02/07/08 - Meals for the Day

Yes, this is a fresh post, just repeat meals so far…

02/07/08 - Breakfast

Another yummy Honeycrisp apple.

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

02/07/08 - Lunch

Another Tuesday, another Panera lunch. Same french onion soup and cafe salad with baguette as last time. This time, they actually DID remember to leave out both the cheese and the croutons.

310 calories, 9 grams fat, 3 grams saturated fat, 49 grams carbs, 7 grams fiber, 9 grams protein

02/07/08 - Snack

A yummy (and filling) snack this afternoon. Wanted something different from the usual Zone bar, so I dug out some Kashi crackers (Rosemary and garlic), a Babybel cheese (mmmm) and some fresh veggies.

Snack: 260 calories, 10.5 grams fat, 32 grams carbs, 7 grams fiber, 10 grams protein

02/07/08 - Dinner

Thanks to a miscalculation on my part, I thought I had far less calories left for dinner than I actually had. (Which means I may yet eat something else tonight, we’ll just have to see if I get hungry.) Dinner was PB&J that was VERY light on the peanut butter and was made on the yummy high fiber oatmeal bread I’d bought. I paired it with a raspberry yogurt.

Dinner: 470 calories, 10.5 grams fat, 83.5 grams carbs, 6 grams fiber, 12 grams protein

For exercise I did manage to do 30 minutes of Power Yoga. I stand amazed at just how much energy it takes to do Yoga. I have a newfound respect for anyone who practices it. Yoga has also taught me how weak my wrists are. Anyway, 175 calories burned.

Daily total: 1120 calories, 31 grams fat, 186 grams carbs, 23 grams fiber, 41.5 grams protein

Net total calories for the day: 1120 - 175 = 945 calories.

02/06/08 - Meals for the Day

02/02/08 - Breakfast

Yum, Yum, Yum.

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

02/06/08 - Lunch

Mmmm…leftovers of last night’s pasta. The whole grain pasta was really tasty and very filling. (probably because it’s really high in fiber.) Last night while measuring out my dinner, I went ahead and made a container with one serving of pasta and one serving of sauce so I could have quick and easy lunch today with the kids.

Also made myself a salad in a flash since I prechopped all my veggies on the weekend.

Lunch: 422 calories, 12 grams fat, 71.5 grams carbs, 12.5 grams fiber, 17 grams protein

02/06/08 - Snack

I was craving a snack this afternoon and realized I was no where near where I should be in terms of protein, so I figured it was time to break out the old diet staple: fat free cottage cheese. I had some cherry tomatoes, so I cut up a few of those and tossed them on top for some extra flavor.

Snack: 170 calories, 0 grams fat, 11 grams carbs, .5 gram fiber, 31 grams protein

02/06/08 - Dinner

The rest of the family was working on leftovers tonight to clean out the fridge, so I snagged a can of Progresso soup out of the pantry. After doing the math for the day, I decided I could imbibe in some toast too. That may sound boring to some, but toast is one of my favorite foods. The Progresso soup is an awesome diet option because they’re pretty hardy and they tend to only have around 200-250 calories if you eat the entire can.

The bread was Brownberry Oatmeal bread and was one of the highest fiber breads I could find in the store. It was pretty tasty as well.

Dinner: 470 calories, 10 grams fat, 72 grams carbs, 6 grams fiber, 30 grams protein

02/06/08 - Dessert

After looking at my numbers for the day and realizing I was sitting at about 850 calories after exercise, I decided to enjoy a cookie and glass of milk while Greg dove into a bowl of vanilla pudding. This is a dark chocolate chip cookie from Kashi. A lot of people hate them, but I think they’re delish. It’s paired with a small glass of hormone free skim milk.

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

Exercise

Made it to the gym again today and had a great workout on the Elliptical. Went with the cross-training option which alternates resistance levels and ends up doing some serious muscle building along with giving me a great cardio workout. I followed this up with some yoga style stretching and then 20 minutes on the weight machines. Total calories burned: 475.

Daily Total: 1547 calories, 31 grams fat, 242 grams carbs, 30 grams fiber, 103 grams protein
1547 calories - 475 calories = 1072 calories

(Ok, now that I’ve seen those numbers, I’m TOTALLY eating some cookies and milk tonight. Will update later to reflect.)

02/05/08 - Meals for the Day

02/05/08 - Breakfast

Another yummy Honeycrisp apple. I can tell my body is adjusting to less food though. I’d actually brought along a Zone bar as well, but decided I only needed the apple. Yay!

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

02/05/08 - Lunch

Another Tuesday, another Panera lunch. Made a few changes from last week to see if I could save on calories and increase my fiber. Same french onion soup and cafe salad with baguette as last time.

This time I swapped the french baguette for the whole grain one. That gave me three times more fiber and an extra gram of protein for the same calories and carbs.

I also had them leave both the croutons and the cheese out of my soup. that saved me 140 calories, 7 grams of fat and 11 carbs, but it also lost me 7 grams of protein. (Well, it would have, then I ate my soup and realized they put cheese on the bottom. No croutons though, so at least there’s that. Edited post to reflect new numbers.)

350 calories, 10 grams fat, 3 grams saturated fat, 50 grams carbs, 7 grams fiber, 16 grams protein

02/5/08 - Snack

Same snack as always, this time in Fudge Graham flavor. Tasty, but not near as filling as some of the other Zone bars.

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

02/5/08 - Dinner

I was getting a little tired of chicken and didn’t have time to thaw the Mahi Mahi in my freezer tonight, so I threw dinner together with what I could find on hand that seemed healthy. For this one, I sauted some fresh garlic in a some olive oil then tossed in some fresh zucchini, yellow squash and white mushrooms. I put this over whole grain pasta and served it with some organic marinara sauce. Took awhile to do the math on this one, but it was pretty good.

Dinner: 403 calories, 11 grams fat, 80 grams carbs, 13 grams fiber, 15.5 grams protein

Exercise…um yeah, there was none. I had hoped to do some more yoga tonight so I could trade that for cookies and milk, but I realized I didn’t really want the cookies and milk and I definitely didn’t want to work out four days in a row. So, I took a break from both dessert and exercise.

Daily Total: 1043 calories, 29 grams fat, 175 grams carbs, 26 grams fiber, 47 grams protein

02/04/08 - Meals for the Day

02/04/08 - Breakfast

Breakfast was on the go today as I decided at the last minute to take the kids to the Zoo. It was 45 today (balmy for an Ohio winter) and we got a family zoo pass for Christmas. So, breakfast had to be what I could grab and eat on the way out the door.

Lovin’ on these Zone Bars. Today was double chocolate and it was pretty tasty as well.

Breakfast: 300 calories, 6 grams fat, 52 grams carbs, 6 grams fiber, 16 grams protein

02/04/08 - Lunch

Another lunch out. After we finished up at the zoo, Rachel (Search Engine Guide’s new Business Development Manager) and I decided to hit a nearby Applebee’s so I could get the kids fed so they’d go straight down for naps when I got home.

Like TGI Friday’s, Applebee’s has a full page of options now that are low cal, low fat or low carb. I ended up with the “Steak and Portobello” option. Looking at this picture, it looks pretty paltry, but it was actually quite filling. There was a 4oz Sirloin topped with grilled portobellos and a yummy brown sauce, some redskin potatoes and some fresh garden veggies.

The best part?

Lunch: 330 calories, 10 grams fat, 30 carbs, 8 grams fiber, 15 grams protein.

02/04/08 - Dinner

I’m going to blame Robert for this dinner.

I’d planned on eating pancakes, eggs and turkey sausage with the family, but Robert reminded me he’d pledged $500 on this contest and I dog gone better make sure my charity wins. (Ok, maybe he didn’t guilt me quite that bad, but he did give me the reality check I needed.)

So, I ditched the pancakes and eggs for a nice pile of brown rice with soy sauce (love that stuff) and a HUGE serving of steamed carrots and broccoli. I started out with two turkey sausages, but decided I only wanted one. So, I swapped the other for a hard boiled egg and redid my dinner math.

Dinner: 455 calories, 9.5 grams fat, 64 carbs, 9 grams fiber, 26.5 grams protein

02/04/08 -Dessert

Mmmmmm………Oreos. Greg called from work today to say he’d picked up a box of these Oreo 100 calorie packs at the nearby Kroger because he was feeling peckish. He said they were pretty good, so I asked him to bring me a bag home. Since I saved nearly 300 calories by eating the rice and veggies tonight, I figured I could afford a treat.

So yummy, so worth eating the veggies.

Dessert: 180 calories, 2 grams fat, 32 grams carb, 1 gram fiber, 10 grams protein

Exercise…

I spent two and a half hours walking around the zoo this morning pushing 50 pounds of kid in a stroller. I checked my pedometer and I logged more than 5000 steps while there, which is about 200 calories. I also did 30 minutes of Yoga this evening which averaged out to about 100 calories. Thus, 300 calories burned.

Daily total: 1295 calories, 27.5 grams fat, 177 carbs, 24 grams fiber, 76.5 grams protein

Adjusted daily calories = 1295 - 300 = 995

Willpower

Why is it somedays I can look a chocolate chip cookie square in the face and walk away without touching it and other days, I’m dying to eat something I know I shouldn’t.

First temptation came up today. I bought turkey sausage to try, as it’s loads better for you  than regular sausage and the kids and hubby adore sausage. So I figured tonight I’d make them pancakes, sausage, eggs and yogurt for dinner.

So I sat here and calculated. I could eat 2 sausages, 2 scrambled eggs and three small pancakes light on the butter and syrup for 670 calories.

And I thought.

And I added up what I’d already eaten today.

And I didn’t like what I saw.

But I wanted sausage and pancakes DANGIT.

So I IMed Robert. Who reminded me what I’m playing for.

So I sat down with my math again and realized I could eat brown rice with soy sauce, two turkey sausages and 3 full cups of steamed carrots and broccoli with seasoning then wrap it up with a 100 calorie pack of Oreo thins and a small glass of milk for dessert and STILL come in well under that 670.

And temptation was thwarted.

Whew!

02/03/08 - Meals for the Day

02/02/08 - Breakfast

What can I say? I really like this stuff!

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

02/03/08 - Lunch

Ahh, the joys of going out to eat when you’re trying to watch what you’re eating. Thankfully Greg was up for TGI Friday’s, which I know has some options that include basic nutritional info. Unfortunately they don’t share carb or fiber numbers, so I’m out that info for this meal.

I ended up with “Dragonfire Chicken.” Basically, grilled chicken breast in kung pao sauce over brown rice. It had mandarin oranges and pinapple pico de gallo on it. Came with a side of broccoli. The chicken carried some serious heat spice wise, but was delicious.

Lunch: 500 calories, 10 grams fat, ? carbs, ? fiber, 24 grams protein

02/03/08 - Snack

Another Zone bar for a snack. This one was the “Chocolate Mint” flavor and it was disappointing. It did the job filling me up wise, but wasn’t tasty enough for me to want to buy them again.

Snack: 210 calories, 7 grams fat, 21 carbs, 1 gram fiber, 16 grams protein

02/03/08 - Dinner

Another big old salad. Baby greens, baby spinach, carrots, celery, red onions, green onions, gherkins, black olives, hard boiled egg, grilled chicken, cheese and some balsamic vinaigrette.

Dinner: 437 calories, 21.5 grams fat, 26 grams carbs, 4.5 grams fiber, 34 grams

02/03/08 - Dessert

I’m hoping everyone else is pigging out for the superbowl because I had friends over and couldn’t resist eating a cookie. On the plus side, it was a Kashi cookie, so it had a lot of protein and fiber. I paired one with a small glass of milk.

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

Exercise

Made it to the gym again today. Apparently back to back workouts leave me pretty tired. Only managed to pull about 350 calories today. The elliptical totally kicked my rear. Weight training going solid though. Probably time to add more reps.

Daily Total: 1632 calories, 47 grams fat, 125+ grams carbs, 16+ grams fiber, 99 grams protein

That said, I burned 300 calories at the gym, which puts me at 1332 calories for the day. A little higher than I would have liked, but you have to eat cookies every now and then.

02/02/08 - Meals for the Day

Ok, going to try shoving all of my meal posts for the day into one big post. We haven’t been able to figure out how to have only the most recent post from each person on the front page and I don’t want to monopolize it.

02/02/08 - Breakfast

Mmmmm…..I’ve restocked the pantry with boxes of Kashi GoLean Crunch Honey Almond Flax cereal. Apart from maybe Life cereal, it’s my favorite.

It’s also jam packed with fiber, protein and Omega 3’s. It’s fairly high in carbs, but it’s entirely whole grain, so they’re good carbs. I’ve paired it with hormone free skim milk for more protein boost, but not much fat boost.

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

02/02/08 - Snack

Another Zone bar. This time Chocolate Peanut Butter. I’ve found the handy thing about Zone Bars is they require you to drink a lot of water. I can easily down a 20oz bottle of water while eating one. They’re tasty, but they dry you up.

I paired it with a Forelle pear. Tasty, but it wasn’t ripe yet, so again with the dry.

Snack: 260 calories, 7 grams fat, 38 grams carbs, 5 grams fiber, 14 grams protein

02/02/08 - Lunch

Giant salad. Huge, big, ginormous even. Waiting on Greg to come home from some deal at the church so I can hit the gym. This one was a little high on calories, but it was super high on protein.

Baby spinach, red leaf lettuce, baby greens, green onion, red onion, celery, carrots, tomatoes. This time I topped it with hard boiled egg, cheese, grilled chicken and a tiny bit of bacon. Low-fat three cheese ranch on the side.

In retrospect, I could have used half the amount of chicken and egg. It was a little heavy on both. Doing so would have shaved off around 90 calories and 7 grams of fat.

Lunch: 589 calories, 24 grams fat, 19 grams carbs, 6.5 grams fiber, 42 grams protein.

Dr. Atkins would like that meal.

02/02/08 - Dinner

Dinner tonight was a whole lotta new things. I bought some organic texmati brown rice to try in my rice cooker and topped it with some soy sauce for flavor. (Did you know soy sauce has just 10 calories per tablespoon but has 2 grams of protein?) You’ll also see a piece of potato crusted cod (which was not at all tasty) and a stack of asparagus I pan roasted with fresh garlic and some olive oil.

Dinner: 410 calories, 10 grams fat, 48 carbs, 4 grams fiber, 29 grams protein

Exercise

I did finally make it to the gym this afternoon. Logged 30 minutes of cross training on the Ellipital and about 20 minutes on the weights. Total calories burned: 400+

Daily Total: 1534 Calories, 45.5 grams fat, 149 carbs, 23.5 grams fiber, 100 grams protein

Of course I burned an extra 400 at the gym, so my daily calorie count comes down to 1134, which makes it REALLY tempting to go eat some raspberry newtons, but I shall abstain.

Would it be wrong of me…

…to ship freshly baked cinnamon rolls to all the other players?

>:)

02/01/08 - Dinner

02/01/08 - Dinner

Originally uploaded by Jennifer Laycock

This is one of those meals where the picture doesn’t do it justice. Probably because I just dump stuff in as I cut it up instead of artfully arranging it for a rainbow of color.

This is also my absolute favorite salad combination.

I’ve got mixed greens, baby spinach and baby butter lettuce mixed with red onion, green onion, celery, carrots and cherry tomatoes. I’ve topped it with some Tyson packaged grilled chicken chunks, the other half of my honey crisp apple from this morning, 1/4 cup of cheddar cheese, a handful of whole dried cranberries and super yummy low-cal Raspberry Vinaigrette from Marzetti’s.

Dinner: 447 calories, 16.5 grams fat, 49 carbs, 9.5 grams fiber, 33 grams protein

02/01/08 - Lunch

02/01/08 - Lunch

Originally uploaded by Jennifer Laycock

Progresso Beef Stew and some prunes. (I know, I’m weird, but I adore prunes as long as they’ve been in the fridge.)

Lunch: 360 calories, 4 grams fat, 66 grams carbs, 7 grams fiber, 17 grams protein.