mac and cheese

scale says: 147.6

i want to work out for like five hours tomorrow to boost up my weight loss rate.

breakfast:
oatmeal (140)
tsp of honey (20)
tsp cinnamon (5)
(165)

lunch:
black coffee (10)

dinner:
1 medium potato (fried, no skin) (150)
2 tablespoons ketchup (30)
(180)

skinny girl total: 205 (limit 500)
actual total: 355 calories

* * * * *

i read a tip (don't remember where, sorry!) about using water to fry things instead of oil so i tried it out with my potatoes tonight! it ended up working pretty well. my potatoes weren't as crispy as i would have liked, they were more on the soft side, but they turned out very tasty, and with no extra calories from oil! i did spray the pan with some calorie free cooking spray before adding the potatoes, then i added about 1/3 cup of water, put the lid on, and just let them cook. with a dash of pepper, a dash of garlic powder and dipped in ketchup they were sooo good!

* * * *

thank you for all your lovely comments on yesterday's post! you girls are so sweet to say that you enjoy reading my blog, though it does put some pressure on me to be entertaining! eek. :)

i was actually planning on getting some packets of splenda, sweet-n-low, equal, etc. and doing a sort of taste test with my coffee to see if i like any of them, so hopefully i can do that in the next couple days, then of course share my findings. i've heard that all these artificial sweetners are really bad for you, so i guess it comes down to eating calories or eating chemicals. i really don't like black coffee (too bitter), but i really need coffee or some sort of caffeine fix each day, so i'll have to figure something out.

and mainehopie, i haven't tried squash with tomato sauce and parm, but it sounds great! and at only 85 calories, it sounds super great! with the vegan sauce and parm, i don't think you'd have to worry about too much fat or anything, though maybe sodium? it would depend on the brands of course.

* * *

so last night, right after i had already eaten my little bowl of cooked cabbage, boyfriend made some mac and cheese. now, in case you don't know, mac and cheese is one of my binge foods. i can put away a whole box no prob (1200+ calories) and sometimes i would cook and eat two whole boxes (a gazillion calories).

so boyfriend makes mac and cheese, and it smells sooo freeaaakkingg goooood. i want to rip it out of his hands and shovel it all into my mouth then lick the bowl clean. but i don't. my stomach is twisting and rumbling and aching for some of that warm cheesy pasta-y goodness, but i resist. even when he offers to give me half, waving the bowl in front of my face.

god it was so hard.

i went into the room with my computer and started looking at hungry-girl.com low-cal recipes, which helped but also didn't, because all the recipes have pictures and i could still smell the mac and cheese, and here i was looking at all these delicious foods. it was driving me absolutely crazy!

but i'm really proud of myself for not caving, because it would have been too easy. plus, i got some cool new recipes to try out (like faux-fried chicken, which is just chicken strips dipped in egg beaters then rolled in crushed up fiber 1 bran cereal to give it that fried texture).

weekend is coming up, and i managed to convince boyfriend that we don't need to do french dip sandwiches again, so this weekend i'll be making low-cal foods like the faux-fried chicken, quesadillas with laughing cow cheese, or boca burgers. not having to stress about the calories in those french dip sandwiches is going to save me from a anxiety attack, i swear.

stay beautiful girlies!

xoxo

calories, sugar and kitchen scales

scale says: 148.00

happy with any loss, though i miss the days of 1 lb/day... sigh.

breakfast:
oatmeal (140)
teaspoon of honey (20)
1/2 tsp of cinnamon (3)
black coffee (10)
(173)

lunch:
7 mini rice cakes (50)

dinner:
2 cups cooked cabbage (60)
1/2 tablespoon margarine (25)
(85)

skinny girl total: 248 calories (limit 400)
actual total: 308 calories

* * * * *

i was so full after breakfast! oatmeal is a bloody brilliant food. i ate more cals for breakfast than i usually do, but it filled me up and was a good start to my day. all the research i've done on metabolism says that eating breakfast boosts metabolism, drinking coffee gives you energy and boosts metabolism, and that oatmeal, honey, and cinnamon all help to boost metabolism as well. i think my body is going into starvation mode to conserve energy though, because at around 5 pm i was so exhausted i took a nap for a couple hours. still, better sleeping than eating.

i keep finding out that the strangest things have calories in them. cinnamon? 17 cals a tablespoon. black coffee? about 10 a cup. toothpaste? if you accidentally swallow a little bit you're getting calories. hell, does my multivitamin have calories too? probably. i just want to drink water for the rest of my life, but then i'd die after a few weeks and i'd never get to show off my new skinny body at the beach. sigh.

i decided to cut extra sugar out of  my diet. i was really only putting it in coffee and tea, so it's not a big change, just now all my coffee will be black and all my tea will be sweetened with honey. the oatmeal with honey and cinnamon was absolutely delicious, so take that sugar, i don't need you.

i really want to buy a food scale so i can weigh everything i eat, but boyfriend definitely would not be cool with that. he understands that i want to lose weight, but if i start measuring every grape he'll start thinking i've lost my mind. i'll just have to stick to measuring cups and teaspoons for now.

sort of spastic post today, but some days it's hard to come up with a good topic. hmmm... i could probably talk about goals and rewards (goal weight 140 is closer everyday), or my personal safe foods, or maybe update my measurements (i know i've lost an inch or two from my waist). lots of stuff. no matter what i'm writing about, i want to keep blogging everyday. it keeps me focused on the weight loss. and besides, i'd miss you girls too much if i took a day off.

hope you all are having a lovely day!

xoxo

shopping list

scale says: 148.4

happy to see a loss there! i'm hoping that back-to-back weight of 149 was because of the french dip sandwiches. i felt so full all weekend, but after yesterday and today i'm feeling much lighter and emptier and therefore happier.

breakfast:
watermelon (80)

lunch:
coffee w/ tsp of sugar (15)

dinner:
two pieces low-cal toast (90)
two pieces turkey bacon (70)
two scrambled egg whites (34)
(194 calories)

skinny girl total: 209 (limit 300)
actual total: 289 calories

* * * * *

first, i added a weight tracker thingy to the blog! since i got my scale on september 25th i've lost 7.4 lbs, which isn't bad for just 11 days! i like looking at the tracker, because with that bit gone already, i feel like the goal is that much more attainable. especially when i realize that i've already lost over 7 lbs! 

(god i love restricting. i missed it so freaking much. how did i get by without it for so long? madness.)

second, 51 followers? jeeze you girls astound me.

third, i've been doing lots of research for foods high in protein or fiber or iron, and foods that boost metabolism, and i used this info to build my shopping list for the week. since i'm eating so little, i want to make sure what i do eat is healthy and somehow benefits me. here are some things i'll buy when i go to the store:

chicken breasts (protein)

egg whites (protein)

fat-free yogurt (protein)

fat-free cheese (protein)

almonds* (protein/iron/fiber/metabolism)

enriched bran cereal (iron/fiber)

lean turkey (iron/metabolism)

lettuce/cabbage** (iron/fiber )

broccoli (iron/fiber/metabolism)

oranges (fiber)

avocado (fiber)

oatmeal (fiber/metabolism)

apple cider vinegar & honey & garlic (good metabolism boosters)

*almonds are great for nutrients but super high cal (a single almond is 7 calories!) so i'll eat some, but definitely watch it on those.

**cabbage is also a natural diuretic, and is known to aid breakage of fatty deposits, especially around the abdominal region. very cool. everyone should eat more cabbage.

these foods will just about set me up for the week! i'm going to start eating enriched bran cereal (dry) or oatmeal (sweetened with tsp of honey) for breakfast, lunch will be fruits or egg whites or yogurt or nuts, and dinner will be meat (chicken or turkey, sometimes beef) and some sort of green veggie (cabbage, lettuce, broccoli, green beans).

hope you all are having a good day! think skinny!

xoxo

skinny girl diet week 1

scale says: 149.0

no gain, no loss. going to exercise like crazy tonight so i'll have a lower number tomorrow!

breakfast:
green tea w/ tsp sugar (15)

lunch:
nothing

dinner:
one slice low-cal bread (45)
one slice turkey bacon (35)
two scrambled egg whites (34)
green tea w/ tsp honey (20)

(134 calories)

skinny girl total: 149 (limit 400)
actual total: 149 calories

* * * * *

happy with intake today! boyfriend ended up eating left-over french dip for lunch at like 5 pm then wasn't hungry at dinner time so i was left to my own devices. i had to make some food because he was home, but instead of two slices of toast and two slices of bacon i cut back to one each. i didn't feel so great during the day though, i need to make a point to at least eat something tiny for breakfast or lunch. fruit or oatmeal or yogurt or something to get me through the day.

* * * *

week one of skinny girl diet complete! i didn't go over sgd limit for any days, which makes me happy. even counting all calories, i didn't go over 500 for any day! it's kind of funny how easily i've gotten back into restricting. a month ago i was eating over 2000 calories a day, and now i can function just fine and not even feel that hungry on 400.

today is day one of week two and i'm excited about the next three weeks of skinny girl! and because i'm completely obsessed with numbers and counting and graphs and keeping track of everything, here's a week 1 recap:

weight

starting weight (monday 9/27) 153.6

ending weight (sunday 10/3) 149.0

loss of 4.6 lbs in first week!

(if i keep up this rate, i'll lose 18.4 lbs total for the 30 days of skinny girl.

that means i'll be 135.2 on october 26th!)

intake

day (limit) sgd total -- actual total

mon (400) 210 -- 370

tues (300) 180 -- 315

wed (400) 235 -- 325

thurs (500) 344 -- 379

fri (450) 80 -- 220

sat (650) 465 -- 465

sun (650) 415 -- 495

total limit: 3350

total sgd calories: 1929

total overall calories: 2569

holy shit
i ate as many calories in a whole week as i used to eat in just one day

hope all of you had a wonderful monday!

after crunching all these numbers i feel a lot better :)

xoxo

planning meals

scale says: 149.0

it's funny, but i don't think i'll feel far away enough from the 150s until i'm 140, and then the cycle will just start all over again. i am kind of surprised i lost weight with that giant sandwich still in my tummy >.<

breakfast: n/a
(didn't wake up early enough to eat w/o breaking rules!)

lunch:
coffee w/ tsp of sugar (15)
watermelon (80)

dinner:
french dip sandwich again (400)

skinny girl total: 415 (limit 650)
actual total: 495

* * * * *

ugh french dip sandwich again because we had leftovers. at least it was the weekend so i didn't go over skinny girl diet limits. bad news: boyfriend really liked the way i made french dip and wants them again next week. fuuuuuuuuuck. well, okay, they are pretty good :) just sooo many calories! i'll schedule them for sat/sun again so it doesn't effect skinny girl limits.

these last few weeks i've been planning out all dinners. this is so 1) boyfriend and i aren't tempted to go out to eat 2) we can get all the groceries for the week in one trip 3) planned dinners are relatively healthy. and then there's my personal reason-- if i make dinner every night, i can control it. i can control how many calories are in each dish, and i know exactly how many calories i'm eating.

this week on monday and tuesday we'll be eating breakfast-y foods for dinner-- low-cal toast, turkey bacon, and scrambled eggs (i'm only going to eat egg whites). wednesday, thursday, and friday we're having chicken and green beans, saturday and sunday are the french dip sandwiches. i still have plenty of snack foods for myself: fruits, rice cakes, oatmeal, yogurt, veggies, jello. and i think when i go shopping i'm going to get myself a really bland enriched cereal so i can get some vitamins in but i'm not too tempted to binge with it because it won't taste that good, haha.

i'm really obsessed with planning and organization and numbers, so i usually plan out not only dinners for the week, but all my meals. i'll calculate the approx calories in each dinner, subtract that from my skinny girl limit, then take the number that's left and try to figure out what i should eat that day for breakfast and lunch.

for example: monday skinny girl diet limit is 400. for dinner i'm having 2 slices of low-cal toast (45/each = 90) 2 slices of turkey bacon (35/each = 70) and 2 scrambled egg whites (17/each = 34). this means monday dinner total is 194 calories (which is awesome, because that's a pretty filling dinner for under 200 cal!). this means i have 206 calories left of my limit to divide between breakfast and lunch. since i work monday morning, i'll be lucky to get in a cup of coffee or tea for breakfast, and i'll still keep lunch under 100, so i'll probably end up with 300 total for the day. (we'll see how close my prediction is tomorrow!)

i just feel a lot more comfortable knowing exactly how many calories dinner will be, so i can see how many calories i have left and play around with them. i just have to limit myself for breakfast and lunch and i'll be fine! that knowledge reassures me so, so much. plus, since everything is planned out i'm not nearly as tempted to break the plan and eat more than scheduled.

do you girls plan out your meals this much or am i just really obsessive about it? when you do plan, is it easy or hard to stick to the plan?

keep smiling beauties!
xoxo

eating rules

scale says: 149.8

under 150! yay! on the downside, it seems my weight loss has slowed quite a bit. i wonder what i can do to get back to that lb/day loss... i'm already eating so little, so maybe more exercise? i'm also hoping my period is at fault, maybe it's extra water weight?

breakfast:
coffee w/ tsp of sugar (15)

lunch:
7 mini rice cakes (50)

dinner:
french dip sandwich (400)

skinny girl total: 465 (limit 650) (veggie/fruit fail!)
actual total: 465 calories

* * * * *

ugh so dinner was more calories than the entire day yesterday, but whatever. i really only ate part of the sandwich, but i'm counting 400 calories because the french bread alone had 200. on the plus side, i can probably skip breakfast tomorrow! (like i wouldn't do that anyway, ha.)

yesterday i decided to establish eating rules for myself, so if don't eat during one of the blocks of eating time then i have to skip that meal for the day.

breakfast must be eaten before noon. this might seem kind of late, but my earliest work shift is at 11, and i love to sleep in on my days off, so it's not strange for me to just sleep through breakfast.

lunch must be eaten between 1 pm and 3 pm. if i don't eat lunch in this window of time, i don't eat.

dinner has no limit on starting time, but i will not eat after 9 pm. i wanted this to be a bit earlier, but sometimes i work late or boyfriend works late, and anyway, my usual bedtime is well after 1 am, so there's still plenty of awake time after dinner to digest the food.

i want to eat at least one fruit or veggie everyday (totally failed this today, but i didn't want any more calories after that damn sandwich).

also, i'm probably going to start taking a multivitamin or something, because i really want to get my necessary fiber and calcium and protein and iron (i've been anemic for as long as i can remember). but i'm especially going to try to get in some protein foods (egg whites, low-fat yogurts, milk, cheese) and some iron rich foods (lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, raisins, red meats). of course, i could always find a nice, enriched cereal that has a crap-load of vitamins in it and just eat one small serving a day, but cereal is one of my binge foods, so that's a little scary. still, i'll look into it.

I'm curious: do you girls have any eating rules that you set for yourself? what are they and how easy are they to follow?

hope your weekend is going good, and wishing luck on all the girlies fasting for hungry for change! keep it up, you're all doing great!

xoxo

followers

scale says: 150.0

ah so close! eating very little today to drop solidly below 150.

breakfast:
watermelon (80)

lunch:
coffee w/ tsp sugar (15)

dinner:
2 cups cooked cabbage (60)
margarine (50)
green tea w/ tsp of sugar (15)
(125)

skinny girl total: 80 (limit 450)
actual total: 220 calories

* * * * *

i was going to skip breakfast, but boyfriend gave me some hell so i settled on a slice of watermelon. later in the day i started feeling really nauseous, and didn't even want to eat anything, so it was easy to have coffee for lunch. pretty happy with my intake today, going to work out and hopefully i'll drop below 150 by tomorrow.

not much else to say except hello to all my new followers! it totally boggles my mind that all of you are interested in my blog, which i mostly started as a journal for myself. so, hello! i've tried to follow all of your blogs in return but sometimes the friend connect thing is wonky, so if i'm not following you and you want me to, leave me a comment with a link to your blog and i'll go check it out!

also, i was interested in hearing some thoughts on diet pills. i was thinking of getting some (ones i could buy at wal-mart or walgreens or something) so if any of you have recommendations on which to buy or recommendations on which to avoid, i would much appreciate it!

hope you all have an awesome weekend!

xoxo