FIVE Ways My Current Eating/Exercise Plans Are Different than Before

So, I'm about a month into my eating and exercise plan and wanted to reiterate what I'm doing different this time around compared to my eating campaign earlier in the year. More than anything, I'm basing my new plans on knowledge of what works for me, for my body and what is sustainable. 5 main differences this time around:

1. "STAYING WITH IT" - I'm being a bit easier on myself. I am lightening up a bit and not punishing myself if I veer from the plan. I partied around Halloween and didn't lose that much. So what? I have to be social or I will quit it. The goal is to get back on the wagon the following day.

2. "EXERCISE" - I dislike treadmill and stepper and cardio, in general. I will do these from time to time, but the focus will be on low impact exercise and LOTS of weight training (Goal: 3x per week.)

3. "HOMEMADE FOOD" - My goal is to prepare, from scratch, 95%+ of what goes into my mouth. Preparing multiple meals over the weekend to munch on over the week keeps me eating healthy and my body is responding well to less preservatives. Beyond being practical, it's also a time saver as I just reheat things during the week.

4. "NO ALCOHOL" - I have largely cleared my apartment of alcohol during the week so I'm not tempted to have a drink. I do believe no alcohol (except on splurge days) does boost my metabolism. It also makes me a "cheap date" on the night I go out.

5. "LITTLE OR NO POP" - I was in the habit of having a can of pop with lunch in the afternoon. While I'm not completely cutting it out of my diet, it is kinda bad for you, so I am drinking as little as possible.

Food or Beer?

Don't get me wrong. I absolutely love to drink beer. 

Tonight I had a realization that I could eat three of these nice crackers with some goat cheese or I could have one beer. 

I chose the food.

Secret Protein Tip

I learned this in Poland, where soups are really big. Be it barszcz or pickle soup or chicken noodle soup, often they will be served with a hard boiled egg on top, as shown.

As a vegetarian, I sometimes have problems getting enough protein. This is one yummy way I can. An egg has a mild flavor is meshes well with most soups, including my homemade chili.

Happy Refrigerator: Food for the Week

I've been busy cooking healthy food. I'm set for the majority of my cooking for the rest of the workweek. (I'll supplement this with fresh veggies and some frozen stuff.)

Saturday, I made quinoa firecracker chili. Then tonight, I prepared rice, indian style roasted cauliflower, roasted vidalia onion, polenta with peas in cream sauce (not low fat, but I keep the portion low!) as well as thai stir fry.

Week 2: Down 2 More lbs

Woo hoo! I lost 2.0 lbs on my second "official" week on my eating and exercise plan. While I gave myself Bs and Cs for the week (most notably because of the fact I have a healing broken toe and could not extensively diet,) I did manage to be very disciplined for 5 of the 7 days. I had a lot of fun at Buckeye and Blue Jacket Games on Saturday and Sunday nights. I lived.

To keep up this velocity and since my toe is basically healed, I'm going to add mild cardio to the mix this next week.

What went well last week

- I was disciplined 5 days and my two bad days, I was disciplined right up until my first beer and bite of bad food. 

- I ate an apple every day

- I cooked a lot of yummy, tasty food on Sunday which I grazed on all week, including roasted succotash, couscous, baked vidalia onion, polenta (Trader Joe's frozen thing.) I felt full and satisfied all week.

- There was pizza in the break room at work and I didn't eat any

- I didn't drink through the week at all

- I spent almost no money on food or drink (besides my two cheat days which were expensive) 

What I could have done better last week

- I should have only partied one night last week, not two

- I should have made the minestrone soup that I had intended to make (Instead I had store-bought soup.

- I should have made my 2.7k Nike Fuel Points goal each day

Satisfying Dinner

I've been happy with myself this week. Despite being very busy at work, (10+ hour days) I've been on my eating plan. Tonight, I had a series of homemade leftovers:

Starting at 12 o'clock: polenta with peas, baked vidalia with breadcrumbs, roasted succotash, couscous and roasted yellow squash and portobello mushroom. Total: 11 points (pre Nov '10 WW points)

Soup and Salad

I was working from home today and fixed this for lunch:

Homemade bean soup with chopped salad (cabbage, red onions, carrot, celery, cashews with peanut butter vinaigrette) topped with fresh avocado.