Thoughts: I’ve been bulking (deliberately and inadvertently thanks to the holidays :P) for a month now and here are my stat comparisons. I don’t believe that this morning’s weigh-in is fully accurate since I’m still fighting off the last bit of post-holiday carb and sodium bloat while saddled with PMS week, but I’d say that my current “real” weight is 134 lbs or thereabouts. I should have a more accurate value in a week or so.

I’m still not sure how I feel about the whole bulking process. It’s oddly depressing to see the scale go UP even though I’m doing this in a controlled manner for a logical reason. It’s harder than I expected to switch gears after six months of getting smaller, you know? Every day I’m fighting the urge to go back to a cutting diet. I honestly don’t know if I can stick this out through the end of January.

The only thing that keeps me going is the knowledge that both gaining AND losing weight is pretty easy for me, I’m definitely putting on muscle mass in my back and arms now, and I’m no doubt raising my metabolism back to normal levels with this extended maintenance calorie period. I also took another set of caliper readings with my sister’s Slim Guide calipers (the same one used by my gym) and got a 14.3% body fat reading last week using a three-site fat calculator. When I had my caliper measurements taken on October 12 with the same type of calipers, the calculator came up with a value of 16.19%. My scale weight is even higher now than it was back then, so I know I’m heading in the right direction.

Still, I miss the days when my outline wasn’t so very blurry, even if there ARE some happy muscles incubating underneath the padded wrapper.

I’ll get some progress photos up on Sunday!

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Nutrition (1800-2000 calorie high zigzag day)
1: Chocolate banana PB shake with GNC Creastack (x 2)
2: Thai chicken salad with sweet potato wedges
3: Sara Lake choco cake with 1 T. peanut butter, 1 T. SF blackberry preserves, and apple
4: Chocolate raisin walnut bar
5: Free meal
6: Chocolate dipped strawberry EAS bar

Supplements:
Multivitamin with iron
Calcium 500 + D
1 T. flax seed oil
1/2 t. GNC Creastack

Calories eaten / deficit for yesterday = 2023 / -213 (target -500)
Water: 17 cups
Ratios: 41% carb / 34% protein / 25% fat

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Workout:
8:00 AM Oxygen leg workout

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The Awful Truth:
1. Went a bit higher in calories than planned yesterday.

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Brownie Points:
1. Stuck with authorized foods, even if I had a bit too MUCH of them, heh.

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Short-term Goals:
1. Finish transferring data to my new computer tonight.
2. Plan a new schedule for the next month.
3. Go grocery shopping.
4. Catch up on workouts tomorrow.
5. Give Eating for Life recipes a fair shake.

Thoughts: I’ve been reading about the aftermath of the tsunami in southeast Asia today, and I must say that it really puts things into perspective. Here we are obsessing over a quarter inch of muscle gain here, a half pound of weight gain there, and what to eat or drink after a lower body workout at our comfortable, air-conditioned gyms. Meanwhile, across the world there are people who have lost their loved ones, homes, and livelihoods. In another part of the world, our troops are still taking hits in yet one more man-made conflict.

Hasn’t the earthquake/tsunami illustrated that Mother Nature can deal enough damage to human life without any extra aid from us?

Anyhow, I just donated some money to the Red Cross through Amazon.com for the relief efforts in Asia. I hope that amid all of our (perfectly acceptable and worthy) efforts to improve our health, self-esteem, and lives through fitness and nutrition we can still take a moment to help out people who are so much less fortunate than we are.

I’ve also decided to rein in my random spending on non-essential “wants” this January by pledging to match 50% of the cost of the item I want to buy with a donation to a relief agency like the Red Cross. There will be certain items that I know I won’t be able to resist even with this stipulation, so I’m sure that the relief organizations will be seeing a bit more of my money.

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Nutrition (1400-1600 low calorie zig-zag day)

1: 3×1 spinach omelette with seasoned sweet potato wedges
2: 1/2 Barbacoa beef, rice, lettuce, salsa, and black bean burrito bol from Chipotle
3: 2 slices low carb bread with SF blackberry preserves, and 1 T. peanut butter
4: Chocolate raisin walnut bar
5: Quiznos Roadhouse Ranch salad, dressing on the side
6: 2 packs Haw Flakes fruit snacks with 1 scoop protein powder

Supplements:
Multivitamin with iron
Calcium 500 + D
1 T. flax seed oil

Calories eaten / deficit for yesterday = 2100 / -8 (target 0)
Water: 15 cups
Ratios: 43% carb / 39% protein / 18% fat

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Workout:

12:00 PM HIIT run (4 mph warm up, 4.5, 6, 7, 8 mph intervals, 9.0 mph max, 4.5 mph cool down)

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The Awful Truth:
1. Ate a small Toblerone chocolate and 2 pistachios

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Brownie Points:
1. Scheduled my 90,000 mile service for my car.
2. Made a hair cut appointment for my shaggy fro.

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Short-term Goals:
1. Do my laundry.
2. Finish fixing/setting up misc. computers in my room.
3. Make a basic database using HandBase to get familiar with the program.
4. Print out new set of workout sheets for next week.

Thoughts: I wasn’t sure what I wanted to blather on about today, but something just happened that completely grossed me out, so I’m going to share it with all of you.

I think I just inadvertently walked into some poor woman’s moment of bulimic bliss in the ladies’ room at my office complex. When I entered the restroom, I heard the sink running at full blast in the large handicapped stall at the far end of the room.

No big deal, I figured. Someone was washing their hands, right?

Well, I was in there to brush my teeth after my Chipotle lunch (I was paranoid that a piece of cilantro was caught in my teeth, so off to the restroom I went with my free cheapo toothbrush from my dentist and a squirt of orange Crest from a sample packet–and sure enough, there WAS a piece of cilantro stuck in my teeth!), so I got to hang out for a few minutes. That water never stopped running and there were some pretty mysterious “Gak! Blargh!” sounds coming from the stall.

Somehow I doubt the occupant was just washing her hands thoroughly while marking gargling sounds for fun. I was tempted to fake her out by opening and closing the door to pretend I’d left so she’d come out (I’m morbid enough to want to check out the chick’s face for evidence of a recent purge) or go up to the stall and ask if she was okay, but I decided that Miss Yak Attack probably had enough problems already. Besides, I was due for some cottage cheese and apple.

I’m glad I’m not at all squeamish about stuff like that. I would be so sad if someone else’s eating disorder put me off of my own food.

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Nutrition (1800-2000 calorie high zigzag day)
1: Chocolate banana PB shake with GNC Creastack (x 2)
2: 1/2 Chipotle spicy beef burrito bol with rice, black beans, salsa, and lettuce
3: Cottage cheese and apple
4: 1/2 Chipotle spicy beef burrito bol with rice, black beans, salsa, and lettuce
5: Healthy take-out option at work
6: 2 slices low-carb WW bread, 1 T. peanut butter, 2 T. SF blackberry preserves, and 1/2 scoop protein powder

Supplements:
Multivitamin with iron
Calcium 500 + D
1 T. flax seed oil
1/2 t. GNC Creastack

Calories eaten / deficit for yesterday = 1524 / -638 (target -500)
Water: 16 cups
Ratios: 55% carb / 33% protein / 20% fat

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Workout:
8:00 AM Shoulders/Traps/Back Max-OT workout

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The Awful Truth:
1. Had a butter cookie and two pieces of that homemade peanut brittle yesterday. Fortunately, there’s no more brittle left.
2. Also had a lick of a nasty marijuana-flavored novelty lollipop, but chucked it into the trash immediately. Absolutely VILE.

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Brownie Points:
1. Met my calorie target even if the carbs were a bit too high.
2. Did the dishes!
3. Baked some paprika sweet potato wedges.

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Short-term Goals:
1. Finish transferring data to my new computer tonight.
2. Portion out the chicken and veggie stew currently congealing in my $100 Le Creuset French oven in the fridge.
3. Go grocery shopping.
4. Test out some new fitness/nutrition programs for my Palm.

Thoughts: Oof…It looks like I am over a week behind in my posts. Trying to keep up with everything during my holiday vacation week was very tough. I think I spent most of my time over at my parents’ house visiting them and my sister, and just like Turkey Week, it turned out to be a “maintenance” munchies week for me. Any thoughts I might have had about going hardcore for 9 days pretty much flew out the window after the first weekend. I got my workouts in and stayed at around 1800-2000 calories, but there was extra cardio going on at all. I’ll try to do better now that vacation time is over.

I did give the 5 day Max-OT weightlifting split a try, and I’ve come to the conclusion that it is just not practical for me to do it right now with my current work schedule cutting into my evening cardio hours. I’m sticking with a three day split for weight training and three days for cardio as I’ve been doing for the past few weeks.

I’m currently obsessed with my computers again, both with playing with them and with tinkering with the hardware. I made the mistake of picking up the Sims Deluxe edition on a post-Turkey Day sale, and started to play with the program this past week.

OMG, I am SO addicted! I am tempted to use the infinite money cheat so I can build the poshest Sims house in the universe for my cute lil’ people. I just wish they didn’t take so long to do everything. Sheesh…by the time they wake up, work out, prep all of their meals, go to work, take a shower, feed the pets, use the bathroom, pay the bills, read for a few minutes and pick up the paper, it’s time for them to go to bed again!

Oh wait–that sounds like my life.

The funniest part about the game is that I created a “Maggie” Sim who looks like me just for kicks, and all she wants to do when I let her run on her own is paint, work out on the chest press bench, play games on the computer, and EAT! It’s absolutely uncanny. Hahahahahahaha….

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Nutrition (1400-1600 low calorie zig-zag day)

1: 2 slices low carb bread with SF blackberry preserves, 1 T. peanut butter, and 1/2 scoop protein powder
2: Chicken stew with veggies and corn bread
3: Cottage cheese and blueberries
4: 1/2 grilled chicken/black bean/lettuce/rice burrito with jalepeno peppers; 1/2 Myoplex Lite blueberry bar
5: Healthy take out option at work; 1/2 Myoplex Lite blueberry bar
6: Thai chicken salad

Supplements:
Multivitamin with iron
Calcium 500 + D
1 T. flax seed oil

Calories eaten / deficit for yesterday = 2162 / +141 (target -500)
Water: 13 cups
Ratios: 34% carb / 37% protein / 29% fat

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Workout:

8:00 AM HIIT run (4 mph warm up, 4.5, 6, 7, 8 mph intervals, 9.5 mph max, 4.5 mph cool down)
8:25 AM steady state (20 minutes elliptical at levels 3-5 and avg 6-7 mph)
10:30 PM yoga (20 minutes)

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The Awful Truth:
1. Had a few pieces of homemade peanut brittle, a 2.5″ peanut butter cookie, and a pineapple blondie yesterday. Curse my sugar-pushing co-workers!

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Brownie Points:
1. Got up and ran today. Didn’t enjoy it, but did it anyway because skipping is for the weak.

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Short-term Goals:
1. Do the dishes.
2. Finish transferring files from my old computer to the new Dell.
3. Format and reconfigure old Athlon Duron 1100 system for my sister.
4. Organize my closet.
5. Make appointments for my cats to get their annual shots.
6. Make appointment for my car’s 90,000 mile service.

This is a slightly modified version of the Fat-Free Banana Loaf from Oxygen #52 that boosts the protein count to make a BFL-authorized snack.

One loaf is 8 slices/servings.

Nutrition info (2 whole egg version): 208 calories, 19.9 g carb, 18.5 g protein, 7.38 g fat, 1.25 g sat fat, 5.13 g fiber

Nutrition info (3 egg white version): 195.8 calories, 19.9 g carb, 18.25 g protein, 6.1 g fat, 0.88 g sat fat, 5.13 g fiber

Ingredients:

Wet:

3 egg whites (or 2 whole large eggs)
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup applesauce
3/4 cup Splenda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Dry:
1 1/3 cup Atkins Bake Mix
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup Myopro whey, banana or vanilla flavor
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon
1/2 cup almonds or walnuts, chopped or slivered (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites, and add the remaining wet ingredients – mix thoroughly. In another bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Then lightly blend all of the ingredients together, and pour the mixture into a loaf pan. Bake for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out dry. Let the loaf stand in the pan for 10 minutes, then slice and serve.

Thoughts: Hah! My first weekend combo post ever.

This topic was brought up in one of the forums I visit regularly, John Stone Fitness Forums. If you are a gal, and you’re tired of all the rather repetitive and yes, annoying and pathetic cries for help, self-flagellating neuroses over food, bullshit excuses for missed workouts, and strict BFL-only rhetoric that goes on in the women-only BFL groups, check out the JSF forums. It’s a MUCH better place to go if you are already rock-solid on your nutrition, committed to and focused on your goals, in no need of touchy-feely hand-holding, and just want more targeted and expert advice on training.

What was the first thing you noticed when you started to lose fat? How did your changes progress from there?

Here are mine:

1. Face, neck and chest: Jawline got sharper, cheekbones really popped out, lost the incipient roll that was threatening to appear on my neck, and let’s just say that my chest deflated from “average” to “negligible”.

2. Waist: 29″ down to 24.25″; abs showed up to some degree within 2 months because I don’t usually store fat there

3. Arms and hips: Started losing the flab at the back/underside of my arms (This was the reason I decided to get in shape again–I was afraid that I’d see the dreaded upper-arm-flab-over-the-elbow thing on my own arms if I didn’t do something IMMEDIATELY) and lost that inverted triangle of fat from my hips.

4. Glutes and legs: Last to go, of course! My thigh measurements have barely moved at all since I started cutting 7 months ago, but my leg composition has changed dramatically. There’s now a ton of hard muscle under just a thin, 1/4″ layer of fat and the fatty bump that used to show up on the inside of my knee is no longer there. Another funny thing is that due to the growth in my quads/hams and loss of fat in my hips and legs, the drop from 22.5″ to 21.5″ looks a lot more dramatic from the front because I’ve lost fatty width and gained muscular depth! LOL.

So let’s hear it–How is the organic fluff leaving YOUR body?

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Nutrition

Saturday (Free day)
1: Blackberry cheesecake bar
2: 1 c. Kashi GoLean, 1/3 c. raisins, 1.5 oz chicken
3: Blackberry cheesecake bar
4: 3 slices low carb Roman Meal French toast with SF syrup
5: Thai chicken salad with 2 tangerines
6: 1/2 peanut butter and low sugar jelly WW sandwich, 1 c. Rice Krispies and tangerine

Supplements:
Multivitamin with iron
Calcium 500 + D
1 T. flax seed oil

Calories eaten / deficit for Friday = 2162 / +141 (target -500)
Water: 13 cups
Ratios: 34% carb / 37% protein / 29% fat
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Sunday (1400-1600 low calorie zig-zag day)
1: Blackberry cheesecake bar
2: 1 c. Kashi GoLean, 1 scoop protein powder
3: Thai chicken salad with apple
4: Banana bread
5: Kung pao chicken with broccoli and sweet potato
6: Cottage cheese and strawberries

Supplements:
Multivitamin with iron
Calcium 500 + D
1 T. flax seed oil

Calories eaten / deficit for Saturday = 1582 / +141 (target -500)
Water: 13 cups
Ratios: 42% carb / 37% protein / 21% fat

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Workout:
Saturday
8:30 AM HIIT run (4 mph warm up, 4.5, 6, 7, 8 mph intervals, 9.5 mph max, 4.5 mph cool down)
8:50 AM steady state (35 minutes treadmill walk 4.0 mph, incline 0-10%)
9:25 AM steady state stepmill (10 minutes, level–fast enough to kick my butt)
9:35 AM ‘for the hell of it’ treadmill run/walk (10 minutes, alternating between 4 mph and 6 mph)

Sunday
11 AM yoga (20-40 minutes)

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The Awful Truth:
1. I’m still hooked on cereal. I’m not going to buy any more of the stuff when I go shopping today. I can live with rolled oats only.

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Brownie Points:
1. Didn’t go crazy yesterday on the food, mostly because I spent most of the day dozing off and catching up on the missed sleep from the past week.

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Short-term Goals:
1. Go grocery shopping.
2. Bake banana bread from Oxygen Magazine recipe using Atkins low carb bake mix and a few of the scary black bananas on kitchen counter.
3. Modify old watercolor painting of some elven archers.
4. Do a prelim sketch for this year’s holiday card design.
5. Visit my parents.
6. Organize my apartment.

Thoughts: When I yanked on my jeans this morning after my post-workout shower, I had a moment of idiotic panic because the fabric felt tight on my legs. My first thought was, “Oh $#!! I’m getting fat again on all of these maintenance level calories!”

After a moment of more rational reflection, I realized that

a) this was impossible since my weight was holding steady and my body fat was still unchanged as of this morning,

b) I had just finished up 50 minutes of truly hellacious lower body weight training using the high rep routine from last month’s Oxygen magazine again, and that perhaps those 540 squats, 160 lunges, 120 deep squat-bench-overs, and 90 calf raises might have something to do with the extra muscle pump in my legs, and

c) both my pre- and post-workout shakes were loaded with creatine.

I wonder how long it takes a newly-trim person to get over the fear of turning into a fluffy pudgeball again? I’ve never been THIS fit, not even in the Army, so this kind of thinking is kind of new to me. I’m not overly-concerned at this point just because I know what it takes to lose fat now, and I know that I am fully-capable of doing it, but maybe it’s different for someone who has tried to lose weight in the past only to quit before reaching his or her goal and even bouncing back up.

I had a moment of insight into my fitness-warped brain this evening, too. The dinner options at work were Panera Bread, which I’ve had quite often lately, and a new entry, Olive Garden. Well, I was excited about OG until I looked at their menu and my internal nutrient calculator started to scream, “OMG, where’s the protein? White carb overload! UGH! Fatty cheese and cream on everything! Is there any unbreaded chicken on this menu? Lactose intolerance warning!” LOL. Needless to say, it’s going to be another Panera night for this girlie.

Sigh.

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Nutrition (1800-2000 calorie high zigzag day)
1: Chocolate peanut butter banana shake with GNC Creastack (Blackberry cheesecake bar)
2: Ma Po tofu, chicken, and rice
3: Sara Lake’s chocolate cake (Chocolate peanut butter banana shake)
4: Cottage cheese and blueberries
5: Panera 1/2 Asian Sesame Chicken Salad and 1/2 Forest Mushroom Soup with chicken
6: Low carb French toast with 1 whole/1 white egg; SF maple syrup

Supplements:
Multivitamin with iron
Calcium 500 + D
1 T. flax seed oil
1/2 t. GNC Creastack

Calories eaten / deficit for yesterday = 1538 / -437 (target -500)
Water: 13 cups
Ratios: 40% carb / 40% protein / 20% fat

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Workout:
9:00 AM Oxygen high-rep leg workout

QUADS
Smith Machine Sumo Squats - 65 lbs, 30 reps x 3 sets
Smith Machine Regular Squats - 75 lbs, 30 reps x 3 sets
Smith Machine Close-foot Squats - 75 lbs, 30 rep x 3 sets
Smith Machine Single-leg Split Squats - 45 lbs, 30 rep x 3 sets on each leg

HAMSTRINGS
Smith Machine Lunges with Knee Up - 45 lbs, 20 reps x 4 sets on each leg

OTHER
Deep Squat Step Up and Over Bench - Bodyweight, 30 reps x 4 sets
Angled Calf Raises - 27.5 lbs, 15 reps x 6 sets

Optional evening workout: 40 minute yoga workout or Ab boot camp

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The Awful Truth:
1. I did pretty well yesterday, but I’ve already had two pieces of fudge and a walnut short bread cookie today, heh. My total for the day will be very close to 2000 calories.

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Brownie Points:
1. Survived another Oxygen LBWO. Whew.

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Short-term Goals:
1. Do the dishes and the laundry.
2. Prep some meals and snacks.
3. Roast or stew the 4 lb chicken in the fridge.
4. Create a HanDbase fitness applet to track my new workouts.
5. Transfer data from my old computer to the new desktop.

Thoughts: Like so many others this time of year, I am a little bit under the weather. I’ve been fighting off a very light cough and some congestion since last Tuesday, and the sleep deprivation of the past week due to work, Everquest 2, social obligations and Neville the Ninja Kitty attacking me every morning at 5:30 am hasn’t helped my recovery very much.

I actually thought about dropping out of my HIIT run this morning after the first two sets of intervals. After about 5 seconds, I realized I was just being a shammer, wasn’t REALLY that tired and finished it up at my normal speeds in spite of the wheezing sounds coming from my stuffed up nose. To tell you the truth, I’ve been using the same intervals so long that I probably need to increase my speeds again. The first ten minutes always suck major gluteus maximus, but by the end of the third set of intervals I’ve warmed up and can tackle the rest without a hitch.

HIIT is nice, but it’s annoying that I don’t even feel warmed up and in the correct stride until I’m more than halfway through it. Maybe I will try to do a light jog for 10 minutes Saturday before I do HIIT just to see if that helps me get a more realistic gauge of my perceived exertion. No wonder I always blew on my two mile PT test runs in the Army–I apparently can’t get into a good running groove in under 10 minutes, which left me about 8 minutes to actually finish my run.

I’m really dreading tomorrow’s LBWO because it’s time for the high-rep Oxygen leg workout again. The thought of crippling myself right at the start of my week off from work just doesn’t appeal for some reason. (I’m going to go ahead and do it of course. I’m just going to moan and whine about it for at least 3 days afterwards.0

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Nutrition (1400-1600 calorie low zigzag day)
1: 3×1 veggie omelette with navel orange
2: 1/2 Uno’s grilled lemon pepper salmon salad with balsamic vinaigrette dressing and 2 tangerines
3: Blackberry cheesecake bar
4: Cottage cheese and blueberries
5: Bennigan’s Grilled Chicken Caesar salad (subbed fat-free Honey Dijon dressing) with roll
6: Chocolate protein pudding and tangerine

Supplements:
Multivitamin with iron
Calcium 500 + D
1 T. flax seed oil

Calories eaten / deficit for yesterday = 2162 / +141 (target -500)
Water: 13 cups
Ratios: 34% carb / 37% protein / 29% fat

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Workout:
8:30 AM HIIT run (4 mph warm up, 4.5, 6, 7, 8 mph intervals, 9.5 mph max, 4.5 mph cool down)
8:50 AM steady state (5 minutes elliptical at level 5, 5 minutes rowing machine)

10:30 PM Mat pilates level 4 DVD

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The Awful Truth:
1. LOL…my “carb” with last night’s final parmesan glazed chicken meal turned out to be about 3/4 c. of mini marshmallows.
2. Didn’t get enough sleep last night and was dragging during HIIT this morning.

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Brownie Points:
1. Got to my dental appointment on time.
2. Gave the new jump rope a try this morning.

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Short-term Goals:
1. Do the dishes.
2. Bake banana bread from Oxygen Magazine recipe using Atkins low carb bake mix and a few of the scary black bananas on kitchen counter.
3. Modify old watercolor painting of some elven archers.
4. Do a prelim sketch for this year’s holiday card design.