Since I obviously have no problem telling you guys embarrassing things about myself, (like when I eat a doughnut and an ice cream sandwhich because I’m stressed) I thought I will add to the list of things you may judge me on with this: I love Brooke Hogan right now. Isn’t that random? I caught her VH1 show on reruns the other day and discovered I think she’s cool

For Lunch I used up the last of my open faced grilled cheese cheese. It’s this stuff, only 50 cals a slice. Love it.

The main event was a massive salad with: shredded cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, mushrooms, orange bell pepper, peanuts, garbanzo beans and TJ’s Peanut dressing (my all time fave).

With that salad I had a piece of Ez bread with cheese and watermelon w/ grapes.

This was a very satisfying lunch, but I was a little too full after it. I think my body would have been fine without the fruit addition. My RD wanted me to increase calories of meals, but said I could add them to snack if I was too full. I think a meal time/amount switch is in order because I’ve been overly full after B and L lately.

I’ve decided that today is the first day of my healthy weight loss journey. I have learned a  lot over the last few months about my body, cravings, Intuitive Eating and more. Now I am going to put it all in action. I think I have been way too easy on myself and don’t make a big enough effort to stay on track. I really have to suck it up and just stop eating unnecessary foods. Crap Free Week(s) starts today and will continue until I feel like I have a hold on eating random extras!

I took a pic of myself in one of my suits for a before pic. In 51 days I will post an after. Let’s see what I can do by then. I don’t expect to be at my goal weight – 147 – by then, but I will be about 7 less than I am today (WI tomorrow).

W/O: I did not feel like running after eating a ton of junk last night, but this was my last chance run before the half this weekend. 5 miles and then 30 Day Shred Level 1. Meghann mentioned that this is a good thing to do if you’re trying to tone up for an event – hello, wedding. – so, I think I’ll aim to do this 5 days a week until the wedding.

Breakfast:oat bran, naner, almond milk, cinnamon, PB, dollop of cottage cheese with pineapple and strawberries.

And I finally got my Road ID! I thought about it after Caitlin posted about it a while back, but it kinda slipped my mind. Last week I remembered and decided to order one right then. I hope it never comes in handy, but I’m glad I have it!

I had a very.bad.day.of.eating. Very bad. This always happens when I say I am going to entirely cut out certain foods. I guess restricting for so long has built up some resentment with my willpower and it completely fights against me at the first sign of anything resembling a diet. This is especially frustrating because I truly want to lose weight in a healthy way, but I can’t seem to get there.

I love this blog because I feel like I really put myself out there and am completely honest with you all. So, I’m being honest when I say that I ate a huge amount of junk food today, food I don’t even really enjoy that much. I don’t know why, but I couldn’t stop.

I don’t want to rehash it. I will start fresh tomorrow. So I leave you with a new recipe. This is actually a super simple family recipe my Grams used to make when my mom was a kid. Frijoles with spinach – basically you mix up all the ingredients and heat ‘em up. But, you obviously should like beans and spinach to like this:)

Frijoles con Spinach

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 cups pinto beans (cooked)

1 can spinach (you can use fresh, but this is what Grams used)

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can whole tomatoes

1/2 chopped onion

2 Tbsp minced garlic

salt, pepper, garlic, cayenne

1. Heat oil in pan, add onions and saute. Add minced garlic.

2. Drain spinach well and add to pan with onions

3. Drain both cans of tomatoes and add to pan.

4. Season to taste. Most of these ingredients are very plain on their own and do require a good amount of salt & pepper – add other spices to your liking

5. Heat thoroughly and enjoy!!!

Lunch was open faced grilled cheese with a big carrot, tomatoes and hummus. Yogurt on the side for dessert/dairy.

Then, I realized that I love to eat yogurt with some kind of topping. So, I added the “allow-ables” – almonds and raisins.

But, I wanted more of the goodies so I grabbed a handful of trailmix I have.

So, I realized that it may not be such a good idea to add nuts and dried fruits to my yogurt in place of cereal because they are much higher in calories. I am trying to lose weight here, hello. And since I’m def a volume eater this is dangerous. I’m going to think about a solution to this little problem and figure out a healthy option

Today is my first full day of CFW and I could not decide what to put on my oatbran. My mom bought a container of cottage cheese with pineapple (no HFCS) so I knew that had to be in the mix!

The bowl:

~1/3c oat bran

1c almond milk

dash salt

naner

1/2c cottage cheese with pineapple mixed in at the end

Toppings:

PB

TJ’s dried mixed berry blend

crushed pecans

Turns out there were too many toppings and I didn’t end up eating most of the PB – that never happens! I think oatbran is more filling than oatmeal as you are actually eating it, but it’s been too long for me to remember if it keeps me full as long.

Amazing Grass Challenge- I forgot to drink it yesterday! Busted. I’ll make a glass of it in a bit when my tummy settles from that huge bowl of oatbran.

The Goods – Here are the swim suits I bought for this summer (2 from Target and one from Marshall’s). Hopefully I’ll post pics of me actually in them from my honeymoon, but I’m not ready for that yet.

Q: Do you wear a one piece or two?

I go with the 2 piece despite what my body looks like because I’m young and it might not get any better than what it is now. I won’t regret it later and I should just accept it for what it is. Life is short.

I brought a naner and the last of my Barney Butter for a p.m. snack. I’m both sad and happy that the BB is gone. I was digging into the jar with a spoon/knife/fingers like an addict. No picture because I broke my memory card at work!!!

So after work I stopped at Target to get a new one and ended up walking out of there with 2 bathing suits and a sun dress. I went in for 1 thing!

Note: Trying on bathing suits really reminds you why you need a Crap Free Week

I had to run an errand on lunch and picked a few things (including something for a dinner). When I got back from lunch I broke into this package, but here’s a reenactment. Dried mango from TJ’s – it’s almost as good as fresh mango.

Dinner : When I was out on lunch I decided something prepared was in order for dinner since a Target trip after work would mean I wouldn’t get home until after 7pm.  I got shrimp sushi with avocado – made with brown rice. 

I also dug into the rice and vegetables my mom made for dinner too.

Dessert was watermelon and a few strawberries. Seriously, few things make me happier than ripe watermelon. I.LOVE.IT.  

I am super excited about Crap Free Week, but I know it’s going to be rough! I know Bobbi said she was on board too

After multiple days of random snacking on crap I’ve decided a Crap Free Week is in order. I got the idea from Caitlin and Chandra, but I did let them know I was copying them

Crap Free Weeks – 4/28 to 5/14 – 17 days total

Since it takes 14 days to make or break a habit I’m hoping this will give me a great push to create new healthy habits & break old ones. And this challenge conveniently ends the day before Vegas I might have to jump back on CFW when I return from all that junk too!

The CFW Plan – Don’t eat crap, it’s actually pretty self-explanatory, but I will elaborate…

Enjoy:Whole Foods – oats, yogurt, lf/ff cheese, beans, eggs, nuts, nut butters, fish, tofu, brown rice, sweet or reg potatoes, and lots of fruits and veggies! Plus 2 slices of (preferably sprouted) whole wheat bread a day.

Avoid:Processed Foods – cereals,  cookies,  crackers, candies, cakes-like stuff, bars (except raw, whole foods bars), alcohol, sugar, artificial sugar, added salts, anything considered crap!

Challenges: My Half Mary is this Sunday & I will fuel up like normal w/ rice & salty food the night before and PB toast that morning. My Bridal Shower is 5/9 and I’ll probably have a glass of wine and some cake. My other biggest challenge is my addiction to frozen yogurt and the hundreds of boxes of cereal in my house!

Ultimately my eats will be based on whole foods, which will allow me to cut out the crap while still getting an adequate amount of calories for energy and happiness The extra calories I eat almost always come from processed foods so this will really help me break some bad habits! I will still eat sweetened yogurt since the only way I can eat plain is with a ton of granol-y or Pumpkin Butter.

I realized I needed this CFW after I ate 3 bowls of cereal for breakfast. For some reason I am a cereal eating machine and I never feel full while eating it, but feel like crap afterwards.

Run: 5 miles with a few hills slowly

Breakfast: This new cereal x3. This is when I realized I need to stop eating boxed things in mass quantities.

Lunch was a massive salad with shredded cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, mushrooms, peanuts, garbanzo beans and TJ’s PB dressing. I had my last half of a ww english muffin on the side plus grapes and 2 La Croixs. I drink a lot too.

My male co-worker saw my salad and then saw that I completely downed it and said, “Damn, that was a big salad. Where did it all go?” because I ate it so fast. Boo.

I didn’t know I was doing Crap Free Week until I got to work and decided to start right then and there, so the english muffin isn’t the best kinda bread, but it’s all I brought. Now I know how to plan

I had a major stress tooth (instead of sweet tooth) this afternoon and had a random candy from a candy jar at work

and half of this bar for a snack, I used to live off of these.

I love when dinner is ready for you when you get home & that’s basically the case with leftovers! I just heated up my leftovers from The Stinking Rose and some frozen veggies. I also had a piece of garlic bread that was part of my fam’s dinner.

With dinner I had one of Ashley‘s granola bars

After a walk with the perros, Matt & my mom I dug into my re-stocked stash of Vita-goodies. This is a Vitabrownie with some sf hot cocoa.

I couldn’t avoid breaking into the Vita-brownie since I just got the package, but dessert from tonight forward is fruit. I’m determined to break this habit! I actually wasn’t all about eating something after the walk, I think it was completely stress eating, but the urge is getting weaker and weaker everyday!

The OC Half Marathon is 6 days away which means it is Taper Week.

Since I am not running this race like a “race”, but rather just trying to keep myself in shape with high mileage for a  full mary in the distant future I’m not too concerned with serious taper. But, I am planning on scaling back running a bit to rest up!

The Plan:

Monday - 6 miles. Done

Tuesday – Hills – 4 hills with warm up and cool down a few miles

Wednesday - 5 miles

Thursday - 4 miles

Friday – Running Rest/Walk and 30 Day Shred or yoga

Saturday - Running Rest/Long Walk, stretching, maybe yoga

Sunday – 13.1 miles!!!!!!!!

My thoughts on tapering – Resting and tapering seems like the exact opposite of what you should be doing right before you run a long distance, but it’s exactly what your body needs. It is better to be over rested than over trained! My experience has shown me that I feel best on race day if I’ve rested up.

This is very frustrating if, like me, you want to lose weight. You are running to burn calories and letting days pass without running seems like a wasted opportunity. But, if you have signed up and trained for a race you are pushing your body to new levels of fitness and that should be your focus for right now. You have plenty of days to run, but only one chance to rock this race.

Rest, taper and run your little heart out on race day!

Breakfast: After a great 6 miles to start the day  I had oatmeal w/ raisins & AB and blackberries:

Lunch: AB & Pumpkin Butter on raisin Ezekiel bread with an apple

Ensalada grande

I wanted something sweet after this and decided to try a possible wedding gift bag treat:

 Ben and I have our dating anniversary today, but since we live too far to really celebrate on a Monday he surprised me with reservations at a restaurant I’ve wanted to try for a long time: The Stinking Rose 

It’s a kitchy restaurant in Beverly Hills that is all about garlic!

The decor is over the top, with nods to garlic everywhere. The walls are covered in pictures of celebrities, signs, pictures and garlic bulbs!

This is in the women’s restroom:

As soon as we sat down the waiter filled our glasses with water & said, “Here’s some garlic water for you.” I believed him, but it turns out he was kidding!

Ben got a mojito – that I helped him drink

They also brought us garlic bread and had some very garlic-y pesto on the table to enjoy with it. I had one and half – I’m a sucker for bread. It was hard to stop there! I <3 carbs.

We ordered the Garlic Swiss Chard Fontina fondue to start. Definitely not a healthy option, but Ben’s idea, and I do love me some melty cheese!

My entree was salmon with a spicy tomato conserva with black olives. It was served with acini di pepe pasta in a spicy tomato sauce (special order instead of the lemon butter sauce). I loved this pasta because it was just like my favorite Israeli Couscous in size/texture.

But the garlic doesn’t end there! We couldn’t leave without trying the infamous Garlic Ice Cream. Yes folks, we ordered Garlic Ice Cream with a carmel mole sauce.  The entire time we were eating it I was trying to figure out how to describe it on the blog. It’s like a lightly sweet/buttery  ice cream with a major garlic aftertaste. 

It was a very fun and tasty experience! But, I’m afraid I reek of garlic now. I’m think my co-workers can smell it from my pores. Isn’t that sick? Well, a lot of brushing and gargling is all I can do for now!

I leave you with a sign from the women’s restroom that I heartily agreed with while dining at The Stinking Rose: