Starting a Diet on a Friday

Ooh, I am none to thrilled about beginning this process on a Friday. Since childhood, the weekend is a time to eat pizza and junk food and dessert, oh my!

What’s worse is the Super Bowl is on Sunday! Ever since I had the best chicken wings in the world at my step-father-in-law’s relatives’ Christmas party in Sandusky Ohio last December, I have been on a major chicken wing kick!

And then there’s beer.

There’s a few ways I could address this.

1. Alot of exercise

2. Super light eating the days before and after the Superbowl, followed by moderation.

3. Eat a salad instead of chicken wings.

4. Eat the foods I love, but just fewer of them.

5. Realize that an indulgence every once in a while creates more long-term success by reducing the amount of ...Continue reading

01/31/08 - Dinner

01/31/08 - Dinner

Originally uploaded by Jennifer Laycock

Mostly leftovers from last night, but packed into a bento box for portion control.

Top tier holds two hard boiled eggs, a few cashews, fresh pineapple and some kumquat. (Of course my toddler stole all the pineapple, so I didn’t get to eat it.)

The bottom holds leftover steamed veggies, two mini egg rolls, and leftover veggie fried rice.

Dinner: 430 calories, 23 grams fat, 52 grams carbs, 5 grams fiber, 23 grams protein. ...Continue reading

Scrambling For Last Minute Plans

Do I have everything I need? The right foods? Enough of the ingredients necessary to cook everything? Exercise stuff? Ok, I think maybe I’ve got everything needed to start this thing tomorrow. Will do a “real” starting weight weigh-in tomorrow morning to make sure nothing’s changed since the last one.

I’ve also been monkeying with the site here trying to get everything working just right, so if you see any bloopers now and then, it’s probably just me making adjustments here and there. We’ll hopefully have all that finished shortly.

Hope everyone is geared and ready to go. I wish all the participants lots of luck. But of course, this IS a contest, so I am out to win! LOL. Seriously, I ...Continue reading

Kids Wish Network

So who am I ‘playing’ for? Who is Kids Wish Network? They’re a children’s charity based outside of Tampa, Florida, that deals with granting wishes for sick children all over the US. Unlike a similar organization, they also provide funeral assistance for the families of the children that leave too soon. The most common wish that their children have is to visit Florida theme parks (usually one with a mouse, and lots of princesses), but they do get a lot of celebrity involvement, such as Kelly Clarkson, Jimmie Johnson, and Idina Menzel.

N.B. The fact that they sent me this t-shirt has absolutely nothing to do with me choosing them as my charity.

01/31/08 - Snack Attack

01/31/08 - Snack

Originally uploaded by Jennifer Laycock

One of the things I really need to work on is my snacking. I rarely have time to sit down and eat a real meal, so I tend to graze on and off during the day. I also have a crazy sweet tooth. That means I can end up downing 400 empty calories on a snack.

With the focus on cutting back on meat, but still getting enough lean protein, I decided to opt for half a PBJ and a small glass of milk.

The bread is HFCS free and actually packs a decent bit of protein at 4 grams a slice. I went super light on the PB and used fruit spread instead of jelly. The milk is ...Continue reading

Enemies of the Diet

The traditional American diet has many enemies. One of my biggest enemies right now is stress.

My husband was recently laid off and severance is about to run off. COBRA is $1200 a month, so we’re scrambling for another option. But because of my history of thyorid cancer and my husband’s rheumatoid arthritis, we’re rejected for affordable short-term plan options. I’m an independent contractor so obviously I can’t get insurance through my work.

Mix that in with a possible out-of-state move due to out-0f-state job offers and the idea of selling a house in a less than remarkable market - and as you can see, I’m stressed out!

One of the best ways to deal with stress is to exercise. The problem is finding the time to exercise. If you or a spouse ...Continue reading

Start Your Engines Please

OK … here’s the skinny (or rather fat). I quit smoking roughly 10 years ago with the aide of something near and dear to my heart … pistachios! Yes, a pound or two every day for months. As you can imagine, there was a cost, albeit it was worth it since I’m still not smoking (10 years, 5 days, and counting). Though, it did leave me with quite a spare tire around my mid section.

The 30 pounds I gained is still with me to this day, and of course I’ve gained another 10 pounds along the way too. Grand total beginning weight … 205 pounds. I’d like to take off 35 pounds, and reduce my weight to 170 … average for a ...Continue reading

01/31/08 - Lunch

01/31/08 - Lunch

Originally uploaded by Jennifer Laycock

Lunch at Panera Bread. Half a classic cafe salad, a bowl of French onion soup minus the croûtons and a piece of French baguette. There’s a butter there, but I didn’t use it. (yay!)

350 calories, 10 grams fat, 3 grams saturated fat, 50 grams carbs, 15 grams protein

Eek on the carbs. Not sure that bread was worth 25 grams of carbs.

That said, I’m a butter fiend. I normally would have used 3-4 butters with this meal, but I ended up not using any.

No Butter? 220 calories and 24 grams of fat saved ...Continue reading

Goal Setting- It’s All About the Math

No matter how much I’d like to believe in the magic food combinations that burn fat and all the other “secret” ways to lose weight- let’s face it. It’s all about math.

A pound is made up of 3500 calories. To lose a pound, you have to expend 3500 more calories than you take in. The formula is easy: BMR-Calories eaten=calories burned.

A BMR calculator (Base Metabolic Rate) I used estimated my typical daily calorie usage at 1500 calories. If I do nothing else but manage to keep my intake at 1000 calories a day, I should lose a pound every 7 days. This contest runs for 59 days, so I should be able to lose about 8.5 pounds.

That sounds pretty pitiful to me, so I”m ...Continue reading

The Uphill Battle

I really, really do plan on going to the Gym. I will. The thing is, there is an indoor pool there and the kids love it so it’s not like hey-I’ll-dash-in-and-out, it’s more like a half hour of gathering swimsuits and gear and knowing once I’m done working out, there’s another hour of supervising swim time… plus, I have a school carnival meeting tonight. (Why oh why did I say I’d be in charge?)

In any case, my best bet for some exercise today was lunch. I probably should have gotten out and walked but it’s cooooold. (Really, it’s like 45′F or something! That’s cold for these parts.) So I decided to do some stairclimbing.

I had a good idea of where the stairs are and after poking around (and opening some ...Continue reading