
Tues- Lift
Wed- Rest (or yoga)
Thurs- Lift
Fri- Rest
Sat- Lift
5. In the meantime my workout plan:
Sun- long run
Mon- rest
Tues- 20 min Jillian Michaels workout
Wed- rest
Thurs- 20 min Jillian Michaels workout
Fri- rest
Sat- 50 min Jillian Michaels workout
(I figure this will get me into the routine so that when I start the other workouts, which are more strenuous, I'll be ready)
6. Drink wine a little less
7. Eat crappy food a little less

Thoughts? Suggestions?  Seriously... help me!

Grilled pizza is yummy

We don't use our grill very often.  Tom's groomsmen got it for him when we got married and he loves it.  All his friends talk about grilling all the time and it makes me jealous.  Since we live in a neighborhood where you aren't exactly going to leave your grill out on the patio for anyone to see (or take) we have to get it in and out of our detached garage every time we want to use it.  This may not sound too bad but Tom regards it as a huge pain in the butt.  You have to use keys to go in the side door of the garage.  Then open the barn door style front doors to the garage, wheel the grill out of the garage and down the ally.  Then open the side gate and maneuver the grill through the gate and then kind of lift it up over a lip so it is on the patio.  Now I timed Tom and it only took 2 minutes... but apparently its 2 very frustrating minutes because he hates to do it. Side note: Eventually we plan to put up a 6 foot wooden fence so that people can not see into our yard and then the grill can be left outside to be used more often (although it will still be chained to the back porch).  I know, I know mom if you're reading this you're thinking "Just move someplace where no one will steal your grill if you leave it outside."  That's a whole different conversation.

ANYWAY..... grilled pizza.  I used the bread maker to make the pizza dough (seriously this bread maker is amazing. I'm including a link to it here: http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?SKU=40118208).  Tom stretched the dough and we had enough for two pizzas.

 

He went outside to start grilling the dough.  Just brush the side that will be on the grill with olive oil first. 

 

While he was outside hard at work I sautéed some peppers and onions for one of the pizzas. 

 

 So once one side of the pizza is grilled you flip it and put the toppings on the already grilled side.  That way while the other side is grilling the cheese will also be melting.

Pizza number one: Marinara sauce, peppers and onions and mozzarella cheese.

 

Pizza number two: BBQ sauce and shredded chicken (I was making chicken in the crockpot or buffalo chicken dip so I just took a few spoonful's for the pizza) and mozzarella cheese.

 This little guy is from some dough that Tom ripped off one of the other pizzas.  This kid that lives behind us was riding his bike up and down the ally while we were grilling and asked us what we were making.  He was amazed that you could make pizza on the grill so Tom made him a piece.

 



 There you have it.  Grilled Pizza!  So delicious.  It was one of the best summer evenings this summer.  Grilled pizza and summer shandy.  And we sat outside to eat and play phase 10 since it was only in the low 80's. Awesome :)

 

 

 

P.S.- Brigette here is a link for a recipe for gluten free pizza dough.  It has powered milk in it but I'm sure  you could either skip that since its a small amount of substitute something else (maybe almond milk?)  If you make this and use that vegan cheese you guys could have pizza!!!!!

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/gluten-free-pizza-crust-recipe 



Week 3 and 4

So week 3 was workout for 30 min a day.  If you read my last post you know I started off already behind.... I had 2 infractions total for not working out.  No infractions for water.  I'm running to the bathroom every hour, but I'm consuming 90 or so oz of water a day. 

Now lets talk about not eating sweets.... I had 4 infractions this week!!!! Yikes.  Lots of penalty sit ups.

Week 4 was no alcohol.  Going into the week I knew I was not going to do well... We were in Denver visiting one of my BFF's from Tuesday-Friday.  I drank every night we were there.  Then we got home and went to the O's game on Sat.  Of course I had to drink there.  What is baseball without beer? 

3 sweets infractions while in Denver too.  And 2 days not working out in week 4 too.

Week 5 is unprocessed foods.  I'm going to keep a food log for the week to try and keep me on track.  I'm off to a crummy start already... I had Subway for lunch.  Woops.  It was necessary though.  We got back really late fri night and I didn't go grocery shopping until later today.  There was very close to no food in our house to eat. 

So all in all I have to admit that I'm doing really really crappy with this challenge.  Like really bad.  Part of it is that its summer time and I want to eat sweets and drink booze, this is my vacation time after all.  On the flip side, I have more free time so there is really no excuse for not working out 30 min a day (especially since I would consider walking the dogs for 30 min as exercise).  The friend I was visiting in Denver is interested in trying the challenge.  I think after this week is up I will probably try to keep doing it as much as I can (minus the alcohol).  I plan to start the challenge again at the beginning of the school year.  Then hopefully I'll actually put in an effort instead of halfway committing like I have this time.  We'll see.

Week 2

As predicted... week 2 of the 5 week challenge was a struggle.  In week 2 you still drank 64 oz of water a day and then you added on not eating sweets.  The water was not so bad.  It's a little harder when I'm at home because I like to take my time with coffee in the morning and then by the time I start drinking water its already lunch time!  But I was able to get in the required water each day without any trouble.

Not eating sweets on the other hand.... not so easy.  I had three "infractions" this week.  For each infraction you have to do 100 sit ups (or whatever you choose as  your punishment... Tom is doing 30 burpies for each infraction... crazy man).  The first time I willingly decided to eat a bag of pretzel m and ms and enjoyed every single one of them.  The next time wasn't really my fault.  There was a lot of alcohol involved.  We were out to dinner with friends and they told the waitress that it was my birthday so I was serenaded by a mariachi band at a Mexican restaurant and forced to wear a sombrero and eat ice cream. Then the next day we were at Camden yards and I ate a cookie from a buffet table before I realized it was a sweet!  Tom was sitting next to me the whole time and didn't point this out to me until the cookie was gone.  Grrr.  It wasn't even that delicious.  Oh well.  Life goes on.

Week 3 started today.  Workout for 30 min a day.  I'm already behind... no work out today.  By the time I woke up it was already ridiculously humid out and now its dark so I'm not going to take the dogs for a walk.... I'll do my punishment sit ups tomorrow.  My run for tomorrow is also 55 minutes so I feel like it all evens out.  My plan is to get up at like 7 am tomorrow and run before it gets too hot out.  We'll see if this works...