Another Successful Week

I am proud to say I've just completed another week of 6 workouts! This week, I also tracked everything I ate using Weight Watchers (so far - I suppose there are a few more hours left in the day where it can all go downhill...). I don't know why, but tracking everything just felt so easy and natural. Maybe I was just ready to commit to something again? Whatever the reason, I'm feeling extremely motivated to continue. :)

My proudest moment this week was on Friday. I went out for an all-you-can-eat sushi lunch with a few colleagues. I was very worried that I would do what I usually do at all-you-can-eat sushi: eat all that I can, and feel gross and sick afterwards. But this time, I somehow avoided all of the deep-fried appetizers that were on the table in front of me and ate a seaweed salad instead. I ate a ton of sushi, but I counted roughly how many pieces I ate so I could track it later (which I did). I also avoided dessert. All in all, I had a great time, really enjoyed the food I ate, and I wasn't overly stuffed afterwards. Restaurants in general, let alone an all-you-can-eat situation, are always difficult for me to navigate. I was extremely worried going into this lunch, and I'm so happy I managed to eat reasonably.

I'm still seeing my personal trainer, and the workouts are getting increasingly... interesting. Last week, I had to push a 110-pound tire across the floor (on its side; I couldn't just roll it, unfortunately). Yesterday morning, I had to do TONS of stuff with battle ropes, alternated with lower body stuff. Brutal! On the bright side, it's getting much easier to get out of bed at 5:30 am.

I mentioned in my last post that I was trying a couple of recipes from Eat, Shrink & Be Merry. I ate some of the leftovers on top of some mixed greens. It was more appetizing than what I usually eat, so I snapped a picture:

Chicken thighs in barbecue sauce & mashed cauliflower

This morning, I knew I had to squeeze in a workout. Getting to the gym on Sundays is always a challenge for me. I don't know if it's because my gym is where I work, so I feel like I'm going to work on a weekend, or if I'm just very lazy on Sundays (or both), but I never want to get dressed and go out the door. Today was extremely hot, which made the walk to the gym even less appealing. 

Eventually I left my apartment. By the time I got to the gym, I was already drenched in sweat. I put in some time on the stationary bike (my left foot has been acting up, so I've been avoiding the treadmill so I don't aggravate it further), and I was EVEN SWEATIER afterwards. Despite the fact that my shirt had very interesting sweat-patches all over it, I then hopped on the bus to go to the grocery store. Thankfully, no one seemed too offended by my appearance...

I made it home in the heat successfully!

Now I'm in the middle of a new cooking adventure (and I may or may not still be wearing that sweaty t-shirt, hours later). I have some seitan simmering on the stove (I used this recipe) which I'm planning to use in this noodle salad. Let's hope it turns out! I don't think I've ever had seitan before...

Reuniting With an Old Friend

Happy Thursday, friends! I've been having a fairly busy week, so I haven't had a chance to update you all on how I'm doing.

First, the good news. I am still exercising like a mofo. Last week, for the second week in a row, I worked out 6 times! Actually 7 times if you count a Rest & Renew yoga class I went to... but that mostly consisted of lying on cushions and such. This week, I'm planning to get in 6 workouts as well (3 with my trainer, and 3 short cardio sessions on my own).

Next, the slightly-less-good-but-still-pretty-okay news. I haven't been eating as great as I would like to... last Saturday I think I ate all of my meals out (including a burger and onion rings for lunch that made me feel sick). On Sunday, I decided I would just get back on track... but I wondered what back on track should mean for me. I am no longer following the Fast Metabolism Diet, and when I just try to "eat healthy", that somehow turns into a crazy food free-for-all. It seems I'm either following a super strict diet (which leads to me binging like crazy when it ends), or following no diet at all (which leads to me binging like crazy most days). What's a girl to do?

Oh, Weight Watchers. A few months ago, I impulsively signed up for a 6-month online membership in a fit of desperation. Until this week, I hadn't even tracked a full day. But, as of this past Monday, I have been faithfully tracking everything I've eaten.

Part of me thinks this is totally the wrong way to go... I feel like I shouldn't have to track everything I eat, that I should just choose the right foods, and that if I follow Weight Watchers I'll just end up eating too much junk/processed food/etc because I'm allowed to eat whatever I want as long as it fits into my daily points... but obviously, just trying to choose the right foods has not been working for me. And it was Weight Watchers that got me to my lowest weight ever four years ago.

In just under 6 weeks, I am leaving on my trip to Nashville, Memphis, and Chicago. I can only imagine how great I will feel if, until I go, I track consistently (not to mention continue with all of my exercise!). It will be HOT in Nashville and Memphis in August, and I'd like to feel a bit more comfortable in my summer clothes. I'm also taking the trip with an extremely fit friend, and I want to be able to keep up!

So, I hereby declare, that I will continue tracking until the trip. That would make 6 weeks of tracking!

I'm not sure if I will do the weekly weigh-ins, though. Lately, I've been weighing myself frequently and feeling quite discouraged. I've been working so hard at the gym that I feel like the weight should just be falling off; but, of course, it really comes down to what I eat (which hasn't been ideal). My trainer suggested that I put my scale away for now, and I think I will. :)

Now it's time for me to finish cooking dinner (two recipes from Eat, Shrink & Be Merry!: Sticky Chicky and Mashed Fauxtatoes) in my adorable apron:

I tried taking several photos. Believe it or not, this one was the least awkward.

Stepping it Up

This morning started bright and early with a personal training session. Now, my trainer changes the workout every time I see her, but there's one move that she makes me do rather often. It's my LEAST favourite move: step-ups. All it consists of is stepping up onto a step. Sounds simple. But you're not supposed to push off with your bottom foot! So, for example, if my right foot is on the step, I'm supposed to be able to just push into the heel of my right foot and somehow lift my body up without my left foot helping much at all. This is literally impossible for me to do. Sometimes I have to do it with weights, sometimes I have to do a giant step, sometimes both... but it is never possible for me to not push off the bottom foot. Maybe one day..

Anyway, somehow I survived. I also confessed to my trainer (and now to you) that I've had a few slip-ups with my eating the past few days. I know I'm doing better than I was, but I won't get the results I want if I keep making excuses and eating junk. Somehow, I rationalize it to myself by thinking that "one bad meal" won't make a difference, even though I know it does.

I'm pleased to say though, that today was completely on track! I started off my day with steel cut oats with natural peanut butter. I ate some before my workout, and some after. Then I packed a LOT of food to bring for a long day at work:

I brought a green smoothie (spinach, flaxseed, almond milk, berries, and banana), leftover turkey sausage with brown rice pasta, leftover potato enchiladas, carrots, and plums. I was pretty satisfied. I had some frozen pineapple when I got home, and now I'm eating second dinner - leftover thai coconut chicken curry with brown rice. Delicious!

I know that I can go the rest of the week without any more junk food. So that's exactly what I'm going to do! Stay tuned for more details of my stellar, perfect-eating week. :)

Time to Regroup

Well, as you may have guessed, I will not be completing the full 28 days of the Fast Metabolism Diet. It got too hard to follow all the precise guidelines and food restrictions. And if I'm being completely honest, for most of the weekend I ate complete junk. BUT let's focus on the positives about last week:

• Compared to a few weeks ago, I ate much more food that I'd cooked myself, instead of buying breakfast on the way to work, lunch at work, etc.
• I worked out SIX TIMES! Have I ever worked out that much in one week? Maybe once a few years ago? Anyway. Insane, y'all.
• I accomplished a lot even though my week was super busy. I wasn't home much to cook/clean, and I didn't get as much sleep last week as I needed, but I still mostly stuck to my meal plan and got all my workouts in.

Yesterday I sat down and made a rough meal plan for this week. I picked recipes I know that I'll like, and didn't base anything on a particular diet. A few of the groceries I picked up:

Bananas are back on the scene! They weren't allowed on the FMD :(

I made the first recipe last night. Potato Enchiladas from The Starch Solution:

I ate one for breakfast this morning. They may not be attractive, but they're pretty tasty!

Tonight, I was back in the kitchen to try a couple more recipes. I started with lots of chopping (fyi, I think I'm the slowest chopper in the world):

I made a coconut Thai stirfry based on a recipe from Eat, Shrink & Be Merry.

This was delicious! I had it over basmati rice (I was planning to use brown rice but I didn't have enough). I'm very excited about all the leftovers.

Next, I quickly whipped up some turkey sausage with brown rice pasta, which I first made two weeks ago when prepping for the Fast Metabolism Diet.

I'm feeling pretty happy about all the meals in my fridge/freezer, just ready to be eaten! In other news, my kitchen looks like a disaster zone and I bought some new clothes yesterday so I can put off doing laundry for a couple more days (also because there was a 40% off sale). But as long as my eating is under control, it's okay if I'm not totally together. Right??

I'm off to bed soon - meeting the trainer bright and early tomorrow! Good night!

Fast Metabolism Diet - Day 10

Today was a crazy day. I was too discombobulated to take pictures, but at least I'm squeezing in a post! Today was my first day of Week 2 Phase 2 (the high-protein, low-carb, low-fat phase) and I struggled.

I only had about 6 hours of sleep last night, so I did not feel great when I got up this morning. I tried to eat the ground beef, egg white, and spinach casserole I made on Sunday, but I did NOT care for it. It was kind of dry and... mealy? Ugh. I'll attempt it again tomorrow and try to get a picture. To supplement my breakfast, I quickly choked down a slice of turkey deli meat and ran out the door to the gym to meet my personal trainer.

My quads were already killing me, and I was feeling a bit queasy from the lack of sleep and weird breakfast, so I was quite nervous about making it through my workout. I thought I would have to take a lot of breaks, or that I would pass out or something. But the strangest thing happened... once I started exercising, I actually felt good! The workout was challenging, as usual, but I survived.

Once I finished working out with the personal trainer, I headed out to... another gym! My trainer told me to fit in a cardio workout today, and since I had to work until 8:30pm, I knew it had to happen before work (I start work later in the day when I have to stay late in the evening). Never in my life have I done TWO workouts before going to work. But I somehow did it today!

Overall, I'm really glad I got a personal trainer. This week is extremely busy for me, and normally I would have considered myself too busy to fit in any workouts at all (and probably too busy to cook my own food, etc). But as it turns out, I do have the time if I make it a priority. Making time for exercise is something I've always known you have to do, but actually doing it has been a revelation of sorts.

Anyway, I hit another roadblock at lunchtime. I just couldn't face the meatloaf I had waiting in my lunch bag. I couldn't do it. Something about it (the weird colour? the weird smell?) just didn't work for me, so I bought a salad from Subway. I'm sure the chicken wasn't perfectly on-plan, and I added avocado, which definitely isn't allowed during Phase 2, but as we've seen, I'm not being too particular anymore.

I had a few afternoon snacks (some cold cuts and hardboiled eggs), and then around 7:30, I got hungry enough to actually try eating the meatloaf I'd brought to work. It didn't actually taste that bad. A little dry, but fairly edible. I managed to eat about half of it. I need to find some new recipes for Phase 2 next week, though...

Now it's time to collapse into bed! I have another workout with my personal trainer in the morning... eep! (I have been seeing her three times a week to start off, and this week it worked out to be Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday.) Toodle-oo!

Fast Metabolism Diet - Days 8-9

Is it really only Tuesday?! I have been going since about 5:30 am so I'm completely exhausted and I don't know how I'm going to make it to the weekend...

Monday was the first day of my second week on the FMD. Phase 1 is the high-carb phase, so my breakfast was sprouted grain toast and some strawberries:

For lunch, I brought some turkey sausage with zucchini, broccoli, and brown rice pasta that I made last weekend. For snacks, I had carrots, cantaloupe, and two apples:

I ate dinner out. I was STARVING by the time we ordered, so I couldn't bear to order a salad (even though I know it would probably be satisfying). I ordered a teriyaki stirfry dish with rice... it wasn't the worst thing I could have ordered, but obviously it wasn't on plan. I also had a root beer during the day. I was helping out with a knitting event all afternoon (more on that momentarily), and was repeatedly offered drinks, snacks, etc. I was also given chocolate as a gift! So, considering the circumstances, I'm fine with my one root beer and meal out. :)

This morning, I woke up around 5:30 to meet my personal trainer for 6:45. Breakfast beforehand was strawberries and plain steel cut oats.

My workout started with a "lunge matrix" (to be honest, not as terrible as it sounds), and worsened from there. It included burpees (thankfully modified, still terrifying), extremely deep squats (I had something to hold to help pull myself back up), and other exercises that I've seemingly blocked out. Oh. There were planks. They were dreadful. She also told me to do a cardio workout tomorrow (as well as Friday and Sunday). That's fine, except I'm already meeting with her in the morning and working until 8:30 at night! I'll have to get creative to squeeze that extra workout in...

Anyway, my lunch today was basically the same as yesterday. Even the picture is eerily similar:

Note the addition of peaches. Delicious!

After work, I rushed home to drop off my bag, then hurried over to my knitting event (which I was helping to prepare for yesterday). I'm in my local knitters' guild, and every two years they put on an adjudicated show. A guest judge comes and offers comments on knitted items in various categories and awards prizes. I was on the committee to help plan this year's show, and I think it went really well! I also won a prize! I won second place in my category, which had about 26 entries. I was extremely surprised and honoured to win. Here is my winning shawl (unfortunately this isn't a great picture):

Here's a close-up. Can you spot the beads?

It honestly wasn't that challenging to knit, and it went much quicker than I anticipated (for those who might be curious, the pattern is called Vesna and designed by Susanna IC). I won a gift certificate to a yarn store, so I'm very happy about that! I also won more chocolate as a door prize... I will have to save that for a later date.

Anyway, back to food. I came home around 10:30 and realized that I had to have dinner as well as prep my food for tomorrow. Blargh. Dinner was pork, brown rice, and sweet potatoes leftover from last week. Here it is, fresh out of the freezer:

I am eating this right now!

Next I need to chop some veggies for tomorrow. I'm quite nervous about my lunch. I made turkey meatloaf that looks (and, to be honest, smells) a bit weird, and I feel slightly self-conscious about bringing it into the lunchroom. I might just eat in my office...

Fast Metabolism Diet - Days 4-7

Don't worry, I haven't disappeared! Just had a busy weekend. To recap the last few days:

Thursday (FMD Day 4)

Thursday was a long day. It started with a 6:45 am workout with my personal trainer, and ended with 5+ hours of travelling by buses to get to Bobcaygeon (where my mother lives). Good thing I've had so much energy lately!

It was my second day on Phase 2. I ate exactly the same things, more or less, that I ate on Wednesday. I also discovered that carrots are actually not allowed on Phase 2 (while eating some carrots). Oh well. You'll soon see that as the week continued, I became much less strict with the many, many, many rules of the diet...

Friday (FMD Day 5)

Friday marked my first day on Phase 3! Phase 3 is the most flexible phase. It requires you to eat lots of healthy fats with all of your meals and snacks. I had arrived in Bobcaygeon prepared: I emailed my mom a list of groceries I required in advance (aren't mothers the best?) and brought my cooler bag full of food to eat over the weekend. However, I didn't remember until I arrived that my mom doesn't have a microwave, making all my pre-made meals slightly less convenient.

Note my mom's adorable kettle.

For breakfast, I fried some veggies and two WHOLE eggs in olive oil, which I ate on sprouted grain bread with some blackberries. Now, the sprouted grain bread actually had a bit of sugar in it (which isn't allowed), and I had two slices instead of one and a half... but I'm not too concerned. When I went to use my mom's toaster, she told me it wasn't working and I had to broil my bread in the oven instead. No microwave, no toaster... I don't know how I survived. ;)

I skipped my morning snack... oops! For lunch, I had steamed cauliflower with some almond-coconutty chicken I had baked last weekend (and two plums). The chicken was a little bit dry, but that might be because it was frozen and then reheated in the oven. Overall, it was pretty good:

After lunch, it was time to hit the road. We were off to Orillia for a pretty exciting night. Of course, I brought lots of snacks, including some celery and almond butter:

We checked into our hotel, then took a shuttle bus to... Casino Rama! We met up with my sister and her boyfriend... and this is where things got a little rocky. We ate dinner at the buffet at the casino. I had every intention of eating something healthy for dinner, but I just could not summon the willpower necessary to avoid the temptation of the buffet! So, I decided to eat what I wanted and not beat myself up about it. And in the interest of celebrating every success, no matter how small, I actually ate a lot less than I usually would at a buffet. I didn't even have dessert! So I'll call that a win. ;)

After dinner, it was time for the main event: Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band! It was an amazing show. Best of all, Ringo totally picked me out of the crowd and waved at one point. I could just tell. He was always my favourite Beatle... we obviously have a special connection.

I partook in a little gambling afterwards, which is something I have very little experience with. I watched my sister play a few rounds of roulette, and it looked so fun, and she was actually winning money, so I joined in. I started with $20, and ended up with $107! I was SO tempted to keep playing, since it was really fun (and I clearly have a knack for it!), but it's probably for the best that I stopped when I did.

Saturday (FMD Day 6)

I had breakfast in the hotel on Saturday morning. I started out with the best of intentions, with some plain oatmeal and eggs, but then a toasted bagel with butter and some bacon and sausages just fell onto my plate. But I did not succumb to the greatest temptation of them all: coffee. Soooo let's call that another win.

Then we explored Orillia a bit with a visit to the Mariposa Market. It was FULL of incredible-looking baked goods, including giant donuts, delicious-looking cupcakes, and much more. It was basically torture. I am proud to say I ate nothing!

On the drive back to Bobcaygeon, I got myself firmly back on track with some of the snacks I'd brought with me: pistachios and cut-up red pepper.

Back at my mom's house, I reheated the sweet potato concoction I'd made earlier in the week. It was a recipe I got when I went to Meghan Telpner's Meal Prep Made Easy class: sweet potato mash with coconut oil.

It was really good, but very rich. I could only eat a little bit. Speaking of sweet potato, Julie asked me how I cook sweet potatoes in my slow cooker. I don't do anything special - I just chop them (sometimes; I've also cooked potatoes whole) and dump them in there on high. My slow cooker cooks fairly quickly, so I just check on them after a couple of hours and see if they're done.

I sat outside for awhile to do my meal planning for the coming week. My mom's house overlooks a river. It's so peaceful out there!

I suppose it's worth putting up with no microwave or toaster... and not being able to drink the tap water.

As soon as I started meal planning though, I was overcome with exhaustion. I took a long nap. When I woke up (maybe around 8 or so), it was time for some dinner.

I reheated another portion of my chicken, steamed more cauliflower, and broiled some bread. I'm really proud that after going off-plan, I was back on track so quickly! And hey - what happens in Orillia, stays in Orillia, right?!

Sunday (FMD Day 7)

This morning, I had to get up much earlier than I wanted to in order to catch a bus back home. I had some fried eggs on toast for breakfast...

... and packed a few things for the trip home:

I made a turkey sandwich with avocado and spinach, and brought some walnuts, red peppers, and raspberries for the road.

When I got home, I somehow gathered the energy to get some groceries. I threw together a Phase 3 appropriate dinner: some brown rice, broccoli, and salmon:

It was very satisfying!

Now I'm doing my meal prepping for this coming week. I made two new recipes for Phase 2 (my least favourite phase): I modified this ground beef, spinach, and egg casserole to fit the diet, and I also made a turkey meatloaf using a recipe in the Fast Metabolism Diet Cookbook (although I subbed chicken for the turkey). I'll let you know how they turned out when I eat them in a few days!

Overall, this week I'm going to be less concerned with things like meal/snack times and portion sizes. As long as I stay with the general spirit of the diet, I'll be satisfied. Tomorrow night, for example, I'm going out for dinner, so I definitely won't eat perfectly (although I will check the menu beforehand and try to plan ahead). I just know I'm miles ahead of where I was a week ago, so that's good enough for me!

Fast Metabolism Diet - Day 3

Today was my first day of Phase 2 of the Fast Metabolism Diet - the high protein phase! For breakfast, I had scrambled egg whites and vegetables:

After breakfast, I headed to the gym to meet with my personal trainer! We started outside using an agility ladder. I had to run through it in various ways... hopefully I didn't get too many stares from passersby! Then I had to do about a billion leg lifts (among other things), which basically killed me. I was still a sweaty mess when I got home (my apologies to everyone else on the bus with me!):

I had a late work day today, which meant I was bringing all my meals to work.

Today, I had two hardboiled egg whites, lots of cut up veggies to snack on, a salad with chicken breast to put on top, some steamed fish with asparagus and spinach, and some deli meat for a snack (either chicken or turkey... I bought both and portioned them out earlier this week). Luckily, one of my lunch bags is big enough to accommodate so much food (I believe it's actually meant for several people going on a picnic or something... it's called a Social Cooler... I didn't realize this when I bought it. I just thought it was the perfect size for me.):

The neat thing about this bag is that you store it in the freezer, and the gel in the lining keeps your food cold for a long time. While I was grabbing it from the freezer, I couldn't help but feel some joy at seeing all the meals I have ready to go:

Today wasn't as hard as I expected. I didn't get too hungry and, for the most part, I enjoyed my food. The worst part was the salad: my fridge has been freezing things on me, so the greens were all gross from being almost-frozen and thawed.

Tomorrow night I'm going to my mom's house for the weekend. I will be bringing lots of food with me! But first, I have another personal training session at 6:45 am tomorrow... I'd better get to bed!

Fast Metabolism Diet - Day 2

Greetings! I have successfully completed my second day of the Fast Metabolism Diet, and I feel great. Today I had a LOT more energy than usual, so I think I've finally gotten through the caffeine-withdrawal period. I guess eating whole foods instead of my usual junk might have something to do with that, too... I'm also not as sore from yesterday's personal training session as I was after my sessions last week. Hooray!

I didn't take pictures of my food today, because I ate literally the exact same meals and snacks as yesterday. I did stray from the diet in the sense that I did not eat every 3-4 hours like I was supposed to. Work was busy, so my afternoon snack got delayed until I got home. Then I did some laundry, had a long phone call with a good friend of mine, and did a crazy amount of food prep for the next few days (because apparently I didn't do enough on Sunday). As a result, my dinner got delayed by a few hours, too.

This diet consists of three phases that you rotate throughout the week, so what I'm going to be eating tomorrow and Thursday on Phase 2 is completely different from what I've eaten yesterday and today. At least it keeps things interesting! This is what I was dealing with this evening:

In this picture, I was cooking sweet potatoes in my slow cooker,  steaming fish in my rice cooker, making hardboiled eggs on the stove, and chopping/cooking kale. The asparagus, peppers, and cucumber were all standing by. Unfortunately, the kale dish I attempted to cook was not edible (maybe I just don't love kale).

Phase 2 consists of a lot of protein and vegetables. I'm nervous about it. I'm worried I'll be super hungry and low-energy without any grains or starches to keep me going. And since the kale didn't turn out, I don't have as many veggies ready as I planned to! At least Phase 2 only lasts two days...

Tomorrow I'm starting my day again with a personal training session, then I have to work late. I'll try to squeeze a blog post in if I can, but no promises! You might have to wait until Thursday or Friday to find out how I survived the dreaded Phase 2...

Fast Metabolism Diet - Day 1

I had a personal training session at 6:45 this morning and I'm not allowed to have caffeine. Needless to say, I'm a little bit sleepy. I tried to start weaning off caffeine last week - I had some half-decaf coffee for a couple of days, none at all on Friday (but compensated with large quantities of candy), and then "accidentally" had pop on Saturday. I shouldn't be shocked that I'm feeling withdrawal symptoms, I suppose...

Breakfast this morning was steel cut oats (made in my rice cooker, which I set last night) and some pineapple:

It was a LOT of food. 1.5 cups of plain cooked oatmeal! After I worked my way through it, I hopped on the bus to the gym. My personal training session started out well, but then she put me on this Stairmaster that was actually a rotating staircase. I only had to be on it for a minute and 15 seconds, but it REALLY finished me. I had to take a long break after, and continue taking breaks for the rest of the workout. Oh well, persistence, not perfection, right?! I am just so ready to be fitter than I am now.

Here are the snacks/lunch I brought to work:

Not very pretty, I know. The Fast Metabolism Diet has you eat three meals and two snacks. You're supposed to eat every 3-4 hours. For the most part, I stuck to that today, although I snacked on the baby carrots on and off all day (most veggies are unlimited, so I'm pretty sure that was allowed). My first snack was the apple and pear (lots of high-glycemic fruit on this phase of the diet), then for lunch I had the Chicken Sausage with Fusilli dish from the Fast Metabolism Diet book. It was DELICIOUS! I also had strawberries, but they weren't very good, unfortunately. My afternoon snack was orange slices.

For dinner, I had a tonne of brown rice, sweet potatoes, and pork that I made in my slowcooker yesterday. Delicious!

You're also supposed to drink lots of water on this diet - divide your weight in pounds by two and have that many ounces. So basically I still have to have about a zillion more ounces before I go to bed...

There were definitely some moments today where I wanted to eat junk food (and drink coffee!!!), but overall I'm feeling VERY motivated. Of course, that's easy to say on Day 1 of a diet, but to be honest, this is the furthest I've made it on a diet in ages and ages. So I'm going to celebrate! I TOTALLY ROCKED today and I feel so ready to make this change. :)

Fast Metabolism Diet - Day 0

Tomorrow I'm planning to start the Fast Metabolism Diet, which is a 28-day diet that is supposed to "repair" your metabolism. I don't really believe that, but I need to get back to eating whole foods and cooking for myself and I think the structure of this diet will help me for the next little while. I'm not sure if I will stick to it exactly. It's quite strict, and I know there will be a few instances in the next 4 weeks where I'll be out for dinner or in a group where I'm not comfortable making weird food requests. I'm also going to a concert this Friday night (RINGO STARR, omg) and staying in a hotel, so that could be tricky to finagle.

I was excited about this diet because I wanted to just be told what to eat for awhile and not have to do any thinking... however, going through the book and planning my meals for this week took a LONG time and a lot of thinking. I didn't love the pre-planned "meal maps" that were in the book, so I came up with my own.

This morning, I got up early (for me, for a Sunday, at 8am) and walked to the grocery store. I also picked up a few things yesterday at the health food store. Here are some of the goods:

I got home, started doing a bit of food prep, watched some old episodes of America's Next Top Model, took a nap... but a few short hours later,  I had this:

Lots of meals! In the back row are containers with brown rice, sweet potatoes, and pork tenderloin that I made in my slow cooker. In the second last row is some extra brown rice I plan to freeze, and three servings of a Baked Cashew Chicken recipe that is in the Fast Metabolism Diet book. I subbed almonds for the cashews, and it smelled AMAZING. In the first two rows are a couple of chicken breasts (for the low-carb-type days on the plan) and 6 servings of Chicken Sausage with Fusilli, also from the FMD book. I ate some as soon as it was cooked, and it was delicious! I used turkey sausage, along with brown rice pasta, zucchini, broccoli, and red onions.

I still have a few things I want to do tonight to get ready for this diet. I want to portion out some fruit, nuts, and other snacks. I also have to get my gym bag ready and get to bed early because I have a session with my personal trainer at 6:45 am tomorrow! Ack!!

I will report back tomorrow night and let you know how my first day goes!