Off to London to Tempt Scottie and Simon

Well, those of you who aren’t fans of my “food feed” (ha! get it?) will be getting a nearly two week reprieve.

Greg and I are hopping a flight to London today where I’ll be doing a half day “Blogging for Business” training session on the tail end of SES London. On Saturday, we’ll catch another flight to Rome, where we’ll spend a week working our way up through Tuscany and the Cinque Terre before we fly out of Milan and back to London for another night.

Simon and Scottie are already over there and I hear word that food has been flowing. In fact, Simon told me they had 15 plates of food for  4 people.

I was tempted to take Scottie a big dose of my homemade peanut butter fudge, since I know she loves it, but lucky for her we’re packing light and my bag is already at the 13 pound limit.

Ironically, I was watching last night’s episode of “The Biggest Loser” and it was the week where everyone goes home to visit their families. Some fell off the wagon, some stayed true to their long-term goals and ended up losing more weight than ever. While I wouldn’t wish a few pounds on any of the contestants (ok, maybe a little), I have decided I can enjoy London and Italy just fine without eating things that are bad for me.

I’ve packed my pedometer (10,000 steps = 400 calories burned) and will use the last two weeks of meticulous calorie, fat, carb, fiber and protein counting to make good food choices. No daily posts, but I will still take a picture of everything I eat. When I get back, I’ll have Flickr spit out a collage of all the food and will wrap it up in one posting.

The good news is, I’m down a pound so far this week, which brings my total to 7 pounds for the contest. Here’s hoping I can walk off another pound or two despite being in Italy surrounded by fresh mozzerella, olive oil and pasta.

Meals for the Day - 02/18/08

02/18/08 - Breakfast

Double Chocolate Zone bar today. Yummy tasting and for some reason, it has two extra grams of protein!

Breakfast: 210 calories, 7 grams fat, 21 grams carbs, 1 grams fiber, 12 grams protein

02/18/08 - Lunch

Quick lunch, but a yummy lunch. Sort of like a good old fashioned brown bag lunch. Bologna on whole grain bread, carrots, celery, gherkins and grape tomatoes. I also peeled two clementines, but I only ended up eating one of them.

Lunch: 368 calories, 2 grams fat, 73.5 grams carbs, 10.5 grams fiber, 20.5 grams protein

02/18/08 - Dinner

Finally! The SES London slides are done, so I had a chance to cook a real dinner again! Yay! I had intended to bread and pan fry some chicken cutlets, but I realized I didn’t have enough olive oil, so I threw them on the George Foreman instead. I also made a batch of mushroom risotto using chicken broth instead of wine, pan fried some asparagus in garlic infused olive oil and then pan fried some yellow squash and zucchini. Mmmmmmmmm.

Dinner: 397 calories, 8 grams fat, 83 grams carbs, 16 grams fiber, 38.5 grams protein

No exercise today. Last minute updates to get the networking events posted on the Small Business Marketing Unleashed conference site and tons of laundry to do before packing to take the kids to my mom’s tomorrow.

Daily Total: 975 calories, 17 grams fat, 177.5 grams carbs, 27.5 grams fiber, 75 grams protein

Meals for the Day - 02/17/08

02/17/08 - Breakfast

I’m liking these peanut butter Zone bars. Very tasty!

Breakfast: 210 calories, 7 grams fat, 25 grams carbs, 3 grams fiber, 14 grams protein

02/17/08 - Lunch

Three cheers for Bob Evans! They offer nutritional information on every single thing on their menu. That let me piece together a meal that was both tasty and had a reasonable amount of calories in it. I ended up with roast turkey with gravy, stuffing, broccoli and green beans. I skipped the cranberry relish and only ate half the stuffing.

(Incidentally, I looked up the two slices of blueberry bread they brought with my dinner. 478 calories in two slices. That’s more calories than I consumed eating my entire plate of lunch. That’s why those slices of blueberry bread are sitting in my fridge waiting for someone else to eat them.

Lunch: 406 calories, 18.5 grams fat, 33 grams carbs, 12 grams fiber, 27.5 grams protein

02/17/08 - Dinner

Another quick dinner made up of whatever I could grab. Bologna tortilla, pineapple and some leftover beef stew.

Dinner: 344 calories, 5.5 grams fat, 70 grams carbs, 13 grams fiber, 21 grams protein

No exercise today. STILL too busy working on PowerPoint slides for SES.

Daily Total: 960 calories, 30 grams fat, 128 grams carbs, 28 grams fiber, 62.5 grams protein

Meals for the day - 02/16/08

02/16/08 - Breakfast

I’m out of Kashi and haven’t been to the store, so it’s Zone bars for breakfast for awhile.

Breakfast: 210 calories, 7 grams fat, 25 grams carbs, 3 grams fiber, 14 grams protein

02/16/08 - Lunch

It was a drive-thru day as I was out running errands. Usually I’d snag a grilled chicken, but Elnora desperately wanted a “cheeseburger, no meatball.” In other words, she wanted a bun with ketchup on it. I hate throwing away food, so I did the math and was surprised to find it wouldn’t “cost” me much more to just get a Jr. Cheeseburger and put her patty on my sandwich.

Mmmm…hamburger!

Lunch: 390 calories, 20 grams fat, 28 grams carbs, 2 grams fiber, 24 grams protein

02/16/08 - Snack

Needed some protein and something sweet, so more fresh pineapple and fat free cottage cheese.

Snack: 154 calories, 0 grams fat, 25 grams carbs, 2 grams fiber, 14 grams protein

02/16/08 - Dinner

Another mish mash. PB&J tortilla, green beans, fresh pineapple and cottage cheese.

Dinner: 404 calories, 20 grams fat, 61 grams carbs, 8 grams fiber, 24.5 grams protein

No exercise today. Too busy working on PowerPoint slides for SES.

Daily Total: 1158 calories, 37.5 grams fat, 141.5 grams carbs, 25 grams fiber, 56.5 grams protein

Meals for the Day - 2/15/08

02/15/08 - Breakfast

Oh no! My last bowl of Kashi! Now to decide if I should go to the store, or just make due until we head on vacation.

Breakfast: 265 calories, 4.5 grams fat, 44 grams carbs, 8 grams fiber, 15 grams protein

02/15/08 - Lunch

Leftover Chipotle. I tossed two cups of baby spinach into the bowl, heated up my leftovers and then mixed it all together with some grape tomatoes and a tiny bit of sour cream to cut the heat.

Lunch: 413 calories, 17 grams fat, 44 grams carbs, 5 grams fiber, 22.5 grams protein

02/15/08 - Dinner

This one was a bit of a mish-mash. I’d meant to make chicken, asparagus and maybe some pasta for dinner, but I’ve been working on hours and hours of PowerPoint for the training event after SES London and completely lost track of time. I finally came down at 7:30 to snag food and was more in the mood of “whatever was fast” than “what makes sense to eat together.”

Thus, a PB&J tortilla, some baby spinach with leftover cold couscous and balsamic vinegar and a bowl of fresh pineapple with fat free cottage cheese.

Dinner: 498 calories, 12.5 grams fat, 53.5 grams carbs, 17 grams fiber, 29.5 grams protein

Exercise…it’s Friday, which means a full workout at the gym. Per the new routing, 15 minutes on the treadmill at 8% incline, a round of weight training, then 25 minutes of cross training on the elliptical. Total calories burned: 450

Daily Total: 1176 calories, 34 grams fat, 141.5 grams carbs, 30 grams fiber, 67 grams protein

Net calories: 1176 - 450 = 726 net calories for the day.

Now I know how the folks on Biggest Loser feel

when they step on the scale for the weekly weigh in and about fall over in shock to find out they’ve lost NOTHING.

Yep. Nothing.

This friggin muscle I’m building better start burning calories for me soon.  (Though it makes me glad I’m tracking what I eat so carefully…at least I know it’s not my fault for sneaking cookies or eating way more calories than I think I am.)

So much for hoping to be down ten pounds before we head to Italy.

*grumble, grumble, grumble*

Meals for the Day - 02/14/08

02/14/08 - Breakfast

More Kashi.

Breakfast: 265 calories, 4.5 grams fat, 44 grams carbs, 8 grams fiber, 15 grams protein

02/14/08 - Lunch

Man, Thursday lunches are reptetive…but tasty. Same french onion soup and cafe salad with baguette as last time. Once again; no cheese, no croutons.

310 calories, 9 grams fat, 49 grams carbs, 7 grams fiber, 9 grams protein

02/14/08 - Dinner

Valentine’s Day dinner, so Greg called to see if I wanted him to bring home Chipotle. Mmmm….Chipotle. In yet another learning example of what I used to eat and what I SHOULD be eating, I went and ran the numbers. Ordered my usual chicken fajita burrito bowl, but had them leave off the cheese and sour cream. Also bypassed the bag of chips I use for “scooping.”

Ended up doling out half the bowl and pairing it with two small low-carb tortillas. Crazy filling, as in I almost couldn’t finish the last bite. This is totally how I’ll be eating Chipotle from now on.

Dinner: 579 calories, 19 grams fat, 75 grams carbs, 24.5 grams fiber, 30 grams protein

Exercise…it’s Valentine’s Day. It’s a Thursday. No gym today. Would have done Yoga, but it’s 8pm and the kids aren’t in bed. Lost comes on at 9pm and I’ll be working for several hours after that. Thus, no exercise today.

Daily Total: 1154 calories, 33.5 grams fat, 168 grams carbs, 37.5 grams fiber, 54 grams protein.

Meals for the Day - 02/13/08

02/13/08 - Breakfast

It’s a good thing this cereal is tasty, because I’me ating it pretty often.

Breakfast: 265 calories, 4.5 grams fat, 44 grams carbs, 8 grams fiber, 15 grams protein

02/13/08 - Lunch

Lunch in a bento! I’d packed this cottage cheese and pineapple for Emmitt earlier in the week, but he never ate it. So, I added some carrots, celery, black olives, grape tomatoes and baby gherkins to the mix. I also used a low-carb, high-fiber tortilla to make a PB&J sandwich.

As it turned out, the pineapple had gone bad. (Well, it had gone alcoholic. I didn’t even know pineapple would do that, but wow did the bite I took have kick!) So, I ate everything BUT the pineapple and cottage cheese. (and the two carrots Emmitt stole.)

Lunch: 315 calories, 13 grams fat, 37.5 grams carbs, 15.5 grams fiber, 5.5 grams protein

02/13/08 - Snack

My snack today was some baked honey mustard pretzel chips. They sell these things in giant bags at Costco and they’re absolutely amazing.

Snack: 165 calories, 2 grams fat, 33 grams carbs, 1.5 grams fiber, 4.5 grams protein

02/13/08 - Dinner

Dinner confirmed my thoughts that counting calories is a good idea. I’d picked up some all natural beef at the store today and let it roast for several hours. It turned into that perfect melt-in-your-mouth pot roast that used to lead me to down 12-16 oz of beef in a sitting.

I’d also roasted some red skin potatoes, sweet and red onions and carrots in some olive oil, salt, pepper and rosemary. I had a serving of those, plus three very thin slices of the beef. When I finished, I came in to the computer to figure out what those calories added up to. Doing the math, I realized I could eat a little more beef, or I could wait and have a cookie and some milk. As much as I love beef, cookies won. Besides, by the time I figured out the numbers, I realized I wasn’t hungry anymore.

Dinner: 527 calories, 17 grams fat, 41 grams carbs, 6 grams fiber, 52.5 grams protein

02/13/08 - Dessert

Mmm….Kashi cookie and milk.

Snack: 220 calories, 5 grams fat, 34 grams carbs, 3 grams fiber, 10 grams protein

Exercise

Wednesday is gym day, and I’m on my new workout routine. (Gotta change it up every couple weeks.) Once again, I started off with 15 minutes on the treadmill at an 8% incline, then popped over to do weight training, then headed back to the elliptical for 25 minutes there.

Total calories burned: 450

Daily Total: 1491 calories, 41.5 grams fat, 194 grams carbs, 34 grams fiber, 87.5 grams protein

Net calories for the day: 1491 - 450 = 1041 calories

A Low-Carb Rant

Let me preface this by saying this is not aimed at any of the players who have opted for low-carb diet approaches.  Instead, it’s aimed at the people who keep telling me I need to “cut my carbs” to lose weight.

Stop already!

Carbs are not evil! They are not evil, they are not evil, they are not evil!

Processed, empty carbs like white flour, white sugar and other “crap” are bad for you. The carbs in veggies and whole grains are NOT bad for you. You do NOT need to cut them from your diet to lose weight. Yes, it may speed the process for some people, but once again, carbs are not bad, nor evil!

So, let me once again share my diet philosophy and explain to you why I am not “dropping my carbs.”

Here are the 6 key points I believe in for losing weight.

1.) Get the recommended 25 grams of fiber a day (your body NEEDS this and it helps you feel full on less food).

2.) Get at least 75 grams of protein a day (so I can build muscle while weight training).

3.) Focus on whole grains and veggies that are high in fiber and protein.

4.)  Eat small amounts of lean meats and organic dairy and focus on good fats like those in nuts and oils.

5.) Combine cardio exercise with weight training.

And most importantly…

6.) Eat less calories than your body burns in a day.

I am not on a diet. I am changing the way I eat to get my body as healthy as possible. This is not going to result in me losing weight as quickly a some contestants, but it will result in me losing weight and changing my habits over the next two months in a sustainable way. Sure, when I reach my goal weight I’ll be able to eat more calories each day while I maintain, but I won’t be changing WHAT I eat. Instead I’ll change how much I eat.

Now, here’s the thing about me and carbs; the reason why I refuse to “give them up” and instead focus on eating the RIGHT carbs. If you are eating WHOLE foods in as close a state as God made them as possible, then no one will ever convince me carbs are bad.

God doesn’t make crap. We might take what He made and turn it into crap, but God does not make crap. No one ever died from eating a diet rich in whole foods.

So please. I appreciate the support, the well-wishing and the suggestions, but let’s chill on the “drop the carbs” talk on this area of the blog, ok? Ain’t gonna happen. I like fruits, veggies and couscous too much.

/rant (and back to happy and cheerful Jen)

Meals for the Day 2/12/08

02/12/08 - Breakfast

Snow day. That meant no writing time at Panera. That also meant I was going to need energy to keep up with the kids today. Kashi was a must.

Breakfast: 265 calories, 4.5 grams fat, 44 grams carbs, 8 grams fiber, 15 grams protein

02/12/08 - Snack

Running around trying to wrap up a ton of projects, so I knew I’d be late to get lunch. That meant yet another Zone bar.

Snack: 210 calories, 7 grams fat, 23 grams carbs, 3 grams fiber, 14 grams protein

02/12/08 - Lunch

Lunch was whatever I could snag. It was a crazy busy day and I just didn’t have time to worry about what I was eating. That meant low-fat bologna made another appearance paired with my yummy whole grain oatmeal bread. I also had a serving of canned green beans and a clementine.

Lunch: 310 calories, 2 grams fat, 58.5 grams carbs, 8.5 grams fiber, 24 grams protein

02/12/08 - Dinner

Didn’t have too many calories left at dinner and again didn’t have time to cook anything, so I had to go with what was on hand. That meant a large bowl of fresh spinach with some leftover cold couscous, red onion, a few grape tomatoes, a bunch of balsamic vinegar and tiny spash or two of olive oil on top.

I knew this wasn’t going to quite do it, so I also had half a can of Progresso beef stew.

Dinner: 415 calories, 6.5 grams fat, 63.5 grams carbs, 7 grams fiber, 19 grams protein

Exercise

It’s Tuesday, which means no gym today. Instead, I did another 30 minutes of Yoga after dinner. Elnora was excited to do Yoga with me, but only made it ten minutes before she got bored. After another five minute of her giggling and crawling around, under and over me, I banished her to the back porch and finished in peace.

Total calories burned: 150

Daily Total: 1200 calories, 20 grams fat, 189 grams carbs, 26.5 grams fiber, 72 grams protein

Net calories for the day: 1200 - 150 = 1050 calories