Food and Exercise 17

Happy Easter!

-egg white and veggie scramble with salsa (200 cals? I think I overestimate these, but oh well better than underestimate)

-brunch potatoes with ketchup (250 cals?)

-water (100 oz) (0 cals)

-iced tea (0 cals)

-banana bread (250 cals?)

-(really good) coffee x 2 (0 cals)

-cake (300 cals?)

-3/4 serving organic mac & cheese with salsa (275 cals)

tentative total: 1275 calories

Hmm, WAY too carby/sugary, but too late now :-P. I also had like 2 strawberries and a bite of my Dad's quiche, but it was easily less than 50 calories total. I REALLY wanted the banana bread french toast, but went for the egg whites instead, even tho it was a Holiday, so I realllly don't care that I ate (free!) cake and a piece of banana bread. I did only lose .4 this week, so it's obvious the exercise makes a HUGE difference in weight loss. Great motivation indeed. 

Luckily, today was a very active day for me. Ran a few errands..lots of walking. After that I went to the gym and did the stretching machines for about 20 min, followed by the chest press, shoulder press, tricep machine, and bicep machine. Then, my Mom and I took the dogs on a 25+ minute walk. Once I start working out I get really into it and inspired to keep going. Hopefully I won't stop this time :-P. 

I wanted to do an egg hunt, but nobody would do it with me :( LOL. That was a waste of $5 of supplies!

Oh, and the cake being free was REALLY ironic. As I said yesterday, I had a few bites of cake after dinner. I was too full and saved the rest for today. Woke up this morning and my brother had eaten BOTH pieces. ALL of them. I was LIVID. He pulls that shit ALL. THE. TIME. It's so disrespectful and rude. But anyway, I was pissed off because of that for most of brunch. At the verrry end of our meal, right as we were about to pay, the waitress (who was really frazzled b/c of the huge crowd) accidentally spilled iced tea on my Mom. She was SUPER grateful that my Mom didn't really care. The restaurant we went to, Breadwinners Cafe, kinda caters to the rich-ish snooty types, so you could tell she was really relieved that she didn't spill it on any of the stereotypical rich bitches lol. She insisted on buying us cake and her manager told my Mom to pick out two pieces, so she gave them to me since my brother ate ours. Aw. Still not quite the same as the cake I wanted (and had...) last nite, but a nice gesture and perfect timing. I had about half of each piece and they were really good at least. Funny how those things work out sometimes.

XO,

Amanda

Food and (no) Exercise 16

-another ham/turkey/blahblah wrap (225 cals)

-bowl of organic strawberries and blackberries (75 cals)

-water (75 oz) (0 cals)

-iced tea (0 cals)

-2 small squares of milk chocolate (50 cals)

-2 small squares of dark chocolate (65 cals)

-low carb/gluten free spaghetti marinara with a few bites of grilled chicken (300 cals?)

-side salad with balsamic (125 cals?)

-few bites of gluten free-cake (150 cals?)

tentative total: 990 calories

Kind of ironic that the days I undereat on my calories are the days I feel by far the most full. And even though I ate dinner out tonite I picked a healthy-ish restaurant (it's a place that caters towards those who are intolerant to gluten, but they're willing to work with ALL allergies. I don't think it's necessarily lower in calories or fat, but it's definitely better for you than most other places, even if you do get the higher-calorie entrees. But to be honest, I only went because the cake sounded good and I need to find a good place to make my birthday cake in a couple weeks, LOL). I know I really shouldn't ever let myself go under 1200 calories, but I get full SO fast now. I always have, I think that's why I'm inherently more of a grazer than a meal eater, but I also don't want to make myself sick, ya know? I am borderline sickly now I feel so full and I even took home most of the chicken, a little of the pasta, etc. Not to mention I ate chocolate and cake and everything. Amazing how I can be SO low on calories and still eat all that. I think the fat flush tortillas I'm so obsessed with are partially to "blame." Not that I'm unhappy in the least, it just seems like they keep me SO full, especially if I eat them early in the day. 

I'm slowly (but surely) re-learning appropriate portions for my body to feel nourished, but not to overdo it. It's going to take time, but I'm on my way. I still am trying to understand why I feel sick SO often after I eat. I always have and no one knows why. It's not an every day thing even, but frequent enough to be bothersome. Hopefully by keeping this blog I can be more in tune with how I feel after I eat certain things and come to a better understanding. 

Today was a really lethargic day, even more so than yesterday. I'm starting to make myself uber guilty about not exercising, but considering I ate under 1,000 calories it was probably for the best. My pic whoring has shown me that my waist and such is looking smaller, I just REALLY want to start toning up more and having killer arms. Looking hot in a bathing suit wouldn't hurt either, but I digress. As I've mentioned before, I just hope I'm at least on OK terms with my body by my June vacation, and I fear that despite eating well, my infrequent workout schedule is going to severely hinder my progress. I really need to quit talking and start doing. For real.

XO,

Amanda

More self-indulgent pics:

Food and (no-ish) Exercise 15

-turkey & ham wrap with half a slice of light cheese & veggies (225 cals)

-water (90 oz) (0 cals)

-iced tea (over 60 oz) (0 cals)

-leftover creamed corn (150 cals?)

-a few dried apricots (100ish cals)

-russel stovers chocolate (100 cals)

-leftover filet mignon (235 cals)

-leftover baked potato (200 cals?)

-cadbury chocolate mini eggs (210 cals)

total: 1220 calories

Healthy, right? ha

BTW--Those mini eggs suck now. Screw you, Hersheys, for ruining a (formerly) great chocolate company. From now on I'm only sticking to the British or Australian versions of Cadbury's if I can help it. I knew they screwed up the chocolate bars a few years ago, but the mini eggs this year (and the cream filled eggs I've been told) were the last straw. American chocolate, we're through. 

As usual, didn't really exercise. Took the dogs on a 10ish min walk and also paced/walked around the house for a good 10-15 min while I was on the phone, but nothing really strenuous. 

It was REALLY nice having Friday off again. This is the first time since I was 16 that I had class on Friday and it's been REALLY draining. I managed to get another good nite's sleep (12 hrs or so) and I'm finally *sort of* feeling normal again. I have a bunch of tests next week which really sucks, but I get next Friday off too. YAY. Can't wait 'til the end of the semester. Then I'm done! Finally! Still can't decide if I want to apply to Grad school or work...or where I want to live. But...I have time. Kinda. I will definitely need at least a few months off just to chill and regroup. Ahhhhh Summer. :)

XO,

Amanda

Food and (no) Exercise 14

Ugh I suck! I wrote my post yesterday, but accidentally deleted it. Here we go again.

-hemp oatmeal with cashew butter (250 cals)

-organic string cheese (80 cals)

-kashi granola bar (120 cals)

-water (only about 50 oz, I think) (0 cals)

-iced tea (0 cals)

-one vodka soda (I asked for a single, but I think the restaurants standard pour is closer to a double) (about 100 cals?)

-a little bit of bread (175 cals?)

-part of my Mom's caesar side salad (175 cals?)

-4.5 oz filet mignon (235 cals)

-creamed corn (250 cals?)

-less than half of a large baked potato w/ sour cream & chives (about 200 cals?)

-few bites of homemade apple sauce (75 cals?)

-granny smith organic apple (80 cals)

-so delicious soy fudgesicle (90 cals)

tentative total: 1830 calories

I'm pretty sure when I typed this up last nite the total came to a few calories more, so maybe I'm underestimating now...or maybe I overestimated then *shrug* Either way...Soo worth it! My Mom and I celebrated her b-day yet again and went to Bob's Chop House (it was my first time, her second). My two favorite upscale restaurants are still Steve Fields and III Forks, but this was still really good. I only let myself have approx. half of everything. I was still a little hungry when I got home, hence the apple & fudgesicle. I figured those were better options than eating more decadent food and ordering dessert and it worked like a charm. 

I felt pretty crappy again tho, off and on all day. I slept 11 hours the nite before, so hopefully my body will even out soon and stop rebelling! 

I didn't have the time or will to exercise. I did finally start reading the book I've been telling you about. I was bored in my Gender class and brought it along LOL. It's nothing I didn't already know, but it does make you think about things in a new light. Love her and love it! I'm about half way through part one already. It's fairly long, but goes by likethat. Check it out!

Also, I don't really notice a big change in my body yet (granted it's only been about 2 weeks lol, but I used to be able to drop weight in literally days), but my Mom was saying she can definitely tell and it's amazing how fast my body adapts. Again, I'm annoyed it doesn't happen nearly as fast now as it did a few years ago, but it's cool that she's noticing. My brother said he can tell too. Cool Cool. Here's a (headless) pic I took of myself in my purdy dress last nite. IDK why my body looks so white LOL. It's probably a pretty flattering angle since not all of the pics turned out so well, but none turned out bad either (except one from the side where my arms look giant :-P)

Here's one with a head. Kinda came out weird, but at least it shows it's me LOL

love that dress!

Anyway.

XO,

Amanda

Food and (no) Exercise 13

Unlucky number 13....no wonder it's been a meh evening :-P

-greek salad (200 cals)

-greek chicken wrap (450 cals)

-french onion sun chips (50 cals)

-pear (90 cals)

-organic granny smith apple (80 cals)

-water (75 oz) (0 cals)

-iced tea (copious amts) (0 cals)

-cucumber slices, celery, banana peppers with a little natural ranch dressing (130 cals)

-half serving of vanilla yan yan asian cookies and dip (90 cals)

-2 iced tea hard candies (25 cals)

-sample of roasted veggies (brussel sprouts, turnips, beets, broccoli) (30 cals)

-sample of baked zucchini with cheese (20 cals)

-frozen pineapple chunks (60 cals)

total: 1215 calories

My aunt invited my Mom and I over for lunch and it was sooo good. She made the salad and wrap and mmm. When she first said she was making wraps my Mom and I were like eh (even though as you can probably tell from all of my posts I love wraps), but hers was fantastic! And the salad was a nice surprise. Yum yum yum. 

I've felt crappy most of the day, unfortunately. I am DEFINITELY sleep deprived. I'm actually in bed now trying to wind down to get a good nite's sleep *fingers crossed* Thankfully, I don't have class this Friday. MUST catch up on sleep then + the rest of the weekend. 

Tomorrow nite my Mom and I are going to a fancy restaurant for dinner. It probably won't be very forgiving calories-wise, but should be fun. 

No exercise. Too sickly and tired. I really wanted to run, but alas. 

XO,

Amanda

tasted better than it looks lol

ditto!

Food and Exercise(ish) 12

-hemp oatmeal with 1 tbsp cashew butter (250 cals)

-organic granny smith apple (80 cals)

-iced hazelnut coffee (10 cals)

-starbucks venti iced americano with splash of soy (25 cals?)

-water (85ish oz) (0 cals)

-organic string cheese (80 cals)

-multi-grain flax seed/quinoa/other grain tortilla chips (140 cals)

-chocolate vitamuffin (100 cals)

-taco bowl (lean ground beef, light sour cream, guacamole, taco flavored rice, organic vegetarian refried black beans, organic chili lime chips (about 700 calories)

total: 1385 calories

Success! I couldn't even finish that taco bowl, but I still probably ate about that many calories due to all of the components. Who knows, I may be overestimating. That seems like a hell of a lot of calories, but then again it had a hell of a lot in it. *shrug* Hopefully I'm not underestimating lol. All I know is that it made me feel crappy. Probably the red meat? Or just the heaviness, perhaps. 

As you can see, I finally had a chance to try the vitamuffins. I've been wanting to for awhile, but they're a little expensive. Still, it seems like they'll become somewhat of a staple for me now. Lots of vitamins and minerals, not to mention fiber, a littttle protein, etc. It claims to have more nutrients than an apple. Works for me!

I bought that Bethenny Frankel Naturally Thin book today (or rather my Mom bought it for me-so sweet). I ordered another book online this afternoon called Eat Clean. I flipped through it at Target, but it was cheaper on Amazon. Yeah, I'm really frugal when it comes to books lol. That's also why I didn't buy Bethenny's book, but my Mom didn't want me to have to wait just to save like $4 haha. 

Ooh, but that reminds me: I also got tickets for this small Paula Deen event. Shuttup, I like her. I've already seen her speak once at a larger venue, but this time it's only for 250 of us. Should be cool. The tickets come with a signed copy of her newest book. Considering I'm not a butter or mayo fan I don't know how often it will actually be put to use, but still kinda fun. My Mom and I are both going, but don't exactly need two copies of the book. I wonder if it would sell on Ebay? Haha. 

The only exercise I could squeeze in today was a 15 minute dog-walk. Better than nothing, but eh. 

Wish me luck that I get more sleep soon. I desperately need it. Doesn't look like tonite will help with that, but I'll take what I can get...

XO,

Amanda

Food and Exercise 11

-about a cup of cantalope and honey dew melon chunks (60 cals)

-other 1/2 of my omelete and potatoes from yesterday (150 cals?)

-water (well over 100 oz) (0 cals)

-spicy sweet chili doritoes (250 cals)

-2 small turkey and ham wraps (445 cals)

-so delicious dairy-free neopolitan mini ice cream sandwich (90 cals)

-about a cup of pineapple (70 cals)

-pomegranate green tea (0 cals)

-organic strawberries, 1/8 cup organic tropical granola, plain ff greek yogurt, cinnamon (125 cals)

total= 1190 calories

Why yes, I do love fruit. LOL :). 

 omelet--veggies fell out on the side lol)

I kinda overstuffed them lolsquish!

It still amazes me how much you can eat at home and you actually feel good after you eat. I know that sounds like common

sense/second nature to most people, but again, as a (former?) restaurant whore it's still news to me! Forgive me if I sound like a broken record for awhile lol. I'm used to eating pretty healthy, but always feeling horrible after I ate. That still happens sometimes, but far less.

I went to Subway tonite for dinner, but they were out of the wraps. WTF? The bread I can sorta understand since it's freshly made or w/e, but I'm sure the wraps come prepackaged. I wonder why they couldn't just open a new one in the back? I was pretty frustrated b/c I'd been craving it all day. Instead of going to quiznos across the street (where I know the calories are pretty much through the roof) or another Subway, I just went to the grocery store and bought all of the ingredients to make my own. I didn't think it'd be as good since I feel like I never know the right ratios of what to put in sandwiches (or salads..), but it was better. SO good. AND because my wraps were small I got to eat TWO for only 100 (delicious) calories more than the Subway would have been. Woohoo. Plus I know my meat had no nitrites or other yucky, unncessary preservatives, my veggies were fresh, etc. SO THERE! 

I'm eating the yogurt bowl right now and it's almost 1 am, but I have a good 3 or so hours of studying ahead of me (bleh) and I'm hungry. You're supposed to eat when you're hungry, so...I am :). 

For exercise I took my dogs on a 40 minute jog/walk. Mostly walk. Once again it's CRAZY windy, so that upped the effort a little bit. Still haven't made it to the gym for weight machines, though :(. This is gonna be a semi-busy week, but I want to go by the weekend for sure. Sooner would be a bonus. Until then I'm gonna squeeze in any exercise I can.

XO,

Amanda