Diet Day 23

Only a half hour on the treadmill this morning, because I plan on going to kickboxing after work, started reading Steven Saylor's "Catilina's Riddle," another one of his Roma Sub Rosa series.  It's so much easier to diet at work, I can keep to my regular routine and most of the time I'm too busy to think of ways to rationalize eating more than I should.

7 am muscle milk lite shake

10:30 oatmeal with raisins, half Aidell's chicken sausage

1:30 leftover vegetable stew with 4 oz leftover Boston Market chicken, pickle

4:00 4 oz plain yogurt with Splenda and cinnamon

--kickboxing at 24Hour--

6:45  Delicious 3-egg omelet (I cheated, should've been 2) with spinach, mushrooms, and fat free cheddar cheese.   It was so good I licked the plate when it was all gone. Marisa had made some acorn squash, but in all the excitement over the omelet I forgot to eat it.  

Diet Day 22

Only did a half-hour on the treadmill this morning (still reading Jeane Kalogridis' The Inquisitor's Wife), because I wanted to do kickboxing after work without killing myself.  Determined to have carbs at breakfast, but no more for the rest of the day.

7 am muscle milk lite shake

10:30 cold cereal (Fiber One original and Fiber One honey squares, mixed) with one huge strawberry and a handful of blueberries

1:30 Vegetable stew (made by my mom, delicious! broccoli, carrots, zucchini and mushrooms cooked in heavily seasoned crushed tomotoes) with 4 oz cooked shrimp

4 pm Fit N Lite Greek yogurt, vanilla toasted coconut flavor

--kickboxing at 24 Hour with Marquel --

7:30  leftover Boston Market chicken (one tiny thigh and one drumstick), leftover Boston Market mixed vegetables, broiled spaghetti squash with one teaspoonful of  Prego spaghetti sauce, pickle

Diet Day 21

Woke up this morning panting for Sunday breakfast, but first went to the gym for Cardio Step and Strength at 9am.  This is a great class, very intense and exhausting, if I did this every morning would probably not need to diet (because I'd be in the hospital)

8:15  graham cracker

10:30 two eggs over easy, half Aidell's chicken sausage (hubby works for Aidell's, had to get in the brand name), half bialy, tomato wedges, pickle

2:30  leftover salad from California Pizza Kitchen with two slices of low-fat provolone

6:30 Boston Market chicken (one tiny thigh and two drumsticks), green beans, mixed vegetables, garlic spinach

Diet Day 20

Getting stressed out thinking about my meals today, not able to stick to my usual schedule because I was taking Noah to a live show of Pied Piper in Coral Gables at 11, had to leave the house 9:15 to pick up the Fox girls.  Got up at 7 and went on the treadmill as usual (still reading Jeane Kalogridis' The Inquisitor's Wife), but no shake afterwards because I had to get my breakfast in before I left the house.

8:30 cold cereal (GV Cinnamon Squares, GV Vanilla Awake and small handful of Cascadian fruit and nut granola) with 1 strawberry and a couple of blueberries (Marisa had put all the other fruit in her daily smoothies)

12:30  lunch at California Pizza Kitchen, Garden Veggie salad (whole, not half, so I could take some home), it was delicious with eggplant, artichoke, avocado and sundried tomato, in addition to the regular salad stuff.

2:30 (hard to believe I was hungry already, but there you have it) Fiber One Chocolate and Oats bar

7:00 dinner at Red Lobster, garden salad, tilapia with asparagus, artichoke and sundried tomatoes, cooked in a bag, small amount wild rice (portion served by the restaurant is way too big, it's about three portions, I ate a little less than half and forced myself to push the rest away.

Diet Day 19

Woke at 5:45, on the treadmill by 6:15, finished Philippa Gregory's The White Princess (five-star review coming soon to Goodreads) and started Jeane Kalogridis The Inquisitor's Wife.

7 am  muscle milk lite shake

10:15 cold cereal (Fiber One original and Fiber One golden squares)with strawberries and blueberries

1:15   salad with 3 oz smoked turkey breast and 1 oz lowfat provolone, 8 crackers, pickle

4:15 Lite N'Fit Greek Yogurt, vanilla toasted coconut flavor

7:15  leftover filet mignon (4-1/8 oz, yes I had weighed it yesterday) with leftover chopped spinach and leftover brown rice, a Grand Slam of leftovers!

Giving lots of thought to tomorrow's menu, it's going to be an atypical day because I won't be able to eat my meals on schedule like I've been doing, since I have to be in Plantation by 9:45 and Coral Gables by 11, plus eating out both lunch and dinner, always a challenge.

Diet Day 18

Woke up refreshed and feeling great today, not dragging my ass as usual, not sure why..hurried through the morning bathroom routine so I could get on the treadmill and finish reading The White Princess. 

7 am   Muscle Milk Lite shake (mental note to hide the powder, which costs me $23/package on sale, and Marisa's been dumping into her smoothie every day)

10:15  Oatmeal with slices of half a small apple and some raisins

1:15    Flanagan's for lunch, had their generic salad with some fresh ahi tuna on top, oh man that was good

4:00    Chocolate caramel pretzel Fiber One Bar

6:30     4-1/2 oz Filet mignon (yes I weighed it, it looked big so I cut it in half, and each half weighed a little over 4 oz), small scoop brown rice (thanks, Marisa, for making a big pot of this at the beginning of the week) and chopped spinach (put 1/2 a frozen bag in microwave) with garlic salt

Diet Day 17

Did 45 minutes on the treadmill this morning before I even looked up to see where I was, that's the great thing about reading a good book while you trot along, still reading Philippa Gregory's The White Princess.  I don't want to get to the end...because, sadly, I know how it ends.  I actually skipped my afternoon snack today, I was busy on the computer and by the time I realized 4 pm had come and gone , it was past 5.  Not to worry, I had some extra chicken at dinner to make up for it  :)

7 am  muscle milk lite shake

10:30 cold cereal (Fiber One original mixed with Fiber One golden squares) with fresh strawberries and blueberries

1:30 salad with leftover white meat rotisserie oven-stuffer roaster, 8 crackers

6:00 one leftover grilled chicken thigh w/Kraft lite barbecue sauce plus one leftover rotisserie oven-stuffer roaster thigh, small scoop of leftover brown rice, and one package frozen green beans

8:30 one celery stalk found while cleaning up, guess Marisa forgot to put in her curry chicken concoction for dinner, so I ate it

Diet Day 16

Sleepy again this morning, I must be weak from hunger hahahaha, went back to sleep for another half hour so I only did a half hour on the treadmill.  Reading Philippa Gregory's The White Princess. 

7:30 muscle milk lite shake

10:30 oatmeal, small chicken sausage (can one get addicted to chicken sausage? they're delicious!)

1:30 salad with 3 oz smoked turkey breast and 1 oz low-fat provolone, eight GV reduced fat wheat crackers

4:00 chocolate caramel pretzel Fiber One Bar

6:30 1-1/2 leftover grilled chicken thighs, approx 4 oz brown rice, leftover mixed veggies, pickle

Yes, as a matter of fact, "leftover" is my middle name

Diet Day 15

 A little disappointed that I only last two pounds last week, kind of a letdown after losing eight lbs the week before, but realistically I know that you always lose more the first week.  And I'm psyched to lose as much or more this week.

7 am muscle milk lite in the blender with 5  ice cubes and 7 oz water

10:15  cold cereal (Fiber One original and Fiber One golden squares mixed) with fresh strawberries and blueberries (raspberries must be going out of season, not too sweet)

1:15  4 oz sliced leftover rotisserie oven stuffer roaster in my salad, and eight crackers (Great Value reduced fat thin wheat baked)

4 pm chocolate caramel pretzel Fiber One bar

6:45 1-1/2 small chicken thighs cooked on the grill with Kraft Light Barbecue Sauce, broiled mushrooms, small sweet potato, super-sour pickle

Diet Day 14

Weekly Weigh-in:  Down another two pounds!  That totals ten lbs, 20 more to go.

Step and Sculpt class at 24-Hour Fitness, the regular instructor, Jen was out, which is great! Because her sub is Allison, a physical therapist who does a much better class. 

8 am graham cracker

10:30  two eggs over easy (spray butter on a teflon pan); two 1-oz chicken sausages; half a bialy with Smart Balance light margarine; half tomato; pickle spear

2:00  turkey taco (4 oz ground turkey browned no oil with taco mix; half low-carb low-fat tortilla; 2 tsp light sour cream; shredded fat free cheddar cheese and Walmart fresh garden salsa (didn't measure last two items)

4:30 Fit and Lite Greek yogurt banana cream with some granola thrown in

7:00 one thigh (looked like a portion) from oven stuffer roaster cooked on rotisserie; small sweet potato; mixed vegetables (frozen Broccoli Normandy, sold at Sam's, Costco, BJs) with garlic salt

Day Diet 13

Yay, got to sleep til 7:15 today.  Headed out to Trinity Fitness for my 8:30 tai bo class, but was disappointed that the regular instructor, Eli, wasn't there.  Still a good class, but not a great one.

7:30 graham cracker

10:00  mixed cold cereals (Walmart brands of Life and Total Vanilla almond, and Cascadian granola) with blueberries and raspberries

1 pm 2-egg omelet (trainer's diet actually calls for one egg and one egg white, but I cheated) with fat-free shredded cheddar cheese inside and Walmart fresh salsa on top, with half English muffin

4 pm Fit and Lite Greek yogurt vanilla coconut flavor with small handful of granola tossed in

7 pm  4 oz (more or less)  baked fresh tilapia (mixed up 3 parts lite mayo to one part dijon mustard and spread it on top), whole wheat pasta with Marisa's clam sauce (she took a can of clams and sauteed with small amount of oil, fresh garlic and fresh parsley), fresh green beans.

Diet Day 12

Absolutely could not drag my sorry butt out of bed on time this morning.  Finally around 6:30 I staggered into the bathroom to brush my teeth and get into my running (haha) outfit, but since it was so late I only had time to do 30 minutes instead of my usual 45 on the treadmill while continuing to read Susanna Kearsley's "The Firebird" on my Kindle Fire.

7:30  Muscle Milk Lite shake

10:15  oatmeal w/splenda and cinnamon, small chicken-apple sausage on the side

1:15 salad with 1 oz turkey and 1 oz reduced fat provolone (I had two open packages of turkey, the one with one slice left was fine, the one with several slices had gone bad, so I only had 2 oz of protein instead of four.  God, do I feel virtuous!

3:45 greek yogurt (Fit and Lite orange chiffon, added some fresh blueberries)

6:45 small filet mignon (looked about 4 oz if I squinted,sort of, but I didn't weigh it), spaghetti squash (note to self:  find something low-calorie to put on spaghetti squash, great with turkey chili but kind of blah eaten plain), small sweet potato, and a pickle. 

Diet Day 11

Thursday - Woke up at my usual, 5:40, wondering how many days more til the weekend.  Then I get to sleep LATE, til 7:15 on Saturday.  On Sunday I really go to hell with myself and sleep all the way til 7:45.  Jumped (well, waddled) onto the treadmill at 6:10, started reading Susanna Kearsley's The Firebird on my Kindle as I ambled along

7 am muscle milk lite shake

10 am cold cereal (Fiber One original mixed with Fiber One honey squares) with raspberries and blueberries, and a side of small chicken sausage.

1 pm salad with 3 oz turkey breast and 1 oz reduced fat provolone.  Sad because I finished the avocado yesterday, avocado MAKES the salad.  The cutup green beans I threw in were not nearly as good.

4 pm Fiber One chocolate pretzel caramel bar

7 pm finished the turkey chili, with an enormous amount of broiled spaghetti squash.

Diet Day 10

Woke at 5:40, on the treadmill by 6, trudging (running would sound better but it wouldn't be true) and reading James Patterson's 12th of Never. 

7 am Muscle Milk Lite - 1 measuring spoon of powder, 5 ice cubes, and enough water to make 7 oz.

10 am oatmeal w/Splenda and lots of cinnamon

1 pm salad with 3 oz turkey breast (I like Publix brand) and 1 oz reduced fat provolone

4 pm greek yogurt (plain) with blueberries and raspberries

7 pm medium lobster tail  (BOGO at Publix this week) (Marisa and I had our one each boiled, Marc had his two breaded and fried, sigh..) with small sweet potato and side of fresh green beans, nuked. 

I also drink a lot during the day, not plain water unfortunately, but I have a tall mug of hot tea when I get into the office at 9 and another one around noon.  I have a can of diet soda with lunch, then a bottle of Snapple tropical flavor diet iced tea about 3 pm.  At home I start sipping from a large glass of Arizona diet iced tea when I get home and continue sipping from it until bed time.  I keep it next to the bed in case I get thirsty in the middle of the night.

Diet Day 9

Treadmill 45 minutes, while reading James Patterson's 12th of Never.  Reading really makes the time on the treadmill go much faster.

7 am muscle milk lite shake

10 am cold cereal (Fiber One original) w/fresh blueberries and raspberries

1 pm salad with 3 oz turkey breast and 1 oz reduced fat provolone

4 pm chocolate caramel pretzel Fiber One bar

7 pm Noah's birthday dinner at Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza.  Everyone else had pizza and Marisa had wings.  I had most of the big salad plate we ordered for the table and a side dish of their Italian tuna (tuna made with olive oil, lemon and garlic, no mayo).  Luckily the pizza disappeared quickly before I could grab any.  I arm-wrestled my husband for the last piece but I lost.

Diet Day 8

Woke up 5:40, hit the treadmill shortly after 6 with my Kindle (reading James Patterson's 12th of Never) for my daily 45-minute walk.  Wish I could say it was a run; I'm always so impressed by folks who say, "Oh I ran 5 miles this morning," I'm breathing hard and sweating profusely after my 45- minute 2-1/2 mile walk.

7 am   muscle milk lite shake (just the powder plus ice and water)

10 am oatmeal (Splenda and cinnamon)

1 pm   lunch at Cracker Barrel, chef salad hold the bacon (of course I was pining after their dumplings but then I remembered the dumpling looking back at me from the mirror)

4 pm Chocolate caramel pretzel Fiber One bar

7 pm leftover turkey chili (yes Marisa made enough for an army......of dumplings) over leftover spaghetti squash with a side of leftover mixed vegetables (can you tell that my middle name is "leftovers?")

Marisa ate turkey tacos with me, she was sick of the turkey chili, while Marc went out to the Chinese restaurant for shrimps in lobster sauce with a side of fried rice.  There's something inhuman, not to mention extremely annoying, about a man who eats whatever he wants, as often as he wants, without gaining an ounce.

Salad Dressings

My ex-personal trainer, Derek (he wouldn't be ex if I could still afford him, sigh) advocates 2 tbsp olive oil and vinegar only.  The last time I did his Trainer's Diet (and lost 50 lbs, in about a year) that's all I used for the first few months.  Then one day I looked at the calorie count of the olive oil (120 calories per tbsp) and said, holy &*^%, I can do better than that. 

First I went to the various Walden Farms dressings, all of which are zero calories.  The Italian wasn't too bad.  The Thousand Island wasn't too bad.  The rest I thought were inedible. 

Then I moved onto Publix Lite Honey Mustard.  At 35 calories per 2 tbsp, it wasn't quite as low-cal as Walden Farms, but not nearly as much as straight olive oil.  And it was delicious!  I used that for the rest of my last diet.

This time around, I was sick of honey mustard.  So I bought some Maple Grove Farms Fat-Free Raspberry Vinaigrette for the same 35 calories/ 2 tbsps.  It was excellent!  However, I wanted to really cut calories for the first couple of weeks, so I tried a bottle of Maple Grove Farms Sugar-Free Raspberry Vinaigrette.  Not as great as the Fat Free, but good, and for 5 calories/2 tbsps, a definite keeper.  They sell it in Wal-Mart.  That's what I've been using the whole first week, and I eat salads practically every day. So far, so good, and I still like it.

Diet Supplements: Lose Weight Quick, etc.

I've tried them all.  They don't work.  End of story.

Diet Day 7

Sunday morning I slept late til 7:45 and was at the gym by 9 for Jen's Step and Strength class at 24 Hour Fitness.  I've always found it interesting that the class regulars are mostly females closer to grandmotherhood than motherhood.  Young girls, even slender ones, have stamina problems compared to us old biddies who've been doing this stuff longer than they've been alive, in some cases. 


8:15 graham cracker

10:45 eggs over easy (no butter, sprayed a teflon pad) with side of tomato and half English muffin with I Can't Believe it's Not Butter.

1:30 Leftover mixed veggies with brown rice and leftover rotisserie chicken, also threw in some golden raisins and chopped dates for a Moroccan taste

4:30 Greek non-fat yogurt with 1/2 serving of fresh blueberries and raspberries

7:15 Marc's Famous Shrimp Dish (stir-fried shrimp with green peppers, green onions and tomatoes, cooked with soy sauce, chicken broth, fresh garlic, and ginger) served over brown rice

Diet Day 6

It's very easy to say, gee looks like I've put on some weight, think I'll go on a diet.  Very hard to actually do it.  I have to be ready.  For me, that means weeks and months of saying, wow I really need to go back on a diet.  Uh oh my clothes are getting tight.  OMG I can't fit into my favorite jeans anymore.  "Watching what I eat" has never worked for me, not for long, anyway.  Maybe naturally slender folks can go through life watching what they eat; for me if I'm not "dieting" I'm overeating.

But it always takes just one event that pushes me into "diet mode."  This time, it was the day after our Vero Beach vacation (a loooong weekend of non-stop eating, I might add) I saw my awesome daughter-in-law, my partner in eating for that whole wonderful vacation, posted on FB "Monday starts diet."  That's what did it.

7am graham cracker (I always eat a graham cracker an hour before going to the gym, have to have something in my stomach)

10 am cold cereal with fresh blueberries and raspberries

1 pm leftover salad from Jacaranda CC on Thursday with leftover rotisserie chicken

4 pm Fiber One oats and chocolate bar (140 calories)

7 pm dinner at Red Lobster ( I practically chewed off my hand to prevent it from reaching for the biscuits) salad, tilapia with asparagus, artichoke and wild rice cooked in a bag.  The fish was delicious!  But when the platter came I immediately took half the rice (it was a tremendous portion) off the plate and put in on a dirty appetizer plate so I wouldn't eat it.

Diet Day 5

Friday 7-12 I woke up at 5:40 (I get to sleep ten minutes later because I don't have to get Noah ready for school anymore) and was on the treadmill with my Kindle Fire HD by 6.  (Currently reading Sons of the Wolf, by Paula Lofting, you can check out my review on Goodreads.) 

7 am:  1st meal:  Muscle Milk Lite chocolate shake

10 am:  breakfast: oatmeal, with one Splenda and lots of cinnamon

1 pm:  lunch at Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza with Jane L, Italian tuna (no mayo, I think they use oil vinegar and lemon) and a side salad.  Devotees of Anthony's know how big their salads are, and also how delicious their house dressing is.  Sadly,  I asked them to hold the dressing, because I had brought my own, Maple Valley Farms Raspberry Vinaigrette No-Sugar (5 calories per 2 tablespoons).

4 pm: Fiber One chocolate caramel pretzel bar, 90 calories

7 pm:  Filet mignon (package of 4 from Sam's Club, Marisa ate one, too, and the rest went into the freezer) grilled expertly by hubby to medium rare (I should have weighted it to make sure it was 4 oz, but it looked pretty small) with half of a baked sweet paper and lots of fresh green beans, microwaved.

I'm trying to eat red meat just once per week, even though it's "allowed" 2-3 times, because I have portion control issues with red meat (see rationalization about filet mignon above).

Hope my weigh-in on Sunday (I'm at the gym anyway, so I use their scale, more accurate than mine)  is cause for delight!