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.

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 hormone free skin and I stole one of the kid’s glasses to make sure I only poured 8 oz.

Snack: 280 calories, 9 grams fat, 37 grams carb, 2 grams fiber, 18 grams protein

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 croĆ»tons and a piece of French baguette. There’s a butter there, but I didn’t use it. (yay!)

Lunch: 350 calories, 10 grams fat, 3 grams saturated fat, 50 grams carbs, 5 grams fiber, 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

01/31/08 - Breakfast

01/31/08 - Breakfast

Originally uploaded by Jennifer Laycock

A pretty good size Honeycrisp apple. If you have never had a honeycrisp apple, you must immediately rush to the store and find one. No apple should taste this amazing.

It tastes like cider. It’s sweet, but has a bit of a zing to it. Best apple ever for salads and snacking. (If you’re in the Ohio-PA area, Giant Eagle and Meijer carry them, otherwise you have to go to Costco.)

Breakfast: 80 calories, 1 gram fat, 22 grams carbs, 3 grams fiber, 1 gram protein

01/30/08 - Kung Pao Chicken



01/30/08 - Kung Pao Chicken

Originally uploaded by Jennifer Laycock

Small plate. Kung pao chicken with fried veggie rice, mini egg roll and steamed veggies. 550 calories, 9 grams fat, 13 grams protein.

01/29/08 - Elliptical Work-out



01/29/08 - Elliptical Work-out

Originally uploaded by Jennifer Laycock

35 minutes on the Elliptical for the killer cross training hill climb. Followed this up with 20 minutes of weight training.

01/30/08 Lunch - Veggie Lasagna



01/30/08 Lunch - Veggie Lasagna

Originally uploaded by Jennifer Laycock

Great veggie lasagna. Used Zucchini instead of noodles for some layers. Also packed with spinach, onions and mushrooms. The whole piece was only about the size of my fist, so I didn’t feel too guilty eating all of it.

01/30/08 lunch



01/30/08 lunch

Originally uploaded by Jennifer Laycock

Simple salad with veggies. Pulled off the croutons and used maybe a teaspoon of the light italian dressing. (Dipped fork in then stabbed up some salad.)

Skinny Jeans and Money for the Milk Bank? I’m All In!

The fact that I’m about to step out and once again share very personal details of my life with the SEO community shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. After all, we’ve all talked or written about my chest and many folks have read the intimate details of my life on my hobby site.

So when Donna approached me to ask if I’d be willing to take part in the SEM version of The Biggest Loser and I heard about the chance to raise more money and awareness for HMBANA milk banking, it wasn’t even a question. (Ok, so there was a slight question about the time it would take to do even more blogging, but I think I can hack it.)

So here’s the deal. I weigh 197 pounds. Oh yeah, you read that right. It’s ridiculous and I have to fix it. Now I’d love to write that off to spending the last four years being pregnant or nursing, but the truth is, I weighed 227 pounds when I graduated college. I lost 30 pounds between then and when I had Elnora, but I’ve never managed to get the next 30 off. Time to stop stalling.

My goal is to drop 15-20 pounds in the next two months. It’s a lofty goal, especially since I’ll be spending a week in Italy during the contest, but money for the milk bank and bragging rights against this crowd are good motivators.

Here’s my plan.

1.) More regular exercise. I already belong to a gym and work out three days a week. Unfortunately, travel and children often mean that gets knocked down to twice a week. That’s not enough. I’m switching to a gym closer to home this week to make it easier to make it there M/W/F during the contest. I’ll also be aiming to do pilates at home three days a week and will either do a bonus day at the gym or some other type of activity on day seven. I’m focusing on cardio conditioning and strength training.

2.) My secret weapon: bento boxes. I’m on the go all the time. Between the gym, errands, preschool, etc, I find myself picking up fast food at least twice a week. I generally eat grilled chicken sandwiches, but my kids end up eating crap. Thus, I’ve got motivation to get back in the habit of packing bento boxes for us on the days when I know we’ll be out during lunch.

3.) New eating habits. I’m generally a pretty healthy eater. I love fruits and veggies and try to avoid HFCS and transfats. I’m looking to kick things up a notch for the contest in the hopes I can jump start some new eating habits. I’ll be working to cut out meat (or at least dramatically reduce it) and to replace it with other sources of good protein. (Whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, organic dairy, etc.) I’m hoping if I force myself into looking at options other than meat, I’ll find some great new recipes to try.

4.) Accountability. If I can figure out how to get Flickr working with this blog, I’ll be posting pictures of everything I eat. I figure if I have to admit to you all that I’m eating it, I may think twice. ;)

So, here we go. If I pull this off, I’ll have a great excuse to go buy new clothes before SES NY.