Day 5 - Usual Day

I spent nearly the entire day taking care of my sick son. Through careful planning, I was still able to make food for myself that adheres to the plan. Other than that, not much else to report today. I'm looking forward to the week ahead and hoping to keep my sanity due to an equally as busy week as last week. Hoping to actually relax someday soon?!

BREAKFAST (9:30 am)

Cherry Almond Green Tea Smoothie:

1 cup Trader Joe's Very Berry Cherry Blend, frozen berries
1/4 cup whole oats
8 oz organic skim milk (I cut this in half, so my smoothie was thicker.)
2 TBSP almond butter
Green tea leaves and dash cinnamon

This smoothie was just OK. It had too much of an almond taste for me. I like my smoothies to taste more like berries. Next time, I will leave the almond butter out of the smoothie itself & eat it on the side.

LUNCH (1:30 pm)

Turkey Almond Pita:

1 medium chopped plum tomato, 1/2 cup diced cucumber, 1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 whole grain pita
3 oz Trader Joe's roasted and sliced turkey breast
2 TBSP almond butter
Dash balsamic vinegar for the pita




After lunch, I was kind of bad and had too many of those cadbury eggs with the candy crunch shell. No more substituting for the dark chocolate allowance...


SNACK (4:30 pm)

Cranberry Pesto Egg Spread:

1/4 cup dried cranberries
1 serving whole grain crackers
1 hard boiled egg, sliced
1 TBSP sun dried tomato pesto
Dash rosemary


DINNER (7:30 pm)

Edamame Cashew Stir Fry:

1/4 cup each diced red pepper, shredded carrots, chopped celery, diced onion
1/2 cup cooked brown rice
1/2 cup shelled edamame
2 TBSP chopped cashews
1 TBSP each OJ and rice vinegar, dash ginger, and chopped scallions

I was able to cook with edamame again! This meal was really yummy. I added cooked chicken to my husband's meal, but I really liked mine just as the recipe directed.




Tomorrow, I am planning to have Berry Walnut French Toast for breakfast, Cinch Caesar Salad for lunch, Berry Smoothie with Hazelnuts for a snack, and the Turkey Mock Tacos for dinner.

Day 4 - Food Inc

Last night I watched Food Inc., which is a documentary made in 2008 about the mass food industry. I was amazed and disgusted at times, especially when they showed how meat is raised, processed, produced, and shipped out for human consumption. The movie was enough to make me want to become a vegetarian, but I just don't think I could do it. I do like meat A LOT, but I plan to start being much smarter about my meat choices in the grocery store, during restaurant meals, and any other place where I might be eating away from home. I realize yet again how important it is to me to eat as chemical-free, hormone-free, pesticide-free, & antibiotic-free whenever possible. I realize this won't always be the case, but when I am able, I will!

And now, back to my Cinch plan. I lost another 3 pounds in 3 days on the Fast Forward. I have now lost a total of 11.5 lbs in exactly 5 weeks. It's amazing how awesome food tastes after you've been eating the same thing for 3 straight days. Thinking back to the first time I completed the Fast Forward phase, I remember how much I loved the variety of foods and flavors that I was having on the Core plan.

BREAKFAST (9:00 am)

Cranberry Cashew Parfait:

1/4 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup Kashi Go Lean cereal
6 oz. vanilla yogurt
2 TBSP chopped cashews
Dash cloves

This parfait was really yummy. My husband's parfait is on the left, and mine is on the right. His looks like it has more yogurt inside the glass...




LUNCH (2:00 pm)

(This recipe was supposed to use ground turkey, but I needed to use some rosemary ham in the fridge before it went bad.)

Ham Pita "Pizzalad":

1/4 cup marinara sauce, 1/4 cup shredded carrots, 1/4 cup chopped onion, 1/2 cup diced bell peppers, 1/2 cup spring salad greens
1/2 whole wheat pita
3 oz rosemary ham
1 TBSP olive oil
Dash of balsamic vinegar for the salad

This pita pizza tasted SOOOO good! Loved this one. It felt like I was eating so much food too, and the whole meal probably only had about 250 calories. Delicious.



After lunch, I substituted my daily dark chocolate with 6 of the mini cadbury eggs with the candy crunch shell. It was also 100 calories, but this is my favorite candy ever. It's only out once a year around Easter time, so I just had to have a few. I tried to forget about the fact that it's loaded with Yellow #5, Blue #3, etc. UGH!


SNACK (5:30 pm)

Apple, Hazelnut Butter, and Cheese

1/2 of an apple
1 mini Babybel Gouda cheese
1 TBSP Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut Butter

I dipped my apple in the hazelnut butter and ate the cheese on the side.


DINNER (8:00 pm)

California Cilantro Chicken Burrito Bowl:

1 cup chopped romaine lettuce, 1/2 cup all natural salsa, 1/4 cup each green bell pepper, onion, & vegetable broth
1/2 cup cooked brown rice
3 oz cooked chicken, cubed
1/4 medium avocado, cubed
1/4 tsp chopped garlic and 1 TBSP chopped cilantro

I really love this recipe too!



Tomorrow, I am planning to have the Cherry Almond Green Tea Smoothie for breakfast, the Turkey Almond Pita for lunch, the Cranberry Pesto Egg Salad for a snack, and the Edamame Cashew Stir Fry for dinner.

Days 2 & 3 - The Cheater in Me

These past few days have been very busy and stressful, and therefore my Fast Forward phase was a challenge. At first I thought it was easier this time around, but with the added stress in my life (6 daycare appointments and working 2 jobs this week), it was actually harder.

I managed to eat the same meals as Day 1 with a few exceptions and additions (unfortunately...) Here goes me being accountable again:

DAY 2:

I sticked mostly to my meal plan except at dinnertime when I had to make dinner for my husband and son, and then again late at night while I was working on a project my 2nd job. At dinner, I ate a few of the sweet potato fries they were having, and then I had a handful of pretzels around 10:00. My stomach was rumbling, and it was hard to concentrate on writing my report. I had the will power last time, but this time I was weak.

DAY 3:

I woke up this morning, and the scale was down 3 lbs. I was thrilled and super motivated to have a perfect day. And then, I realized that I was out of slivered almonds and raspberries for some of my meals today. I ended up substituting strawberries in my parfait, and my favorite Very Berry Cherry Blend frozen berries for the smoothie. I took the smoothie to work for my afternoon snack, and then I forgot to eat it! On my drive home tonight, I realized that I left it there. I worked on a really hard report all day today, so my focus was completely elsewhere and not on my diet.

Then, when I got home tonight, I fell off the wagon. I had my hard-boiled egg & spinach, and some other random stuff. :-(


I really liked the idea of doing the "detox" part of the Cinch diet again after completing the initial 30 days. But I realized that all of the added stress of this past week really didn't help me very much. I'm ready to get back to the yummy meals again starting tomorrow, and after evaluating myself these past few days, I certainly have all 4 meals planned for tomorrow already. Planning ahead is critical to my success.

On the plus side, I now fit into 3 additional pairs of pants that I haven't been able to wear since before I was pregnant -- Yippee!!

Day 1 - Fast Forward Phase 2!

As I opened my Cinch! Book this morning back to the page with the recipes for the Fast Forward phase, my Shape magazine tear-out page of the Fruity Waffle Sundae fell out from the front of the book. It looked so delicious; I haven’t tried it yet. Wouldn’t you know I can’t eat it? Temptations, temptations…

I made the same tweaks as the last time I did the Fast Forward phase to make it work for me:

• I add a small pinch of sugar to my breakfast raspberries only
• My smoothie snack is in the middle of the day instead of at the end of the day, and I eat the almond butter on the side with a spoon
• I eat vanilla yogurt instead of plain yogurt (and this time I am eating greek yogurt with natural sugar instead of vanilla yogurt with high-fructose corn syrup!)
• I don’t eat the raspberries at my dinner meal
• I cook the spinach for my dinner meal instead of eating it as a salad

Today was actually much easier than I thought it would be. Around 11:30 am, I was sitting right in the middle of a meeting at work thinking about the yogurt parfait that I wanted to eat. My stomach rumbled, and I told it to stop immediately before I became embarrassed. And then, I got hungry again around 3:00 pm, which is usually the time when I have my daily dark chocolate. I ended up having a mug of hot chai green tea & guzzled a lot of water. That seemed to help.

Here was my day:

BREAKFAST (7:30 AM)

Spinach Scramble with Berries and Almonds:

1 cup fresh spinach (sautéed in EVOO spray) and 1 cup frozen raspberries, thawed
1 organic brown egg
2 TBSP slivered almonds
Dash cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon for the berries
Dash oregano and chopped garlic for the spinach scramble

(There really is a cup of berries in that dish under all of the almonds!)



LUNCH (12:30 PM)

Parfait:

1 cup fresh raspberries
6 oz. 100% honey vanilla Greek yogurt
2 TBSP slivered almonds
Dash cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon

Here is my new love (yogurt that is…)



SNACK (4:30 PM)

Smoothie:

1 cup frozen raspberries
6 oz. 100% honey vanilla Greek yogurt
2 TBSP natural almond butter
Handful ice
Dash cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon

DINNER (7:30 PM)

Spinach “Salad”:

2 cups fresh spinach (sautéed in EVOO spray)
1 hard-boiled egg, sliced
2 TBSP slivered almonds
Dashes each balsamic vinegar, curry powder, and chopped garlic

This one might sound weird, but it really was quite delish!


My poor non-stick skillet has been showing signs of deteriorating, and it’s a known fact that once your skillet starts losing its coating, you need to replace it because chemicals in skillets can be cancerous. So, I’ve been skillet shopping. I’ve been doing tons of research (in addition to all that research I did when we registered for wedding gifts!). I do have a high quality stainless steel cookware set, but now I’ve realized that I will be replacing my "non-stick" skillets every 3-5 years. I think that I have settled on the Analon Advanced 12” Open Skillet. Don't want to spend big bucks on All Clad, Cuisinart, Calphalon, etc since I will eventually be replacing it again someday.

But what non-stick skillets do you have? There’s 800+ views on this page. Leave me a quick comment below – I know you're out there. :)

Day 30 - Core Plan Complete

Today was Day 30! It feels like I have been on this diet much longer than that. No more weight loss this week, but I’m about to begin another 3-day Fast Forward this Wednesday-Friday, so that should change. TOTAL WEIGHT LOSS (30 DAYS): 8.5 pounds.

I’ve been much more careful today with the random snacking.

BREAKFAST (8:00 am)

Strawberry Green Tea Muesli:

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



LUNCH (1:00 pm)

Mediterranean Broccoli Couscous Platter:

2 cups steamed broccoli
½ cup whole wheat couscous
3 oz cooked chicken
2 TBSP chopped pecans
1 TBSP lemon juice and dash pepper

I had my dark chocolate right after lunch.

SNACK (4:30 pm)

Minneola Almond Twist:

Wedges from 1 medium Minneola
½ cup non-fat cottage cheese
2 TBSP slivered almonds
Minneola zest and sprinkled with basil


DINNER (7:30 pm)

Wild Rice and Chicken Lettuce Wraps with Citrus Slaw:

4 romaine lettuce leaves, 1 cup shredded purple cabbage, 1/4 cup green onions
1/2 cup wild rice
3 oz cooked chicken
1 TBSP sesame oil
1 TBSP pineapple juice, 1 TBSP rice vinegar, dash pepper, and I added some celery seed.

Day 29 - So Exhausted...

As I mentioned yesterday, my posts will be short for the next few days. I've got so much going on with my husband starting a new job, finding daycare for our son, and 2 freelance projects that I am working on in my 2nd job...

I've been so incredibly unmotivated today. Plus, I haven't slept well for the past 2 days. Hence, some random snacking habits today. I will start anew tomorrow, and I'm really looking forward to the FF phase this upcoming Wed.-Fri.

BREAKFAST (8:30 am)

Peanut Butter & Jelly Lara Bar
Yoplait Honey Vanilla 100% Greek yogurt

I originally packed the Raspberry Brazil Nut Pita for breakfast because the recipe looked delicious in the Cinch! book, but I made the mistake of using thawed frozen berries. When I got to work, I opened my pita that was wrapped in foil, and apparently I didn't drain the water from the berries enough because it completely ruined the pita. Luckily, I had a lara bar in my desk drawer and a yogurt stashed in the fridge at work.

And now I'm in love with the new Yoplait Greek yogurt. As everyone knows, I can't stand plain yogurt, and I've had some remorse about the fact that the vanilla yogurt I've been eating has HFCS in it and goes against the Cinch plan. But this greek yogurt was all-naturally sweetened, and I just can't believe how much I loved it. I only bought one at the grocery store last weekend (as a test just in case I didn't like it), so now I'm going out for more!

LUNCH (1:00 pm)

Cinch! Caesar Salad:

2 cups torn romaine lettuce
1 serving whole grain crackers
1/4 cup fresh shredded parmesean and asiago cheese
1 TBSP EVOO
Dash lemon juice and fresh pepper


SNACK (4:30 pm)

Peppery Kiwi Almond Crunch:

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


DINNER (9:00 pm)

Minestrone Soup with Whole Grain Crackers:

2 cups mixed veggies (carrots, onions, spinach, zucchini) and 1 cup vegetable broth
1 serving whole grain crackers
1/2 cup kidney beans
No plant based fat (due to my animal cracker binge - see below)
Lots of seasonings in the soup

And way too many animal crackers... Unfortunately, I went on a major pig out session with them this evening. Again, tomorrow is a new day.

Day 28 - Classic Favorites

It was nice to take the day off from my diet yesterday. For date night, my husband and I were originally planning to visit this gourmet hot dog restaurant that is supposed to be a pretty awesome place. However, it was too crowded when we arrived, so we ended up eating dinner at a Mexican restaurant instead. I still found myself ordering foods that fit into the puzzle pieces of the Cinch! diet. I think my brain is trained to eat this way forever! We split chips w/ salsa & guacamole for our appetizer, and I had spicy green lentils with tomatoes & onion, stir fry bok choy with garlic and lime juice, and jasmine rice for dinner (with a sangria of course!). Everything was really yummy. I was proud of myself because I had never tried lentils (beans) or bok choy (veggie) before. It was nice to try something new.

I have realized that since I took the day off yesterday that I have 3 more days of the Core plan, which means I will be starting the Fast Forward phase again this coming Wednesday instead of Tuesday.

Today, I found myself eating some of my favorites from the Cinch! book. Since I actually got to sleep in today, I ended up eating only 3 meals instead of 4:

BREAKFAST (12:00 pm)

(Yes, breakfast at noon on a Sunday!)

Banana Ricotta Hazelnut Toast:

1 slice whole grain toasted bread, topped with:
¼ cup low fat ricotta cheese
½ banana
2 TBSP whole hazelnuts
Sprinkled with cloves



LUNCH (4:30 pm)

Mediterranean Broccoli Couscous Platter:

2 cups steamed broccoli
1/2 cup whole wheat couscous
3 oz cooked chicken
2 TBSP chopped pecans
Minced garlic and 1 TBSP lemon juice



I ended up eating 2 graham crackers and 100 calories of dark chocolate around 6 pm. Maybe I should have had the mandatory snack after all...

DINNER (8:30 pm)

Smoked Gouda and Grilled Onion Salad:

1 1/2 cups torn romaine lettuce and 1/2 cup sliced onion
1 serving whole grain crackers
1 oz. smoked gouda cheese, cubed
1 TBSP EVOO
1 TBSP balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp lemon juice, sprinkled with pepper



This coming week is going to be extremely busy, so I'm probably going to have shorter blog entries. I won't be coming home for lunch tomorrow or Tuesday, so I will need to make sure and have plenty of time in the morning to pack my breakfast, lunch, and snack for each day.