Six Weeks of Tracking: Wrap Up

Sunday marked the end of my six weeks of tracking. So, how did I do?

The green swirls indicate that I tracked, so you can see I kind of ran out of steam near the end there. But overall, I'm pleased with how I did. And I'm EXTRA pleased with all the exercising I've been doing! Each pink star indicates a workout (and I also wrote in what the exercise was). I worked out 6 times each week! Here I am after my run on Sunday:

I did something unusual for me, which was running in mid-afternoon in the heat. I didn't die! I brought water with me and I didn't run far, so it wasn't really a big deal... but I usually avoid the heat at all costs.

Speaking of avoiding the heat, as you may recall, the six weeks of tracking was leading up to a trip down south! I leave at 3 am tomorrow for Nashville, Memphis, and Chicago! I am a notorious overpacker, so I've been trying to condense as much as possible. I am extremely excited and will be sure to post about my trip when I return.

I am planning/hoping to get some exercise in on the road. I'm travelling with a friend who's training for a half-marathon, so she will definitely be going for a couple of runs while we're gone. I obviously can't run at her speed or distance, but maybe I can kind of jog in a circle while she does whatever insane distance she has planned. ;)

I'm not going to pretend that I'm going to track or eat perfectly while I'm gone (I've booked myself on a Chicago Pizza Tour, for goodness sakes), but I am DETERMINED to get right back on track when I return. I cooked a huge batch of healthy chili yesterday that's all portioned out in my freezer for when I get back.

I'd better finish getting ready for my trip! See you in a couple of weeks!

Step-Ups of Doom

This summer is just flying by! I've been a busy bee and haven't had a chance to squeeze in a post.

Last weekend I went to a lovely wedding. I saw a few friends from teacher's college (including the bride) that I hadn't seen in about two years.

I looked up a fun french braid hairstyle on Youtube and I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out!

The food was amazing! There were seven courses, and I'm not ashamed to say I ate every single one (and multiple types of cake!).

So far, that's been the only day I haven't tracked during my six weeks of tracking challenge… But I got up early (as in, early enough to be ready for a noon checkout) the next morning to work out in the hotel gym! I'm basically a superstar.

I have also been taking some random food photos with intentions of writing blog posts about them. I can't recall exactly what I planned to say, but I can show you a couple of pictures at least.

Ginormous salad

I always bring a ridiculous amount of food to work.

I am still seeing my personal trainer (I'm planning to keep seeing her for the rest of the summer, except for the two weeks I'm out of town, and then in September I'll probably stop). I know that I don't need a trainer to get in shape, but I work out so much harder with her than I would on my own. Yesterday, after running some drills with an agility ladder, I had to do 15 squats with a kettlebell, then run a short sprint, then do 14 squats, then run, then 13 squats... all the way down to 1 squat. Needless to say, the sprints quickly turned into slow, stagger-y jogs. After that, she had me do 15 slams with a medicine ball, then 20 walking lunges, then 14 ball slams, then 20 walking lunges... luckily, I was only at 9 ball slams when my hour was up.

I saw her again today, and the workout was so hard that I honestly wanted to cry. Not so much because it was the most physically challenging workout we've done (although it was really tough), but it was very challenging mentally. I did step-ups tonight on a higher step than I've ever used before. Even though I did the first few without any problem, I stumbled a couple of times and totally lost my confidence. I had to REALLY psych myself up before attempting each step-up, and I was a bit scared that I was just going to go headfirst over the other side. My trainer kept reminding me that I was completely capable of doing them, which I was, and somehow I made it through. I really didn't believe I was going to, though. Oh, and I also had to flip a tire a bunch of times.

By the time I came home from personal training (my session was after work today), I really wanted to just buy something junky to eat for dinner. I was so exhausted and felt like I "deserved" it. But somehow I ended up just microwaving some vegetables and leftover chicken. Who am I!?

That's all for today! Have a great, healthy weekend!

Biggest salad ever!

I'm still here! I haven't quit yet. I've been tracking (albeit slightly creatively on occasion) and exercising consistently.

Today I'm feeling very motivated. The past two days, I went a bit overboard with my eating. I kept thinking that little things here and there wouldn't make a difference (like a muffin with my coffee, some wine with dinner, an impromptu bagel as a morning snack...), but when I sat down and tracked everything, I discovered I had used up ALL of my weekly Weight Watchers points (which don't reset until next Monday). Instead of giving up for the week (or longer), I planned out my meals for today and made a huge salad to bring for lunch. I also brought my french press to work to brew my own coffee instead of buying it. I tend to buy treats whenever I'm at a coffee shop, so I think this will be a big help (and more economical!).

This morning, I talked to my trainer about my nutrition and it made me think more about exactly which foods I'm choosing to eat. On Weight Watchers, you can pretty much eat whatever you want as long as it fits your points. That's what makes the program easy to follow - but it's also one of the potential problems with the program (depending on how you look at it). I'm very proud of the changes I've made to my eating habits over the past few weeks (just the fact that I have been preparing most of my meals, rather than eating out constantly, is huge), but I still have lots of room for improvement. If choosing healthy, filling, whole foods becomes automatic for me, then this lifestyle will truly become sustainable... I hope. :)

Anyway! I have a couple of snazzy lunches to share with you.

From last week:

Red peppers and a wrap! There's hummus in the tiny container.

Today I brought a HUGE lunch to work in my Aladdin collapsible salad set (I know I've mentioned my addiction to fun lunch containers before). I bought it months ago, but didn't use it until today for some strange reason. Here it is all closed up:

And here's what's inside:

I had lots of greens and some broccoli coleslaw with chicken, cheddar cheese, corn chips, salsa, and some guacamole. This salad was SUPER filling. The container was a bit cumbersome to carry TO work, but after lunch all the containers collapsed to a very manageable size.

I am exhausted so I think I will head to bed. I have plans for an early-morning workout! Ta!

Bentobsessed.

I have a problem.

I suffer from a major weakness for fun lunch containers.

On Saturday, I was at one of my favourite stores, Fenigo, "just browsing." Lately I've been looking at lots of pictures (and some youtube videos) of bento-style lunches, and when I saw some cute Japanese bento boxes at Fenigo, I just couldn't resist. I bought one for myself, and one to give my sister as a thank-you for all of the times she's taken me out to practice my driving.

On Sunday, we met for one last practice session before my road test on Thursday (yes, THURSDAY! Aaaahhhhh). I decided to pack us a fun picnic lunch in our new bento boxes. First, I set out all of my bento ingredients:

I followed this tutorial on Youtube to make hatching chicks from hardboiled eggs. Look, I know they're deformed, but it was my first attempt:

Lettuce for the eyes and carrot for the lips!

In the boxes were pinwheel sandwiches, carrot and cucumber slices, cherry tomatoes, the hardboiled eggs/hatching chicks, grapes, strawberries cut to look like hearts, and mini cinnamon buns in silicone baking cups. Oh, and cheesestrings to really bring things to the next level. (And some fun animal toothpick things that I had lying around in a cupcake-making kit.)

 Here are the boxes all closed up:

Mine is the yellow one!

 I packed the bentos (and some extra food...) in my big cooler bag, and was on my way.

I'm pleased to say the bento boxes were a hit! My sister was very impressed. We've since decided that everything we eat from now on has to be out of a bento.

In other food news, a few weeks ago I discovered a really cool meal delivery service here in Waterloo called Food Naturally. It's run by holistic nutritionist Dana Rourke. You have the option of ordering one or two portions of three different meals. The meals are vegetarian and gluten-, sugar-, and dairy-free (not to mention made from scratch with whole foods!). As you know, I often find it EXTREMELY difficult to garner the motivation to do as much cooking as I should. Sometimes, I also have trouble thinking of interesting, healthy meals to cook. So, this meal service sounded like the perfect occasional treat.

I tried it for the first time a few weeks ago and loved it. When I saw the meal plan for this coming week, I knew I had to order again. I picked up my meals for the week this evening:

I received two big, delicious salads; two servings of falafels with brown rice, millet tabbouleh, hummus, and tahini sauce; and lots of tomato soup. She also included some complimentary granola! I had the falafel meal for dinner tonight and it was FANTASTIC.

Ordering the meals is obviously more expensive than making the food myself, but it's no more expensive than buying my lunch everyday (which I was doing just a few weeks ago... as well as buying many unhealthy breakfasts and dinners). I think it's definitely worth it to give myself a break once in awhile and still enjoy lots of super-healthy food. :)

Well, it's almost my bedtime! I'm meeting my trainer at 7:00 am tomorrow - which is better than our usual time of 6:45, but not by much... Toodles!

Adventures with Wheat Meat

I can't believe it's Thursday! The Summer of Katie is just zooming by (fabulously, of course).

I mentioned on Sunday that I was attempting to make seitan (a fake meat made from wheat gluten). I've never had seitan before, so I don't know if mine turned out "correctly," but I was pretty pleased with it.

Here are two seitan lumps after simmering in broth for awhile:

I grilled slices on my George Foreman grill:

I put the seitan on top of Isa Chandra Mokowitz's Dragon Noodle Salad.

I know this isn't all THAT impressive-looking, but it looks much nicer than the meals I usually eat.

It was delicious! I brought some leftovers with carrot sticks to work the next day in this awesome lunch container. I bought it awhile ago but for some reason hadn't gotten around to using it yet... I suppose until this week, I didn't have a lunch worthy of it!

Love the colours!

Yesterday was a long day for me. I went to the gym before work, worked until 7, and then rushed home for a driving lesson at 8 (my G2 road test is next week! ack!). I managed to prep a bunch of food the night before to bring to work. Even though I was exhausted, it didn't feel like a big chore... what a change from just a few weeks ago!

I brought a huge salad with goat cheese and a small can of lemon pepper tuna, carrots and hummus, plain yogurt with frozen mango pieces, brown rice pasta with meat sauce (which I made awhile ago and froze), an apple and banana, some crackers, and a granola bar. I barely had time to eat it all before it was time to go home!

This morning I met with my trainer. We spent some time with the foam roller. At first I was psyched that we were doing that instead of the usual torture lunges and such. But my muscles are so tight, it turned out to be pretty painful, especially when I was rolling over my IT band. And then I had to do a million lunges anyway. I have a foam roller, so I am determined to start using it regularly to loosen up a bit. I've been having some foot pain and I think it will help a lot.

That's all to report for now! I'm sure I'll be back soon with more random lunch pictures and gym updates. :)

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.