I'm Back!!

Woah! What a crazy month I’ve had in April. Between caring for my sick son, sick husband (migraine + ER trip), softball practice starting, an Easter weekend get-away to Indiana, planning for a 2-year old birthday party, a crazy busy full-time job during the day coupled with an equally busy part-time job in the evening, it's no wonder I made it through the month with all of that stress.

Although because of my crazy chaotic life, I managed to gain 5 lbs back from all of my hard work on the Cinch plan. I’m pretty bummed about that, so today I started all over on the detox Fast Forward phase. As usual, I modify this phase each time, so here is how today shaped up:

BREAKFAST (8:30 am)

Spinach Scramble:

1 cup sautéed spinach + 1 scrambled egg
1 cup Trader Joe’s Very Berry Cherry Blend (blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, and cherries) + 2 TBSP slivered almonds
Dash onion powder for the spinach scramble and dashes of cinnamon & cloves for the berries

LUNCH (12:00 pm)

Smoothie:

1 cup frozen blueberries
6 oz Chobani brand vanilla greek yogurt
2 TBSP Justin’s Maple Almond Butter (on the side scooped with a spoon)
Dashes of cinnamon & cloves for the smoothie

SNACK (4:30 pm)

Parfait:

1 cup Trader Joe’s Very Berry Cherry Blend (blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, and cherries)
6 oz Chobani brand vanilla greek yogurt
2 TBSP slivered almonds
Dashes of cinnamon, nutmeg, & cloves

DINNER (7:00 pm)

Spinach “Mess”:

2 cups sautéed spinach
1 hard-boiled egg
2 TBSP slivered almonds
Dash onion powder

The day was mostly OK until RIGHT NOW! I'm pretty hungry, so I'm going to bed before I can think about going into the kitchen to get food.

2 Week Crunch!

I have only 2 weeks left until my deadline, which also happens to be my son's birthday! Things have been absolutely crazy busy insane lately. I haven't been able to keep up with my blog...


BREAKFAST (8:30 am)

Blackberry Maple Almond Butter Toast:

2/3 cup frozen blackberries, thawed
1 slice whole grain bread, toasted
8 oz. organic skim milk
1 TBSP Justin's Maple Almond Butter
Dash nutmeg

Don't know why, but I just couldn't eat the full cup of berries.


LUNCH (1:30 pm)

Refried Bean Pita:

1 cup shredded purple cabbage, 1/2 cup all-natural salsa, 1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 of a whole grain pita
1/2 cup vegetarian refried beans
1/4 cup Wholly guacamole
Dash cumin

Again, I just couldn't think of what else to add in the pita to meet the full 2 cups of veggies that is required.

I had my daily dark chocolate right after lunch.


SNACK (4:30 pm)

Nutmeg Parfait:

No fruit (I planned on having a kiwi, but forgot my peeler)
No whole grain
6 oz. honey vanilla greek yogurt
2 TBSP slivered almonds
Dash nutmeg

I did the elliptical for 30 minutes after work.


DINNER (7:30 pm)

Lentil and Feta Cheese Salad with Confetti Rice:

1 cup fresh spinach, 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper, and 1/2 cup chopped zucchini (sauteed)
1/2 cup Trader Joe's cooked confetti rice (not whole grain, but so delicious!)
1/4 cup cooked lentils plus 1/4 cup feta cheese
1 TBSP olive oil for veggie saute
Lemongrass, garlic, ginger, white pepper, and tumeric in the rice

This dish was sooo yummy! I might try to make the confetti rice next time and use whole grain brown rice instead.

Busy Day Yesterday

I'm still having trouble putting random food in my mouth. Yesterday I had a handful of peanuts at work because someone conveniently brought in a "make-your-own brownie" buffet, and peanuts were one of the toppings. I also had a few pretzels while I was cooking dinner. The problem is that I'm starving when it is time to eat my next meal. I need to start eating sooner, like every 3-4 hours instead of every 5 hours. I am also going to do another FF phase starting in a few weeks on April 17 for 3 days.

BREAKFAST (8:30 am)

Peanut Butter Banana Toast with Milk:

¾ of a banana
1 slice whole grain bread, toasted
8 oz organic low-fat milk
2 TBSP Justin’s maple almond butter
Dash nutmeg


LUNCH (1:00 pm)

Panera Bread:

1 cup field greens & romaine lettuce, 1 chopped vine-ripened tomato, chopped cucumber, and red onion
Whole grain baguette
Black bean soup (black beans, vegetarian broth, onion, red bell pepper)
Balsamic vinaigrette for salad. Cilantro, garlic and cumin in soup.


SNACK (5:30 pm)

Coconut cream lara bar
8 oz organic low-fat milk

I had my daily dark chocolate during my snack today.

I jumped on the elliptical for 40 minutes after work.


DINNER (7:30 pm)

Spinach Orzo Pasta with Feta Cheese and Cranberries

1 cup sautéed spinach leaves, ¼ cup shredded carrots, ¼ cup sautéed diced red onion, plus ¼ cup dried cranberries sweetened with apple juice
½ cup whole grain orzo pasta
¼ cup herb and garlic feta cheese
2 TBSP pistachios
Dash balsamic vinegar

Love, love, loved this meal!!

Plus, I had a handful of chocolate chips after dinner.

Day 1 - Starting Over

I've been missing for a few days, and I confess it is because I have been randomly snacking and not wanting to be accountable to my blog. I haven't really been able to understand why; I cannot find any explanation in the book, nor do I feel that the exercises help me understand my behavior. I wonder if my random snacking is purely rebellion at this point? (Unfortunately, I have always considered diet success to be an "all" or "nothing" measurement.)

I think it's related to the number of food decisions we make in our daily lives. A Cornell study published in 2009 said that participants estimated they made about 15 food decisions per day. But, when they answered specific questions about when, what, how much, where they ate, and who made decisions about meals, the participants actually made an average of 221 food-related decisions each day.

"So many food decisions are made on mindless autopilot," Brian Wansink, the John S. Dyson Professor of Marketing and of Applied Economics at Cornell, said in a prepared statement. Wansink said the problem with making more food decisions than we are aware of is that each decision is influenced by the environment.

He has published a book: "Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think" that maybe I should read.

Although today was quite difficult, I made it through...


BREAKFAST (9:00 am)

Berry Wafflewich (folded in half like a sandwich):

1 cup frozen Trader Joe's Very Berry Cherry Blend (cherries, blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries), thawed
1 Van’s brand whole grain waffle
8 oz. organic skim milk
2 TBSP Trader Joe’s all-natural almond butter
Dash nutmeg

LUNCH (12:30 pm)

Refried Bean Wrap with Side of Broccoli florets:

1 cup fresh spinach, ¼ cup all-natural salsa, ¾ cup raw broccoli
1 whole grain wrap
½ cup vegetarian refried beans
¼ cup Wholly guacamole
Dash cumin

I had my daily dark chocolate right after lunch.

SNACK (5:30 pm)

Peppery Kiwi Almond Twist:

1 kiwi, peeled and sliced
No whole grain
½ cup skim-milk cottage cheese
2 TBSP slivered almonds
Dash pepper




DINNER (8:00 pm)

Toasted Tuna Pita with Tomato and Cucumber Salad:

1 cup chopped cucumber and 1 plum tomato, sliced
½ whole grain pita
3 oz tuna
No plant-based fat
Balsamic vinegar for the salad/Pickle relish and dried dill for the tuna pita

(I did manage to have a few of my son's sweet potato fries at dinner too.)

Day 11 - Feeling Better

I'm not 100%, but I am getting there. I suppose there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I'm actually quite surprised how quickly I jumped right back on the Cinch plan. I spent 3 straight days of random eating; I was sick and stressed out all of last week; Mother nature paid me a visit; The scale climbed up 3 lbs.; and amazingly I started over yesterday with no problem. I think this "diet" will be easy to maintain over the long-term.


BREAKFAST (8:30 am)

Strawberry Green Tea Muesli:

1 cup strawberries, sliced
2/3 cup Kashi Go Lean cereal
6 oz. honey vanilla Greek yogurt
2 TBSP chopped peanuts
Green tea leaves


Love, love, love this breakfast. The breakfasts in this plan are easy to pack on-the-go for work.




LUNCH (1:00 pm)

Spinach Walnut Bleu Cheese Pita:

1 cup fresh spinach and 1 large chopped plum tomato
1/2 whole grain pita
1/4 cup bleu cheese
2 TBSP chopped walnuts
Dash balsamic vinegar


As I ate my pita today, my co-worker right next to me said "Something smells good." She looked to see what I was eating, and then my other co-worker pops his head over my cube and says "Seriously? How do you have time to make that?" I actually realized how easy it is to throw a plum tomato in my lunch bag, pack a handful of spinach in a ziploc bag, measure 2 TBSP of walnuts in a side container, wrap a pita in foil, pack a knife, and keep some balsamic vinegar on hand at work. Sounds like a lot, but it took me 5 minutes this morning to pack both my breakfast and lunch. I already had a snack waiting on me at work, so there was no need to pack one.

SNACK (5:30 pm)

Lemon Lara Bar
8 oz. organic skim milk


DINNER (8:00 pm)

(I made this one up based on a recipe in the book.)

Pistachio Nut Dusted Chicken, Wild Rice, and Sauteed Spinach with Tomatoes:

1 cup fresh spinach leaves, ¼ cup green onion, and 1 chopped plum tomato - sauteed
½ cup cooked wild rice
3 oz cooked organic “Smart” chicken
2 TBSP chopped pistachios
Dash basil and 2 TBSP balsamic vinegar for the spinach and tomatoes; Dash garlic powder and tarragon for the chicken

This one was quite yummy!