Super Proud of Me!

I ate really well today AND got in some fun exercise with my friend Holly at Zumba class! It is such a great feeling to do well on both food & exercise for the day.

BREAKFAST (8:30 am)

½ cup cottage cheese + ½ cup Dole peaches + 1 TBSP Justin’s Maple Almond Butter + 1 slice whole grain bread + dash nutmeg. Coffee w/ splash of milk

LUNCH (1:00 pm)

2 cups ginger broccoli slaw + 1 serving Back to Nature Organic Stoneground Wheat Crackers + 1 Trader Joe’s all natural beef hot dog, chopped + pickle relish, stadium mustard, diced onion, Trader Joe’s organic ketchup

SNACK (4:30 pm)

1 cup organic apple slices + 1 Laughing Cow Light Blue Cheese wedge + 1 TBSP Justin’s Maple Almond Butter + dash nutmeg

DINNER (7:30 pm) – Mexican!!

1 cup strained Pomi brand tomatoes + ¼ cup chopped red onion + ½ cup frozen corn + ¼ cup black beans + 2 Trader Joe’s all natural fully cooked meatballs + chopped avocado, dash cumin, chopped cilantro, lime juice

Day 1 - Starting Over Again

Wow... Other than the burger I had last Thursday, I've actually done quite well over the past few days that I have been missing again. My son was sick all last week with a double ear infection. It was the most awful thing to see his poor little eyes crying out in pain. I was off of work most of last week taking care of him since he could not go to daycare with a fever. What a relief that he is feeling better today.

I've absolutely had no time to post my Cinch meals over the past few days, but I'm attempting to start again. In exactly 30 days is my son's 2nd birthday and also the date that I set for myself back in January to reach my weight loss goal. I am 6 lbs away from that goal. Here goes the next 30 days! (And then, I'd like to start toning for summer...)

BREAKFAST (8:30 am)

Maple Almond Plum Toast with Milk:

1 plum, peeled and sliced
1 slice whole grain bread, toasted
8 oz. skim milk
1 TBSP Justin’s maple almond butter
Dash nutmeg

LUNCH (1:00 pm)

Asian Sesame Chicken Wrap:

1/2 cup sliced red bell pepper, 1 cup sugar snap peas, 1/2 cup shredded carrots
1 whole grain tortilla wrap
3 oz. cooked chicken breast
1/2 TBSP sesame oil plus 1 TBSP slivered almonds
Dash pepper


I had my daily dark chocolate right after lunch.


SNACK (4:30 pm)

Kimi Nutmeg Almond Crunch:

1 kiwi, peeled and sliced
No whole grain
1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese
2 TBSP slivered almonds
Dash nutmeg


WORKOUT (6:15 pm)

30 minute workout on the elliptical trainer


DINNER (7:00 pm)

Chicken Fajitas:

1/2 cup sauteed onion, 1/2 cup all-natural salsa, and 1 cup sauteed red, green, and yellow bell pepper strips
1 whole grain tortilla wrap
3 oz. cooked chicken breast
1/4 cup Wholly guacamole
Dash cumin

And I had about 8-10 tortilla chips while I was cooking. I was starving!

Day 25 - Pre-Pregnancy Weight!

Apparently 4 days of being on the road and not completely following the Cinch plan didn’t derail my progress too much because the scale is down another pound! I am officially at my pre-pregnancy weight. I’m completely elated and super motivated to continue my weight loss journey on this plan. I also tried on a pair of jeans that my Aunt gave me months ago that I could not fit into at the time, and this morning they fit! I am truly amazed and happy with all of my hard work. By the end of this week, I will have lost 8.5 pounds in 4 weeks. And I am about to start all over again on the Fast Forward phase. I'm thinking that I will only do 3 days since that is what the author recommends in the book if you do it a second time. Next Tuesday through Thursday will be Days 1-3, and then I will do the Core plan for another 27 days, which should bring me to about March 23rd.

Today has been much better than yesterday. I went back to work, and luckily I have some fresh food left in my fridge that hasn’t gone bad yet.

BREAKFAST (8:30 am)

Dark Chocolate Oatmeal and Yogurt with Green Grapes:

1 cup green grapes
¼ cup whole oats
½ cup low-fat cottage cheese
¼ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Dash cloves

Unfortunately, my green grapes were rubbery, so I didn’t eat many of them. The cottage cheese with a dash of cloves was better than I thought it would be.

LUNCH (1:30 pm)

Turkey (Chicken) Almond Pita:

(I subbed chicken since my turkey slices weren't defrosted from the freezer yet.)

½ cup fresh spinach, ¼ cup chopped cucumber, and ¼ cup chopped plum tomato
½ whole grain pita
3 oz cooked chicken
1 TBSP raw natural almond butter
Dash balsamic vinegar

This pita was awesome!



SNACK (4:30 pm)

Berries & Yogurt with Crackers & Peanut Butter:

(I halved the whole grain and plant-based fat portions of the recipe.)

1 cup frozen Trader Joe's Very Berry Cherry Blend (cherries, blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries), thawed
4 Trader Joe’s whole grain crackers
6 oz vanilla yogurt
1 TBSP Justin’s Honey Almond Butter
Dash cinnamon



DINNER (7:30 pm)

Tuna Pecan Pasta:

1 cup chopped green beans, 1/3 cup chopped onion, 2/3 cup chopped carrots (omitted mushrooms + increased carrots), and ¼ cup low sodium vegetable broth
½ cup cooked whole grain penne pasta
3 oz. canned tuna, in water
2 TBSP chopped pecans
Garlic, oregano, and basil. This time, I added a dash of balsamic vinegar.

I love this recipe too!

I started working on my upcoming grocery list for this weekend tonight as well. I'm trying some new recipes this time as well as some traditional favorites of both me & my husband while I have been on this plan.

Day 21 - On The Road

Today was pretty good considering that I was completely out of my element and traveling on the road. I packed quite a lot of Cinch friendly snacks to fill in the puzzle pieces for any meal that I might be missing. I packed dried veggies, whole grain crackers, Kashi Go Lean cereal, a few Lara bars, a few 100 calorie packs of raw natural almonds, and a few packs of the Justin's all-natural nut butters. And of course, my daily dark chocolate boxes of 100 calorie bars from Trader Joe's! I even gave a box to my Dad. Next to me, he is the biggest dark chocolate fan I know. Here is how the day went:

BREAKFAST (9:00 am)

McDonald's Fruit and Maple Oatmeal and Skim Milk

Dried cranberries and raisins and red & green apples
Oatmeal
1 jug of low-fat skim milk
100 calorie pack of raw almonds
Spices - probably a few in the oatmeal

At first bite, the oatmeal was VERY sweet. And then I noticed that McDonald's has kindly placed 2 nutrition labels on the side of their oatmeal container: 1 with brown sugar and 1 without the brown sugar. They must be anticipating people to order their oatmeal without the added brown sugar.

And the difference is? About 14 grams. Yikes. 32 total grams of sugar in this baby. I ate a little over half of it. Although, I certainly could have kept going because it was tasty. I paired it with skim milk and a package of almonds I stashed in my food & snacks bag.

LUNCH (2:00 pm) at Cracker Barrel

Salad, Cottage Cheese, and Toast:

2 cups tossed salad (lettuce, tomatoes, red onion only)
1 slice of wheat sourdough toast
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1 TBSP Justin's honey almond butter
Red wine vinegar for the salad

This was perfect for the Cinch plan! I was so proud of myself. Although the bread was probably not whole grain. And I did manage to sneak a bite of a biscuit at the table. Oh well...



A few hours later, we stopped at a Wal-mart to pick-up some misc. things we needed. While there, I bought some low-fat cottage cheese and vanilla yogurt to keep on hand at my parents' house. Shortly after Wal-mart, I had my 100 calories of dark chocolate.

SNACK (5:30 pm)

Chocolate Cookie Dough Lara Bar
8 oz skim milk

At my grandma's house, I was getting hungry for dinner. I also sneaked a slice of deli turkey and a piece of dark chocolate after my snack. Being accountable to "the cheater in me" stinks...

DINNER (8:00 pm)

Grilled Chicken Salad and Whole Grain Crackers with Almond Butter:

1 1/2 cups lettuce plus 1/4 cup Just Tomatoes Etc. dried veggies
1 serving Dr. Kracker whole grain crackers
3 oz cooked fajita chicken (I might have had more than 3 oz... yum)
1 TBSP Justin's honey almond butter
1 TBSP apple cider vinegar and Tastefully Simple Tomato and Pesto dried seasoning mixed spices

This was pretty good. I need to find a way to eat cooked veggies. I don't want to keep eating salads during this trip.



All in all, I didn't do too bad today.

Day 20 - Quick Post

Just a quick post for today. I still have to finish packing for our trip tomorrow. I'm going to do my best to stick to my diet while we are in Indiana.

BREAKFAST (8:30 am)

Almond Toast with Berries and Milk:

(I made this one up since I'm trying to use up my berries before they go bad.)

1 cup fresh strawberries and blueberries, combined
1 slice whole grain bread, toasted
8 oz. skim milk
1 TBSP almond butter
Dash cloves for the berries

I also had a cappucino from the work cafeteria for breakfast, but it tasted REALLY sweet. I think it may have had some kind of creamer or sweetener that I wasn't aware of. My taste buds are definitely changing since I have eliminated salt, sugar, and other artificial sweeteners from my diet (with the exception of my vanilla yogurt). I refuse to eat plain yogurt again.

LUNCH (1:00 pm)

Tomato, Olive, and Munster Cheese Pita:

(I made this one up too, so I could use up my tomatoes and olives.)

1/2 cup tomatoes and 2 large romaine lettuce leaves
1/2 whole grain pita
1 slice munster cheese
10 Kalamatta olives
Fresh basil and dried oregano

This was tasty especially as I got to the bottom of the pita where all of my cheese was buried. Yum!



I had 100 calories of dark chocolate around 2:00 pm.

SNACK (5:00 pm)

Peppery Kiwi Almond Crunch:

1 medium kiwi, peeled and sliced
1 slice whole grain bread (omitted)
1/2 cup low-fat ricotta cheese (I subbed cottage cheese)
2 TBSP slivered almonds (I subbed pecans)
Dash black pepper

DINNER (7:30 pm)

Green Tea Chicken with Avocado Corn Salad:

1 1/2 cups field greens, 1/4 cup chopped red onion, and 1/4 cup fresh salsa
1/2 cup corn, frozen
3 oz cooked chicken
1/4 of a medium avocado
Green tea leaves mixed with pepper, garlic powder, and lemon zest

I thought this meal was quite delicious. The green tea leaves on my chicken were a surprisingly pleasant taste.