A "Game Day" That Was Not a Calorie Train Wreck!

I have updated the code on all of my pages now.

Things are still a bit buggy in IE, Opera, and Safari. I apologize for that and will be working hard to get my code to play nice with those browsers. Resizing the browser fixes the bug in IE... or having a wheel on your mouse to scroll.

I do want to note: Everything seems to work fine in Firefox!

Firefox rocks!


So besides driving myself crazy tweaking the code here, we had some friends over to play games today! Most game days turn into a calorie train wreck!

We always order a pizza, subs or Chinese. I try to order healthy items, but by the time the food actually arrives I end up eating way too much.

This doesn't count the "snack" foods we often have out for guests!!!


Gaming days never go smoothly for weight loss but today was different!


Here is my calorie breakdown for today:

Breakfast
I had an egg white "Toad in the Hole."


"Toad in the Hole"
1 tbsp butter (100 Calories)
1 egg white (70 Calories)
1 slice of bread (100 Calories - pre-cut)

In a small frying pan, melt the butter.
Use a glass or cookie cutter to remove a round hole from the center from a slice of bread. (I did not eat my center.)

Place the bread into the frying pan, and crack an egg into the hole. (I did not eat the egg yolk either.)
Cook over a low heat so the egg gets white and firm. Once the egg white is firm enough, carefully flip the bread to toast the other side and finish cooking the egg.

Very Yummy.


For lunch I had a Amy's Kitchen Bean and Cheese Burrito for 300 and a tablespoon of Salsa for 20 more.


So I was around 550 to 600 calories.


After lunch is when I nearly lost control....

It started with 32 chocolate chips.

There are sixteen Ghirardelli Chocolate Chocolate Chips in a 70 calorie serving. So I counted out two servings for 140 calories.

Then I think, "You know what goes great with chocolate? PEANUT BUTTER!"

So I get out a bowl and put a lump of organic creamy peanut butter into it. The peanut butter is really hard because it has to be kept in the fridge, so I put it all in the microwave. This melted the chocolate all together.

I then think - "Natural peanut butter needs some sweetening."

So now I pour way too much powdered sugar to the bowl. It takes on a crumbly consistency, so I figure it need some butter to smooth things out.

I add about a tablespoon of butter to the bowl and start mixing... then I start adding things up in my head.

32 chips, 140
Butter, 100
Peanut Butter, 210
Powdered Sugar... 300+?

I easily defeated the voice in my head that said, "You have to eat this or it will be wasted!!!" and dumped the whole thing in to the garbage!

I then counted 16 chips into a mini cupcake wrapper and enjoyed them slowly!!

Those 70 calories were all the sweeter knowing I had saved myself from such a calorie disaster!!!

Calorie total: 670

Then the Gamers came over....


Whenever we game we also order food... and you know how delivery food is. (Pizza, Chinese, Subs...)

They ordered Pizza, well this pizza to be specific:

Chicken Cordon Bleu

We start with our Honey Mustard sauce and House Blend Cheese,
then we add Boar's Head Sweet Slice Ham, sliced fried Chicken Tenders
and slices of melted Wisconsin Swiss Cheese. A unique treat!

http://glassnickelpizza.com/

But two of the guys didn't like Honey Mustard, so they substituted Alfredo sauce, and got the honey mustard on the side.

I decided to skip the pizza and ordered 3 ricotta and spinach stuffed jumbo shells. I esimated the calories in my pasta, with garlic bread to be about 900 calories.

Even with all this temptation, I was able to keep my calorie total to around 1600.

I stop a binge before it happened, and also avoided the pizza from the pizza place. :) Yea!

New Style Wins

The new look took 71% of the vote, so looks like I will be busy converting my pages! Please bare with me as I tweak the code to work in all browsers.

I apologies in advance if your browsing is disrupted while I am making updates!
Everything should be updated before April.

Now on to the weight loss front!

I am down a pound so far this month.

I had lost almost 3, but but then my "Diva Days" puffed me up again! The Puffies should go away soon and everything should be back to normal by Monday! :)

New Style for Before Pictures

I have updated the code on Before Pictures.

Do you like the new look?

Do you like it enough that I should change the rest of my pages to match?

Or should I change it back to the way it was?


I put a poll up over to the left so you can let me know what you think.

Thanks,

Jess :)




UPDATE:

The poll closed on 3-27-09 and was removed. The new style won!
Here is what my pages used to look like:

Embrace that healthy feeling!

Last Friday, after a LONG stressful week at work, I felt totally drained. Aaron (my husband) suggested that I walk on the elliptical trainer to restore my vigor.

I was crabby and whined that it was the last thing I wanted to do!!! I wanted to just lay on the couch and veg!

But he was persistent and sweet-talked me to "just try it" for 10 minutes... and within a few minutes I felt my brain come back to life!

I really felt all those nasty stress hormones burning away!! Soon I was bursting with energy and went on to do a full cardio workout.

It is so strange that working out is the last thing you want to do when you lack energy, but it is the best way to gain energy in a healthy, non-stimulative way!

Once you get going it only takes a few minutes for the "DO WE HAVE TO DO THIS?!?!" inner-whiner to shut-up. Soon you will notice how happy your body is to move!

Of course if you feel pain, you should stop immediately!! Make sure you are using proper form, and equipment (this includes shoes).


Update on where I am at:

I'm down 6 pounds from a month ago. I really am back on track! It is such a great feeling!!! I don't really look any different on the outside yet, but I feel GREAT inside! :) I hope you are embracing that healthy feeling too and taking good care of yourself! :)

Cheers,

Jess

Finite Willpower

I have switched back to working out in the morning. I found that when I put it off until later... I tend to put it off entirely!

I just didn’t have any willpower to workout at the end of the day.

Do you ever struggle with your willpower?

Have you ever been "really good" all day, just to get home and eat everything you see?

Over the years I have learned that weight loss is not about having tons of self-control; it’s about having it at the right times!

I don't have more willpower than anyone else. I just know how to use it more effectively!
You see, willpower is a finite resource. You only have so much. You really need to budget it in order to be successful.

Let's say you spend most of your day resisting the urge to scream at an idiot at work.

Whenever you suppress an urge - you "burn off" your willpower.

As the day progresses your ability to resist temptation diminishes. Next thing you know, you were able to keep your cool, but the snack machine is now a Snicker's bar lighter.

So how do you reserve your willpower for your weight loss without snapping at the wrong moment?

First - Figure out what are you using your willpower on.

Did you spent all day avoiding the box of donuts in the breakroom?
Did you give up something for Lent and now find yourself thinking about it all the time?

Once you know where your "weak spots" are you can take steps to save your willpower.

Second - Eat Something!
Willpower is an effort, and like any other effort of the body it is fueled by your blood sugar. Be sure to eat balanced meals at regular intervals and have small healthy snacks handy to maintain your blood sugar level.

Third - Think of the BIG picture.
Your brain only focuses on the instant satisfaction of now. It wants to eat that 800 calorie slice of turtle cheesecake right in front of you.

It doesn't think about wearing a bathing suit in 4 months.

Whenever temptation rears it's ugly head - remind yourself of your long term goals. If your desire to succeed is powerful enough, you can crush a craving.

Strongly envision yourself as the healthy person you know you can be! Does that cheesecake help you reach that goal? You can do this!!!

Fourth - Take Baby Steps.
Change is hard. You have to use a lot of willpower to start a new healthy life. Even if what you are doing is better for yourself, your stubborn brain only knows the old unhealthy way. That's the way it's always been and that is the way it will try to keep things.

It is best to slowly do new things. If you jump in and try to quit smoking, start exercising, and eating healthy all at once... you might make it a few days before your brain goes, "THIS IS WRONG!!!" and you end up chain smoking while ordering at the McDonald's drive-thru.

You need to unlearn your bad old ways a sneak in some new good ways little by little.

You need to create a healthier routine you can stick with that makes your brain feel like things are the same as before. You might need to break things into smaller tasks in order to make them a habit.


I wish you the best as you make healthy choices and bolster your willpower! Think of the healthy person you will be in the future, and let that person lead the way!

Remember, as long as you continue to live healthy, eventually you will be healthy!!

Jess