Food

I've been working hard on trying to eat healthy food and to come up with healthy food that's so yummy I don't feel deprived.

So, yesterday, I made something for lunch that was just out of this world.  I took a large portobello mushroom cap and baked an egg in it - it was fantastic!  I forgot to take a picture of it, but I can show you the empty plate:

What I did was put the mushroom cap in the microwave with saran wrap on it for about 2 minutes.  Then I put the oven on 350 degrees, cracked an egg into the cap, salted and peppered it and then baked it.  It took about 20 minutes to bake (I like the yolk runny), but you'll have to watch it - most recipes say it only takes 10 minutes to get a runny baked egg, but my oven took 20.

It was so rich and decadent - and only 111 calories!

Next time I'll try to hold off on my excitement and get a picture BEFORE I eat it!

For dinner, I used the actifry again - I cut skinless chicken breast into bite-sized pieces and threw them into the actifry with garlic powder, salt, pepper, smoked paprika and texas pete hot sauce.  Tasted wonderful - I think next time I'll add in some chili powder for a little more kick.  With the chicken I had cabbage (which I cooked in water in a frying pan with salt and pepper), lima beans and some Caesar salad.  Pretty tasty and I managed to control my portions - the only think I went back for seconds on was the cabbage.

I've also discovered the little salad kits that I like to eat for lunches.  They are about 240 calories and are all pre-portioned so all you have to do is mix it together and eat it.

I went up 10 lbs yesterday on the bowflex ... not sore today, which is weird.  Maybe I needed to go up a bit more?  Either that, or I may feel the pain by this afternoon.

At any rate, I'm plugging along like a good little trooper.  Hopefully I can keep it up!

Timing

Finally.  I've gotten through seminars, hubby being out of town and all the celebrations.

I'm ready to start.

Got up and rode the bike for 46 minutes today.  Went for 11.4 miles and burned 247 calories.  All that before the day even started!

I want to start the bowflex today as well, but not too much since I don't want to hurt my shoulder again and I am just getting started.  I tend to be one of those "I want to do it all in one day" type people and I have to prepare myself for the slow and steady.

I've been so exhausted and I'm hoping that getting back into the exercise routine will help with that.

We aren't supposed to wait for the timing to be "right" because then we'd never get anything done, but I've had some issues, so it's good to know that my time is here now.  And I'm ready for it.  There is something to be said about having your mental state in the right place.  There can't be a right time if you can't get there mentally!

Now I have to plan the menu for the week - I know the key is eating a lighter dinner and trying not to snack after dinner.  I will try and plan accordingly.  If I make up something that is just really good, I'll pass it on here!  I'm going to have fun trying to create tasty meals that satisfy.  I'm also going to try and learn to cook less.  I've always cooked for 6, even when there's only a few of us home and no matter how much I made, we'd eat it all.  Now that it's just 4 of us here most of the time, I need to learn to cut portions accordingly.

As I need humor to get me through this, I'll leave with this for the day:

Summary - 7 Day Diet

Thank God it's over.

I didn't lose any pounds yesterday, which is surprising as I think I only ate about 200 calories for the whole day.  If that.

It was brutal.

If I do this again, it will only be because I've reached a plateau or something.  If my husband hadnt' been doing it with me, I don't think I would have made it through.

Still, 8.6 lbs lost is a pretty nice jump start.

The worst day was the banana day.  The 2nd worst day was yesterday - the soup day.  That soup just really bothered me.  I don't know what it was - it tasted okay, but by the end of the day, just the smell of it made me want to throw up.

The diet made me very weak and very tired.

So now I have to integrate myself back into eating "real" food.  I must say the diet has made me very thoughtful about what I'm putting into my mouth.  After all that torture, I don't want to just go eat a bunch of donuts or something and waste all the pain I want through!  Lol!

Today I am really craving carbs since that was pretty much denied me for the last 7 days.   But rather than eating biscuits or processed breads (which REALLY sound wonderful right now), I think I will try a small bowl of mueslix cereal for breakfast.  Carbs, but complex ones and with minimal added sugar.  I do want to try and stay away from the sugars.  Tonight I'm going to eat a Lean Cuisine, just to have something controlled so that I don't go hog-wild.  I'm going to eat a lot of fruits today.  I found that I really do like them and I really don't eat enough of them.

I'm still not into the 180's again, which is disappointing.  But considering I started this diet at 199, that's not surprising.

Now I'm going to take it slow and try and be careful about what I eat.  I know this coming weekend (anniversary trip) will cause some weight gain, but I'm not going to deprive myself when I'm celebrating 29 wonderful years with my soul mate.  I am sure I'll consider the choices and if possible make "better" ones, but when you are drinking cosmopolitans, it's not really going to matter whether I eat the fried mushroom or broiled asparagus, though I will try and keep it in mind!

Do I recommend this diet?  I'm not sure.  It was very hard and I felt weak and grumpy.  If I had had to do anything remotely strenuous (other than the court, which was pretty rough), I might have passed out and that just can't be a good thing.

Still, if someone is frustrated and stuck on their healthy journey, I must say it's a morale booster to to watch those pounds drop off.  I do feel excited and hopeful about the future and it's made me very, very aware of what I'm eating.  So, yes.  I think I would recommend it for someone who needs the jump start.

I'm just so very glad it's over!