Eat to Live Days 26-28

Well, I certainly had a jam-packed weekend! On Friday, I headed out of town to visit some family (including my cousin's new baby!). I knew I'd probably be gone until Saturday, so I decided to plan ahead to make sure I didn't stray from my healthy eats.

First of all, I had a big breakfast - a green smoothie AND some oatmeal.

Then I packed up a ton of food:

Salad, raspberry balsamic vinegar, leftover soup, black beans, avocado, tomato, homemade salsa, and some chopped up red and yellow peppers. While out of town, I must admit that I ate several sandwiches, BUT they were all on oil-free, whole grain bread. When everyone else had grilled halibut or fish and chips for dinner Friday night, I ordered a garden salad with no dressing (and added my own balsamic vinegar).

On Saturday morning, I had the opportunity to go to a local farmers market! Not only did I resist all the delicious baked goods that were for sale, I bought lots of healthy, delicious produce.

I got fresh corn on the cob, peppers, tomatoes, garlic, carrots, and Ontario peaches. Not too shabby!

On the way home to Toronto on Saturday, I was struck with how, in the past, being out of town would have been a great "excuse" for me to splurge. I honestly would have had a muffin or donut or bagel at every opportunity, as well as splurged on fish and chips and other goodies. Even if I was on Weight Watchers, I would have eaten whatever I wanted and selectively tracked it (or not...) afterwards. If nothing else, this experiment is showing me that there are truly NO excuses! Because I had committed to eating a certain way, it didn't even really take willpower. I just felt I had no other choice but to eat well. :)

When I got home yesterday evening, I was starving. I quickly threw together a healthy meal of tofu scramble and cauliflower (with a couple of leftover pieces of broccoli).

This morning, I hopped on the GO train to Port Credit to meet some of my bestest university friends for brunch. We went to Cora's. Now, let me just say that brunch is possibly my favourite meal of the day. I LOVE going out for brunch and ordering a huge platter of eggs, toast, homefries, and sausage (not to mention several cups of coffee!).

This morning, I knew I couldn't do that. I stuck to a hot water with lemon and a fruit platter.

This dish usually comes with toast, but I actually called ahead to the restaurant to find out if there was any oil or dairy in their bread (there was oil). This way, I didn't have to ask the waitress and make a big deal of it at the restaurant - I just said I didn't want any toast.

Eating so strictly is teaching me that it's possible to speak up at restaurants (or phone ahead) to make sure my needs are accommodated. I still don't think it's easy, and I still haven't tried to make requests that my food be prepared a certain way... but maybe I'll get there!

Tonight, I needed something hearty, simple, and delicious for dinner. The solution: another giant batch of chili.

SO delicious. I ate it with some corn on the cob from the farmers market (while watching the season finale of The Bachelorette!!!!!).

That's Better Butter on the side!

And so ends the fourth week. I'm two-thirds done! I must admit, I'm a bit nervous for tomorrow's weigh-in. I did eat a LOT of bread this weekend, and I'm worried I've been overdoing it with the nuts, too. We shall see!

Night all!

Eat to Live Days 13-14

I've made it through two weeks of the Eat to Live program! (More or less - sometimes I overdo it on the grains, nuts, salt, and avocado.) Only four more weeks go to.

I feel like I spent my entire weekend grocery shopping, food planning, and cooking. Maybe because I did...

On Saturday, I decided to make good use of my TTC metropass and go to a few health food stores. I started out at Whole Foods, where I had big plans to treat myself to an expensive salad from their salad bar. I was pleased to find that they offer many salads and dressings that are oil-free! Perfect!

I don't even know what all I piled on there! There were lots of greens, some grains, and an oil-free avocado dressing. I only managed to eat half for lunch, and saved the rest for dinner. After my stop at Whole Foods, I headed over to my old neighbourhood in the east end. I went to Strictly Bulk at Pape and Danforth to pick up some pinto beans, raw cashews, raw peanuts, and almond milk. Then, since I was in the area, I wandered over to The Big Carrot.

After going to three different stores, you'd think I would be done with grocery shopping. Not the case! I still needed a tonne of produce, so I went to the regular grocery store Saturday evening. Then it was time to start cooking!

I made black bean burgers for dinner on Saturday, with the plan to bring one to the barbecue I had to attend today. However, they didn't turn out that great (I wasn't really following a recipe).

I was feeling very anxious about going to this barbecue--I felt awkward about bringing my own food, and I wasn't sure how to explain it to people. I even had a dream last night where I ate a hamburger (and subsequently felt guilty about it)!

Today, I started cooking as soon as I woke up. I really wanted to tackle this recipe for taco salad. I cooked pinto beans with lots of spices and I also made my own salsa!!! I was so impressed with myself. Turns out, it's not even difficult!

I piled loads of pinto beans, salsa, and avocado on some romaine lettuce for lunch.

It was delicious!! I also cooked up a big batch of brown rice to eat throughout the week.

But I still had the matter of the family barbecue to deal with. I had emailed my aunt in advance to let her know that I was avoiding fat and oil due to my gallbladder issues, and that I would be bringing my own food to eat. I decided to abandon the mediocre black bean burgers I made last night, and made a burrito using the pinto beans and salsa I had for lunch.

I'm pleased to say the barbecue was a success! No one questioned me eating my own food, and my aunt even had a plain salad ready for me to eat. Also, my bean burrito was so delicious I didn't miss the burgers and hot dogs that everyone else was eating!

I was shocked to realize that I didn't feel deprived--even when everyone else was eating cookies and ice cream for dessert (I had a banana). On a normal day, at this kind of event, I would have been tortured by the cookies and ice cream. I would agonize over the plate of cookies, wondering how many Weight Watchers Points each one was, and if people would think I was eating too much if I took another one (and another one, and another one...). Tonight, I was just able to enjoy the conversation and not think about food at all. I'd already made the decision about what I was eating, and I could actually focus on other things. It was great! So, in sum, I worried for nothing (as usual).

Stay tuned for tomorrow's weigh-in!

Ready!

Tomorrow, I plan to start the Eat to Live program for six weeks. I am really excited to be eating healthy foods and feeling healthy again, for the first time in a long time.

This weekend, I abstained from coffee (and I think the headaches are gone) to prepare. I also ate some Eat to Live meals and made a HUGE batch of soup.

There is SO much kale in there.

I planned out my meals for tomorrow and I made up a calendar to track my progress for the next six weeks.

I will report back to you tomorrow night! Have a great Monday!

On Plan on the Road?

Does the air up North make anyone else's appetite INSATIABLE?

On Wednesday, my mom rented a van, and I helped her move some furniture up to the cottage my parents bought this summer.

My mom and I have done a lot of moving (mostly moving me around before/during/after university). But this time, we bit off more than we could chew:

Let's back up.

Knowing that we would be doing a lot of driving, and that the temptation to eat all of our meals out would be VERY strong, I did some pre-packing:

I wanted to make sure that any craving my mom and I had would be met (with something healthy!). I had hardboiled eggs, homemade hummus, crackers, steel cut oats (for a cottage breakfast), granola bars, homemade date-coconut bars, red lentil curry (for a cottage dinner), plain yogurt with fruit, and some orange slices all ready to go.

When we first arrived at the cottage, our property was covered in snow (no one has been there since October). We got to work (our plan was to back the car right up to the front steps so we could easy-peasy slide things up and in to the cottage).

Now, I have not shoveled in at least a year. It is HARD WORK. This snow had been sitting a long time, and was really hard to chip away.

We worked and worked and my muscles are still aching, two days later. But I treated it like I was just trying to get a really good workout (and not like I was trying to clear an impossible amount of snow). I tried to have "good form" (what is good shoveling form?) and use my legs and hold my core tight (hey, it really helped!).

By the time we had shoveled as much as we could, it was already dark, so we left the unloading for Thursday morning. Most of the unloading was fine. Then it was time to move the huge (well, normal-sized) pull-out couch. We were not able to back the car up very close to the house (while trying, it got stuck in the mud), and we were not able to totally clear the snow. We had a long path to move the couch along, then a few stairs.

It was the hardest thing EVER. I'm usually very positive, but I kept telling my mom we would NOT be able to do it (I was being a bit of a cranky pants!).

We ended up having to drag it across the snow and mud (with a couple of garbage bags to protect it), then shimmy it slowly up the stairs.

I may or may not have burst into tears at one point.

We finally got it inside and said "never again."

So, what with all the shoveling and horrible couch-moving, I definitely got some activity in. But I also got in a lot of food (I guess my mentality was that I should reward myself for my hard work). I did eat many of the snacks I brought, though, and if I hadn't had them, things would have been much worse. (I like to look on the bright side!)

Let's hope it somewhat balances out and I don't see a gain tomorrow...

In other news, the scenery was very pretty (although it frightened me to see people ice fishing and skidooing on the lakes... it has been a MILD WINTER! I was wearing a t-shirt while moving, and there was open water among the ice!)

I may not be posting over the weekend, because in about an hour I'm meeting one of my best friends (my old university roommate) at the bus station! She is staying with me until Monday, and tomorrow we will be joined by two of our other old roommates for the day. We all live in different cities now, so visits like this are all too rare.

Don't worry, I will still go to my Weight Watchers meeting tomorrow morning--although it will be hard to stay on plan with my friends around... not because they are the type to sabotage me in any way, but just because I'll be in the "celebration" mindset. Wish me luck!

I will report back soon with tomorrow's weigh-in AND Tuesday's booty camp results! I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Last Booty Camp Tonight!

Sunday was a bit of a write-off.

I tried to go for a run to take advantage of the beautiful weather, but instead I took a nap in my running clothes (seriously). Then I kind of pigged out during the Oscars.

Thankfully, it was back down to business on Monday! Yesterday, Kate mentioned that she had a sugar hangover... so did I. After I eat a bunch of junk, I feel really gross the next morning. It takes awhile for my stomach to get back to normal.

I never used to feel horrible after eating junk food (back when I would eat it all the time)... unless I did feel horrible, but didn't notice because I felt like that all the time? My body really notices now when I give it junk to eat. I guess it's gotten used to the good stuff!

I had a green smoothie to try and fool my stomach into feeling better, and then I managed to actually get out the door in my running clothes! I ran for half an hour, but I was struggling by the end. I barely made it home. I definitely needed more than a green smoothie before my run... I had slept in, so my blood sugar was running pretty low.

I had a huge pile of marking to contend with when I got home,

so I settled in with a coffee and one of Jess's two-minute flax muffins - you make them in the microwave! It was so easy to make, but I'm still not 100% sure how I feel about them. I'll probably keep making them just because they're so fast and healthy! Here are the ingredients all lined up (as you can see, I do a lot of shopping at bulk food stores):

And mixed up in my mug:

And the final product (I never said it would be pretty!):

I had it with some jam.

I barely made a dent in my marking, so that's what's on the agenda for today (good thing I'm up bright and early!). I also need to do some planning. I will be away from home (mostly in a car, and packing/unpacking) with my mom from Wednesday-Thursday, and I am DETERMINED to stay on-plan! I will let you know how it goes!

I also have my LAST Booty Camp session tonight. Wow, I can't believe it's been 8 weeks since I started. I really want to sign up again (and probably will). I'm pretty curious as to what my measurements will be tonight... hopefully I won't have gained weight again like I had at the 4-week mark! At any rate, I feel MUCH stronger and fitter than I did 8 weeks ago. I will let you know how the measurements go... probably. ;)

Last night was my last Pilates class, too... what will I do without these pre-paid classes to keep me motivated?!

X-TREME Meal Planning

As you may know, I've been struggling with food lately. I haven't been in control of my food, it's been in control of me.

So I took drastic action.

It began on Saturday night. I did some preliminary meal planning:

Then, on Sunday, I got the necessary groceries and spent a few hours cooking, chopping, pre-portioning, packaging, and labeling. Behold:

And close-up:

That's right. Those are all of my lunches, dinners, and snacks (except already-portioned things like fruit and granola bars) for the rest of the week (exceptions: I'm planning on eating two meals out this week, and for some reason Friday dinner is not accounted for. But that shouldn't be a problem).

It's like my very own Nutrisystem! Hmmmm... Katri-system?

I didn't want to have to THINK at all this week. I just wanted everything laid out for me so I would have NO EXCUSES. Some highlights:

- red lentil curry

- homemade hummus (I don't use tahini though... I like it better without!)

- tofu stirfry

- triscuits!

- date coconut bar

I didn't pre-make my breakfasts, because it's not usually breakfast where I go off-track. I already have not stuck with my plan 100% (I had a latte today, and I'm having an extra snack), but this will be accounted for with weekly points and activity points.

Obviously, this is not something I can do every week. I happened to be able to make the time for it this weekend, because I knew I had to do something radical to jumpstart my eating again. And I have some extra leftovers because I made big batches of the red lentil curry & tofu stirfry, so there is more in the freezer for upcoming weeks! :)

The only drawback to a mass cooking session:

I've also got this week's exercise off to a good start! As I mentioned on Saturday, I did the Booty Camp Beginner Workout from the DVD. I also managed to go for a swim on Sunday! I have Pilates class tonight, and Booty Camp on Tuesday & Thursday, so even if I don't do anything else, I feel pretty set.

How are you planning to be healthy this week?