DAY NUMERO UNO

Okay so is this like take 3? Well I was slow to start, but today I really feel prepared to battle.

Here's what I have planned out for myself;

Breakfast (at home - shocker!):

1 cup Kashi Go Lean
1/2 cup Soy Milk

My plan was actually to get up and make a great veggie omelet, but sleep took priority this am.

Snack:

1/4 cup whole almonds
1/8 cup sunflower seeds
4 oz. no fat cottage cheese


Lunch:

215 grams turkey breast sauteed with
100 grams asparagus
tsp olive oil
soy sauce

Snack:

3 cups oil popped pop corn

Dinner:

It's not part of the nutritional data below, but will probably be a repeat of lunch or some baked tilapia that I have in the fridge. Possibly dinner out with friends, sushi, no rice!

Here's the crunch on things:

General (70%)

Calories 1135.1
Protein 91.8
Fat 51.1
Carbs 89.8
Fiber 22.9

*So here you can see that my fat is pretty high, but seems to be a lot of Omega-6. I need to back read some blogs and books and find out what's the best out come for the Omega-6,3 ratios.

Vitamins (73%)

A 64%
Folate 69%
B1 66%
B2 176%
B3 40%
B5 51%
B6 61%
B12 178%
C 49%
D 178%
E 77%
K 182%

*Still the B's that I have a problem with. I hate mushrooms!!! Although, the new girl in my life really likes them and I have eaten a few around her that were not so despicable. So, we shall see!

Minerals (90%)

Calcium 156%
Copper 161%
Iron 62%
Magnesium 109%
Manganese 177%
Phosphorus 170%
Potassium 37%
Selenium 136%
Sodium 180%
Zinc 99%

*Is Iron and Potassium that low something to be concerned about?

Lipids (51%)

Saturated 34%
Omega-3 36%
Omega-6 149%
Cholesterol 33%


As boring as this maybe for some people to read, I believe I have to post this daily. When I was doing this more regularly, I was more honest with myself and able to follow CR a bit more rigidly. You can easily see how the posting helps others. Look at how successful Robin is with her CR routine and look at her blog. She bares all.

Now, I have no shame in admitting that CR has helped me to loose extra pounds that I have packed on over the last couple of years. I really want to strictly adhere to my CR routine because by the end of the summer, I would like to have lost another 15 lbs. My trip home to NC is scheduled for the 2nd weekend in September and that's plenty of healthy time to loose the weight and feel great about it!

Okay all, have a wonderful Friday and a great weekend!

30 DAY CHALLENGE (TAKE 2)

Okay so my challenge has not going as well as I thought it maybe and I have been searching for reasons and answers as to why I am having such difficulty getting back into the grove of CR. Then I read http://www.crdiary.blogspot.com/ Mary's blog today and things started to make a bit more sense for me.

"This is a big mind shift for me. You have to quit eating just for it's own sake, eating as entertainment - to do CR. You must eat to feel good afterwards. If you do this, you will do good CR and feel really good about yourself as well"

I definitely agree that you should enjoy what you eat and eating with friends and family is just as entertaining as it is nutritionally necessary or fulfilling. However, what Mary says makes a lot of sense. (read the post) She battled with a taco salad, eating more and more of the shell the more often she ate the salad. Tasty, but made her feel really crappy. When she prepared herself and packed a healthy homemade salad for lunch, she not only was completely satisfied with what the ate, but she physically and mentally felt better.

Lately, I have been battling with taco salad too. Well maybe not, but I have been battling with pasta, bagels for breakfast, peanut butter, etc. I am not eating too terribly unhealthy, but I am not paying attention. I am not recording. I am not being attentive to whether or not I am getting adequate nutrition. AND I feel like crap. I am extremely exhausted at work. I am struggling to get out of the bed in the morning. My mind is fuzzy and unfocused.

And why? When I know better, why do I chose to eat the things I know make me feel like this?

"I've eaten too many things for the fun of eating them - even though I didn't feel my best afterwards...."

So true. So very true. For the fun, the comfort, the ease, whatever.

Okay so let's start this 30 day challenge over.

FOR THE NEXT 30 DAYS I WILL:

Record and track all intake using COM
Maintain a calorie level of 1600/day (give or take a couple)
Reduce alcohol intake by 50%
Have only 1 Diet Coke per day
Have only 1 Coffee per day
Take a full 1 hour lunch in the park or at home daily
Morning yoga routine 3 times per week, minimum
Take the stairs. No elevator use in my office (which is broken down 1/2 the time anyways)

Thanks, Mary for posting what you did. I needed to hear your story and excitement this morning!

30 DAY CHALLENGE

Hey guys! Thanks so much for all your comments yesterday. Definitely got the ball rolling in my mind. I am not able to continue that post as of yet, but stay tuned.

I really wanted to post a challenge to myself here. As you all know, April was vacation month for me and it's been weeks since my return, but I am having a really hard time getting back into the smooth groove of CR and other general things in life. So, I am hoping to put into print some really basic principles to stick to and rely on the encouragement and support of my fellow CR bloggers, to help me regain my focus.

So here it is;

FOR THE NEXT 30 DAYS I WILL:

• Record and track all intake using COM
• Maintain a calorie level of 1600/day (give or take a couple)
• Reduce alcohol intake by 50%
• Have only 1 Diet Coke per day
• Have only 1 Coffee per day
• Take a full 1 hour lunch in the park or at home daily
• Morning yoga routine 3 times per week, minimum
• Take the stairs. No elevator use in my office (which is broken down 1/2 the time anyways)

So, I have no problem admitting that I have enjoyed my CRON experience, not only for the feeling of it, but also for the physical plus. Since being off the CRON wagon, I have not necessarily gained any weight, as a matter fact, I have continued to loose or stabilized for the most part. However, I do not feel as mentally sharp. My moods swing a bit differently and I have been battling a bit of cold. I really miss the way that I felt when I was practicing CRON (or my version of CRON) strictly.

So there you have it!

In other news; I found a huge bag of frozen artichoke hearts in my freezer. Any idea what I can make with that?

BLOGGER HELL

I woke up this morning thinking I would share a song with you all. I noticed yesterday that Mary had posted a www.youtube.com video on her site and I thought, brilliant. However, being somewhat technically challenged, I couldn't make it work.

So, here's a link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qd3dgB_ocQs

This song is great and will certainly get your feet tapping a bit this morning!

Okay so now that music has been shared, what else?

I have been thinking a lot lately about a post I have been wanting to write. I just have not taken the time to do the proper research and writing. So, I have another idea. Why not throw out a simple statement and see how the peanut gallery reacts. Maybe this will motivate me a bit.

So I read this;

"Sitting down to dinner is a trap, not something to enjoy."

-Julia Child circa 1989

How does that statement make you feel?

DIRTY LAUNDRY

Yes, I have tons and yes I need to take care of it.

However, this post is not really about dirty laundry, but missing laundry. You see.....

I drop my laundry at the corner wash house and pay per pound to have it washed, dried and neatly folded each week. I have been going to the same place since I moved into this new apartment in September. I really liked these people, until....

My favorite pair of jeans is missing AND my favorite T shirt, too!!!

These were the jeans that I blogged about earlier, finally being able to fit into them again and loving them!! I have worn these jeans nearly everyday since late January. Okay, not everyday, because that would just be gross, but you get my drift.

I am beginning to question my loyalty. After all there are wash houses on every corner in this town!

So the last week and half without my jeans has been kind of rough. I have had to really search through and dig through my closet to find the perfect fit. No such luck. However this morning....

I dug out an old pair of jeans that I like to refer to as "the bone crusher". These jeans are so f ing tight. So tight that the few times I did wear them, I had to give up breathing, sitting, eating, anything that would cause pain.

Well this morning I pulled them out and thought, let's just see.

THE JEANS FREAKIN FIT!

So I know I am doing something right as far as loosing the extra pounds I packed on. Now I really need to get focused on tracking through COM better and focusing on the ON.

In other news, I read that Miss M will be leaving us. I love reading your post and will be sorry to see you leave.

Seems like everyone is slowing down a bit on the blogs here. I read a lot about how people feel like it interferes with their life and I remember feeling that way one time before when I was really allowing blogger to interfere with my work. For me, I just had to learn how put aside a certain amount of time per day for blogger and stick with it. My schedule for the last month has been a little sticky with vacation and this new romantic interest, but I will get back into posting and reading more often. I heart my blogger (CR) friends! So to all those that are holding back or disappearing completely, please keep in touch. Email or a comment from time to time!