May 2013 Goals

 calories, Dinner, fitness, food, Food update, Free Weights, Injuries, kettle bells, Low Calorie Recipes, Monthly Goals, Movie, Portland activities, Portland Food Carts, Portland Restaurants, recipes, Restaurants, Runner's Knee, Running injury, splitting entrees, Weekend Update, weight training  8 Responses »
May 012013
 

As always, the weekend went way too fast. I followed my doctor’s orders and when I made it to the gym on Saturday (I was moving very slowly that morning) I took it easy and didn’t do any activities that were below the waist. I’m super stoked that I’m able to do triceps kickbacks at such a heavy weight now. I’m thinking in the next week or so I’ll be up to 20 pounds!

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After my gym session, Michael and I had a little date day together. We went back to Cartlandia for lunch. I was tempted to go back to the wrap cart I told you guys about but I thought I should branch out a little and try something new. After perusing all the options we ended up splitting an entree from the Thai Mango cart. It’s been AGES since I’ve had Mongolian Beef and the last time I had it (PF Changs), I remember it being super greasy and covered in sauce.

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Thankfully it wasn’t like that this time. It wasn’t greasy at all. It was the perfect amount for two people to share for lunch. I’m glad we decided to split it. My only complaint about the delicious dish was that the broccoli should have been cut a little smaller. It was kinda hard to eat with a plastic fork! And we might have gotten another order of those cream cheese and jalapeno wontons. Might have…

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After our lunch in the sun we caught a movie. It was such a nice day out–upper 70′s–and I was in shorts and a tank top! I wanted to spend the afternoon soaking up the sunshine. But sadly there wasn’t much we could do with my knees all borked and the doctor’s orders to rest. Soooooooooo lazy day it was. We ended up seeing the Evil Dead remake. DO NOT GO if you are squeamish in any way. It was pretty gruesome, but decent for a horror flick. (I did keep thinking about THIS movie the entire time, though…)

The rest of the afternoon was spent reading (two mindless chick lit books) and Michael watched sports. Fun times, huh? I wasn’t feeling up to doing much honestly.

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Dinner Saturday night was simple and lazy as well. Michael grilled up some spicy bratwursts and I had some slices of that fancy English Cheddar cheese on the side. I also created a fun little snack!

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Buffalo Celery

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Yield: 2

Serving Size: 1 celery stalk

Calories per serving: 147

Ingredients

  • 2 celery stalks
  • 1/3 cup cream cheese
  • 3 Tablespoons Frank's Hot Sauce
  • 1 tablespoon chopped green onion

Instructions

  1. Cut the celery stalks into bite size pieces.
  2. In a bowl, mix the cream cheese with Frank's hot sauce depending on your taste. (I like it spicy!)
  3. Add the green onion to the cream cheese and mix well.
  4. Spoon the cream cheese mixture into the celery.
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It was super easy and tasted great. We had it as a side dish with dinner. I know, not as healthy as say broccoli or Brussels sprouts would be but I loved it! I’d make it a little bit spicier the next time I make it. It was a fun little snack and a much better way to eat celery. ;)

The weekend wrapped up and April ended with a lackluster fizzle for me. I’m hoping May is a little bit better…

MAY 2013 GOALS

I think it’s so crucial to make attainable, achievable, realistic goals. If your goal is to lose weight, saying you want to lose 100 pounds in 4 months is NOT realistic (or healthy for that matter), so why not set the goal to lose 30 pounds in 4 months? I understand the desire to be an overachiever but in the long run, a methodical, planned out journey to reach your goal will be much more successful.

April Goals

1. Complete the 6 Week personal training program with Suzanne and possibly sign up for another 6 weeks, if needed. YES! I totally rocked this. Check back soon for the recap and final results.

2. Go for a bike ride if weather and knees permit. I did! I went for two bike rides in April.  Both rides went really well. Unfortunately, I had another flare-up of my knee issues after the second bike ride. This sparked a tearful call to my sports doc who scheduled an MRI. I also did about 8 weeks of acupuncture in hopes that it would help me.

3. Try once again to get back at running! Okay, I think it’s time to stop putting this on my month goals for awhile. I’ve been tried to get back to running since January and it hasn’t happened. So, I’ll stop for awhile.

I’m pretty happy with my April goals, despite the knee flare-ups and the frustrations of not being able to run. My goals for May aren’t really shooting for the stars. My doctor ordered rest period is kind of putting things on hold for awhile. I guess this is time for me to learn HOW to rest…

May Goals

1. Work on my core strength and glutes/start Phase 2 of Suzanne’s program.

2. Follow knee specialist instructions and REST knees for 6 weeks.

3. Try and find other fitness activities I might like.

Of course I’m disappointed that my goals this month don’t involve commuting to work on bike or getting back to running. I think I’ll live in denial for a little while and NOT think about it. I’m debating on taking a full week off from ALL activities to just give myself a break and to process things but I’m still on the fence with that…

QUESTION: Do you have any goals you want to achieve before summer arrives?

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Theme Park Temptations

 calories, cheeseburger, Chicken, Eating out, food, food mistakes, fruit, Holidays, hummus, limiting calories, Losing weight, meat, Mexican food, Mindful eating, portion sizes, portions, Road Trips, Slow Carb Diet, snacking, snacks, splitting entrees, temptations, trigger foods, Vacation, Vacations, veggies, weight loss  10 Responses »
Jul 092012
 

A coworker of mine inspired this blog post. We were chatting recently about her amazing weight loss (she’s lost over 50 pounds so far and looks great!) and she voiced her anxiety about an upcoming family vacation to some theme parks. It got me thinking…how DO you stay on plan and order the right foods when you are faced with fried food options? Restaurant eating is hard enough, what about those theme park food carts? Disastrous!

Obviously you can’t bring in your own food to someplace like a state fair or Disneyland. Otherwise, my suggestion would be to bring your own healthy snacks (apples, bananas, protein bars, etc).

Although, I’d honestly probably stash a few easy snacks in my purse (package of nuts, protein bar, or granola bar) and try to bring it in. This post is the result of some brain-storming on how to avoid the fried foods trap at theme parks.

Look For Protein

Protein is your healthiest bet for theme-park eating. This is a tightrope, however, because a lot of the proteins will be fried: fried chicken, fish n’ chips, corndogs and so on. Some of the ideas I had for “good” protein are these:

Cheeseburgers or veggie burgers without the bun. Skipping the bun will probably save 250 calories (and a lot of carbs).

Chicken and veggie kebabs.  ”Meat on a stick” isn’t hard to find at a fair, just look for the right kind!

How about a chicken wrap? Or ham wrap? The wraps usually have less calories and carbs than a bread sandwich option. Go light on the cheese and mayo and you should be good.

Get Fish n’ chips but remove the breading and give your fries to a friend to eat.

Look for grilled or rotisserie chicken options instead of fried. When I was at the Texas State Fair last year, I saw people walking around with huge turkey legs. It looked bizarre, but it’s probably a smart choice (as long as it’s not deep fried).

Fish tacos! They are delicious and if it’s not fried, a much better option for lunch.

 

Fruit and Veggies

This will probably be the harder find in a park. I can’t remember if I ever saw these types of options available. Really, I just remember caramel apples!

Look for fruit options whenever you can. Apples, bananas, oranges are easy and often an overlooked item at a food cart.

Apple slices with caramel are usually found at Fairs. But skip the caramel.

Salads with dressing on the side — see if you can add chicken to your Caesar salad

Desserts

You don’t have to deprive yourself of every treat at your day of fun. The trick with eating in moderation is eating things you like in smaller portions. Other tip: share with other people. Sometimes all you really need is a few bites of something sweet.

Get frozen yogurt but skip the toppings. I’m a little iffy on this one. I don’t know that frozen yogurt is that much better than ice cream…

How about a fruit smoothie? It would be a satisfying and better way to beat the heat.

Split an ice cream cone with your partner.

Get a popsicle instead of ice cream.

 

Other Ideas

Is there a Starbucks in the park? They have healthier options — sandwiches, yogurt with granola, fruit salad, etc.

Look for Greek food! It’s much healthier–get a pita sandwich with veggies and hummus, or a gyro and go light on the sauce.

Is there Asian food as an option? Get a veggie, meat and rice bowl.

Watch the liquid calories. Skip the soda and lemonade and get iced tea.

If you skip the butter, popcorn actually isn’t that bad for you.

Finally

Finally, try doing a Slow-Carb Diet for awhile. Beans, beans, beans! I’m telling you. It’s a good choice. And if there is Mexican food options you’re golden. Get beans and protein, skip the rice and you’ll be full and happy.

As always, watch portion sizes. I’m sure theme park portions are just as huge as restaurant portions. Share one meal with a friend or partner and supplement that other sandwich half with fruit.

I think what the hardest part is about going to fairs and parks is not necessarily the lack of options, but really the hardest part is TEMPTATION. Walking through the park, hot from the sun, hanging out with friends and family, seeing strangers walk around with huge pretzels dripping in cheese or ridiculously sloppy cheeseburgers can hard to resist. Stay strong!

If you do give in to temptation, just remember that it’s not the end of the world. You CAN reverse the slip-up by making good choices the rest of the time. One treat will not undo all your efforts…as long as you keep working at it!

QUESTION: What are your suggestions for surviving theme park eating?

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