Snark Time

I've gotten a new job since I was last writing here consistently. I won't tell you the name, but it's a popular national coffee shop, and you can probably see at least one by looking out your window.

I don't understand the attitude of some of the customers who "think" they're trying to be healthy. If you want to get a "skinny" latte, with non-fat milk and sugar-free syrup fine. I won't debate you the problems with non-fat and sugar-free crap; but I prefer to put real foods in my body. The problem I have is the people who insist on non-fat milk, sugar-free syrup, and EXTRA whipped cream.  Or a large anything on the menu. Or non-fat and sugar-free but EXTRA caramel drizzle.

I understand you want to treat yourself, and that's fine. But a large blended sugar drink is by no means healthy, even if you get a "light" version. And our whipped cream is made with heavy cream and full-sugar vanilla syrup, so really you're negating any "good" you did with the non-fat milk (which is pretty much just water. EW.)

Not even a little healthy.

If you're gonna get a sweet coffee drink, OWN it. Get it full fat, add the whip, drizzle it up. But take responsibility for what you're putting in your body. Stop trying to fool yourself into thinking you're eating healthy.

Personally, I've learned to love unsweetened teas.

Small victories

You know what? You know what, you know what, you know what? Yesterday I stayed on plan for THE ENTIRE DAY. No cheats. Nothing "forbidden." I ate healthy -- I even cooked.

I take that as a win. It was one day, but it was one day better than the day before. Today is still young, but I'm on track to stay on plan today too. And then I'll celebrate two days. I need to recognize these small victories to encourage myself, but also you. Can you do a day? Just one day of eating right? Then celebrate it (not with a cake!). And after that day is done, try the next day.

One day at a time, one meal at a time.

I'm giving Slow Carb another hard core try -- more exercising and more sticking to the food list (lots of beans, UGH). Yesterday for breakfast I just had two eggs scrambled with liquid egg whites.

If you want to know what I'm having for lunch today, take another look at the picture.

There's a great local salad shop that makes custom salads with all kinds of toppings and proteins and dressings. I love going there and getting a spinach salad with artichoke hearts, black beans, cucumbers, kalamata olives, feta, and salmon. The protein is anywhere from $2-4 extra, and it usually costs me around $12 for a salad.

BUT! They are having an awesome summer sale during the dinner hours where you can get two salads including proteins and two drinks for $15. Monday night I went in and ordered two of the above salads, without the feta or salmon. I ordered chicken on the side. And voila, I had lunch for yesterday and today plus bonus chicken for snacking! Yesterday I added some salmon and feta from home, and it was delicious and very filling.

Today I have discovered that artichoke hearts don't hold up very well after two days, so when I go back tonight for two more salads, I'll get bell peppers instead.

I hate you, beans.

For dinner I cooked! Which is amazing because I haven't had the energy to cook in over a month. I'd been browsing recipes online and decided to improvise a lemon pepper chicken. Chicken breasts from Trader Joe's marinated for three hours in olive oil, lemon juice, lemon pepper, pepper, and salt. I cooked the beans with some taco seasoning, and it did improve the flavor, but I was still forcing myself to eat them. The broccoli was steamed plain, although I realized later the oil from the chicken would have been good for topping!

Boyfriend liked it so much he had three helpings. The sign of a meal well done!

What kinds of veggies to do you like to cook, and how do you like them prepared?
ANY IDEAS FOR MAKING BEANS SUCK LESS??

Strength

Well, I may not be getting any thinner, but I'm definitely getting stronger! For the past several weeks a friend of mine who does Crossfit has been kind enough to train me twice a week at my gym. I've gone from really weak to slightly stronger!

Feeling strong! (Photo from FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

What blows my mind most is I actually am acquiring upper body strength! I've never had any measurable upper body strength before, but each time I bench, do bent rows, or do assisted chin ups, I'm working at higher and higher weights.

As of this month, this blog is one year old. And I.....am approximately the same weight I was a year ago, if not a little higher (I don't know, I haven't stepped on the scale in months. I've been going by how my clothes fit). That fact could be really, really depressing if I stopped to dwell on it (again). One year gone by and no real success made, so what's the point of continuing? Why not just eat myself in to oblivion? No seriously, I've been asking.

Mmmmm...forbidden foods... (Image from FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

Over the last year, I've tried a number of different "tactics" to lose weight. I started on Weight Watchers, which I'd had great success on in the past, but was unable to stick with it for longer than a month. I tried the Slow-Carb diet from Tim Ferriss' Four-Hour Body. After three weeks I saw practically no change, although I admit this is probably from not following the prescribed diet closely enough and going too overboard on cheat days. I tried a Fruit and Veggie smoothie fast, which lasted approximately two days. NEED TO CHEW. I even tried binging on Pine nuts after I read that they can cause a reaction in some people that cause food to taste awful and metallic for a week or two. I thought, "Foods will taste awful! Then I won't overeat!" I ate two bags of pine nuts (already incredibly high in fat) in 48 hours, and I noticed no change in the way things tasted. I'd wasted all those calories on something I didn't even like. I've tried Intuitive Eating, where I try to just listen to my body and give it what it needs. The bad part about that would be my body screaming for vegetables, and I'd think, "Nah, too much work. You'll eat ice cream and you'll like it." I tried logging all foods and counting calories with various iPhone apps. MyFitnessPal worked well for a few weeks, but then I stopped logging when I ate something "bad" and never got back on track.
 

Lately I've just been tired. So tired. I know it's because of the way I eat. It's too much effort to make anything, so I'd just eat convenience crap.

Why am I still in the same place I was a year ago? There are many reasons. I'm human. I don't follow through. I don't "want it" enough (although I feel like I do!). I'm not doing the "right" thing. I have a physical and mental addiction to food. I have excuses.

The one thing I can say I'm doing well with is exercises. Besides the strength training I've been doing, I've also been tracking my workouts with GymPact since the end of January, and I've done 60 workouts for the year. With a little less than six months still to go, I think I can easily make 120 workouts for the year.

Bottom line: I'm still here, I'm still struggling, I'm still snarky, and I'm still blogging. Keep reading!